Chapter 1: Introduction: Active Learning Is Our Future

There are many paths to the future of higher education. Some lead to very positive outcomes, some to dead ends, and some even over a precipice. The main focus of this book is Teaching and Learning (Section III) and how the complexity of today’s universities impact learning and the ability to find novel and innovative approaches that foster learning. Teaching and learning are the core mission of higher education broadly, though from institutional perspectives commitment to teaching is affected by complicated relations with research, economic development, and other areas. Teaching and learning are facing fundamental change—some negative but mostly positive—all of which can be understood only in the context of other aspects of higher education policy and operations. Sections I and II of the book—(a) Institutional Culture, Structure, and Public Engagement and (b) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion—address those factors and their potential impact on the teaching and learning enterprise and provide important context for the discussion of teaching and learning.