College and University Books

I can't tell you how inspired I was to read this brilliant piece of scholarly discourse. I was on the edge of my seat throughout this masterful cliffhanger of a thesis. I have been profoundly affected by the insightful findings of this research and forever indebted to this dedicated and selfless researcher!

The folks at McGraw-Hill finally got it right!!!! After using the Princeton Review book before my PSAT, and then the Rocket Review and Up Your Score, I felt like I was being duped. I wanted to really learn how to improve my SAT scores, and I was willing to put some work into it. I thought a test-prep book would have lots of practice and detailed answers to explain your mistakes to help you improve. But these books kept insulting the ETS gratuitously, and tooting their own "secret methods" that I started to suspect that the emperor had no clothes. They would explain a trick, and give an example, but then there was almost no practice, and their "tricks" hardly worked at all on the real SAT. "Joe Bloggs" is truly a joke that helps perhaps only the most naive student in the world. Reading these books, I felt like I was being patronized by a bunch of smart alecs. The SAT isn't a joke, folks: I'm serious about learning and doing well on the SAT.

Then I found this book, and I discovered that someone really got it. The way to prep for the SAT is to take a realistic practice SAT, then get good feedback about your mistakes that shows you what you need to practice in order to improve your score. This book is BRILLIANTLY organized. It's huge, but you will probably end up using only a part of it. The vocabulary units are great and very effective, and the lessons are so systematic that you can't help but learn. Whe I did the lessons, I finally understood so much that I learned in math years ago and never really had understood. I can't tall you how good that feels, not to mention improving my SAT scores by 260 points!

Rankin and Murphy have produced an extremely user-friendly book for seniors who are about to embark upon writing the all-important college essay. The examples particularly for the Ivy League schools are excellent and show the creativity required in writing such an essay Not only is the bookdesigned for the students but teachers may also use the incorporated techniques in their classrooms.

This book makes two significant contributions to the discussion of implementing Competency Based Education (CBE) in higher education. First, much of the literature on CBE is focused on the challenges of implementing CBE within elementary and secondary schools. For that reason alone, many in higher education dismiss CBE as irrelevant to its mission believing, instead, that its applicability is limited to those primary and secondary school settings. That, in itself, makes this an important book. As an edited volume it offers a variety of perspectives on CBE developed within different types of institutional settings and relating CBE to a wide range of concerns common to most institutions of higher education: assessment and retention, improving student learning, distance education and accreditation issues and the demand for increased institutional accountability. Second, the volume concludes with an excellent annotated bibliography that will point the reader in new directions for continued research. This is an essential primary resource for anyone interested in this topic.

Helene Wieruszowski wrote an interesting account of the emergence of Medieval universities. Readers should note that among their considerable contributions to Western Civilization, the Catholic Church authorities can be credited with the gradual development of universities. Miss Wieruszowski's book in a good place to start.

Miss Wieruszowski is clear that the Medieval Catholic universities "did not just happen." She states that the older monastic schools and cathedral schools simply could not handle the increased numbers of students beginning c. 1050. Her comment that the Medieval universities developed from the cathedral schools is probably the best statement as to the origins of these universities. Miss Wieruszoowski is also honest enough that the exact dates of the origins of these universities cannot be accurately assessed. The best historians can do is date these univesities from the date they were chartered by secular rulers and Popes.

Miss Wieruszowski gives readers a brief look at the curricula of these schools. For example she briefly examines the basis of the Trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and logic)which was the basis of "undergraduate" studies. She also informs her readers of the more advanced studies called the Quadrivium (music, astronomy, arithmetic, and plane geometry). This reviewer's only criticism of this section of the book is that Miss Wieruszowski should have given a more detailed explanation of these studies.

Miss Wieruszowski turns the reader's attention to the more advanced studies such as Canon/Civil Law, Medicine, and Theology which readers may know was called The Queen of the Sciences. Her treatment of these studies is solid. The authorities at the University of Paris took such pride in their theology curricula that they forbade law studies fearing that such studies would dilute the attention and reputation of Theology as Queen of the Scienes.

Miss Wieruszowski also examines the similiarities and differences between the universities. For example, the Trivium and Quadrivium were known as the Seven Liberal Arts,and many universiy officilas took pride in these studies. Yet, when teachers and students focused on Canon/Civil Law such as happened at the University of Bologna, the Liberal Arts were de-emphasized to the point that law students would take just basic minimum of Liberal Arts studies so they could start their law studies sooner.

Miss Wieruszowski also comments on why universites started, suspended studies, and started again. She has interesting comments why the Germans developed universities later than other Europeans. She also explains why some of the Italian universites suspended studies. Her explanation is that the Germans had such internal strife between c. 1050 to 1125 that the political and what amounted to civil war hindered university development. Some of the Italian communes had internal strife plus political disputes with the Germans which closed universities.

Miss Wieruszowski also gives brief account of student life. One thing which may surprise readers is the fact that students were usually not bothered with political interference when they travelled to different universities. The secular authorities did not check papers nor require documents which may sound strange in the 20th and 21st centuries. Miss Wieruszowski has good descriptions of living conditions of Medieval students which were harsh for poorer students.

This reviewer was impressed with Miss Wieruszhoski's treatment of some of the English, French, and Italian universities. For example, the Franciscans introduced science experiments to investigate established scientific theories. The French and Italians actually did human anatomy proceedures when such teaching was frowned upon. One must remember that some of this work was done before Versalius (1514-1564)did more advanced work.

This book is divided by Miss Wieruszowski's text and "Reading." The readings are intersting comments from the Medieval students, scholars, and authorities. These readings are obviously translations, but they serve to aquaint the reader with contemporary accounts (contemporary to the Middle Ages)which gives better understanding.

This reviewer's only major criticism of THE MEDIEVAL UNIVERSITY is that the readings should have been inserted within the text rather than the second half of the book. This would have made the book more conveninet to follow.

Yet, THE MEDIEVAL UNIVERSITY is a solid book. Readers should also read THE SCHOLATIC CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES and Father Duffy's book QUEEN OF THE SCIENCES which enhance Miss Wierszowski's book and provide a better understanding of Medieval universities as well as an appreciation of what was accomplished.

This is an outstanding book giving great insight to the man who led Michigan State University to great heights of achievement and accomplishment which is still reflected today with the first land grant college in the United States. He understood the purpose and intent of why the land grant act was enacted. He created a plan and then made it happen.

"Men To Remember" is a partial history of Saint Louis University told through the lives of 47 of its Jesuit teachers during its first 150 years of Jesuit Administration. On its pages we learn much about the University as well as get a glimpse of the breadth of accomplishment of the Jesuits.

Fr. Faherty starts this book with a brief history of the university, after which he goes lays out the one to two page biographies in alphabetical order. At the start, I thought that this may be of little interest because I attended during the tail end of the covered era and, therefore, expected to have known few of the featured teachers. I was pleasantly surprised. I did read about a couple whom I had known and enjoyed being reminded of sayings that I had heard often and finding out things about them that I had not known. I also read about others whom I had known by reputation. This book did expand my understanding of the wide range of interests of our Jesuit teachers. I had read that Jesuits had been accomplished in many fields, but this book packs samples into an easy read. As a student, I had heard that Fr. Davis had started the Business School and the legends of Fr. Brown as a labor mediator, but here I read their stories. In these pages we read of historians and philosophers, economists and theologians, a seismologist, a photographer and an astronomer as well as a challenger to racial segregation and a strict religious conservative. Among these and others are holy men with their own fair share of quirks.

The Jesuits find God in all things and use all things to lead to God. In this book we are given just a few examples of how they go about this. I enjoyed this book both because of what it tells us about the Jesuits and about Saint Louis University. If either of these topics interests you, try it, you'll like it!

Although the latest edition is 1994, this remains an important book for new professors. It is the most comprehensive text for junior professors that I have seen. As a clinical psychologist and tenure coach, I recommend this resource to all the professors and postdocs with whom I work. The authors' extensive experience and thorough review of the literature makes for a treasure chest of useful information. They cover everything from the politics of your institution and department, to teaching, research and publishing, to creating your dossier for the tenure decision. They give practical, helpful advice -- the kind of advice that as the tenure decision approaches you will be thankful you had.

Michael N Bastedo has written the defining treatise on this tragically underdiscussed topic in higher education. Anybody who considers him- or herself an expert in the field of higher education policy isn't truly one unless s/he can quote this book with ease. Engaging, thoughtful, challenging, and most of all, readable...all of these things are true of this masterpiece. No higher education library is complete without Dr. Bastedo's work.

I picked up a few of these books while I was looking for schools. They're really a good read.