There is a variety of research on student motivation and how students process information. The links in this section offer short overviews of various aspects of this research and how it can be applied to instruction.

Research-Based Principles of Teaching & Learning Strategies (pdf): This document provides principles of teaching that lead to successful learning. Such principles include making use of students' prior knowledge and fostering self-directed learning.

Theory and Research-Based Principles of Learning

A list of seven basic principles that underlie effective learning. These principles are distilled from research from a variety of disciplines.

Teaching Principles

A list of seven principles designed to make teaching both more effective and more efficient, by helping instructors create the conditions that support student learning.

Instructional Design, Theory in Practice

This site contains a vast array of basic information about learning theory.

Index of Learning Theories and Models

Provides an overview of major learning theories and models, organized by paradigm (behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism, humanism, and others)

Learning Partnerships Model: Promoting self-authorship to promote liberal education (Baxter Magolda, 2009)

This resource describes the Learning Partnerships Model (LPM), a set of assumptions and principles about student learning in college that are intended to shape practice. The LPM reinforces the longstanding principle of challenge and support and emphasizes the freedom and responsibility of the learner in the partnership.

Teaching for Transformation: From Learning Theory to Teaching Strategies (McGonigal, 2005)

Summary of Mezirow’s Transformative Learning theory and strategies from Stanford professors on how to apply it in the classroom.

Seven Principles for Good Practice: Enhancing Student Learning

Identifies teaching practices, policies, and institutional conditions that result in a powerful and enduring undergraduate education.

A Developmental Perspective on Learning (King & Baxter Magolda, 1996)

Outlines 4 key elements of an integrated view of learning that can help educators promote student learning and personal development.

How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School (Bransford, Brown, and Cocking, Eds., 1999)

Free online text of a seminal work on learning, development, and schooling

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