Engaging ideas : the professor's guide to integrating writing, critical thinking, and active learning in the classroom / John C. Bean, Daniel Melzer.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"In this book, the author integrates the critical thinking movement with the writing-across-the-curriculum movement to create a practical nuts-and-bolts guide to designing interest-provoking writing and critical thinking activities. He shows how teachers from any discipline can incorporate these activities into their courses in a way that encourages inquiry, exploration, discussion, and debate. The third edition of Engaging Ideas uses recent research and theory to encourage instructors to think beyond exams, to focus less on instructor response to student writing by coaching students to use self-assessment and peer response, and to explore alternatives to traditional grading such as portfolio assessment and contract grading. Throughout, the book also includes expanded coverage of social media, multimodal genres, and uses of digital technology in the classroom. Treating writing assignments as only one of many ways to present critical thinking problems to students, Engaging Ideas also shows how writing can easily be integrated with such other critical thinking activities as inquiry discussions, simulation games, classroom debates, and interactive lectures. Engaging Ideas, Third Edition shows how these and other activities can transform students from passive to active learners, deepening their understanding of the subject matter while helping them learn the thinking processes of the discipline"--