A publication of The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, this important resource builds on the work of Carnegie's best-selling books, Scholarship Reconsidered and Scholarship Assessed. The Advancement of Learning explores the premise that the scholarship of teaching and learning holds the key to improving the quality of higher education.

The Advancement of Learning answers questions readers are likely to have:

• What are the defining elements of the scholarship of teaching and learning?
• What traditions does it build on?
• What are its distinctive claims and possibilities?
• What are the implications of the scholarship of teaching and learning for academic culture and careers?
• How does it shape the student experience?

In addition, authors Mary Taylor Huber and Pat Hutchings introduce a new concept that expands on the scholarship of teaching and learning--the teaching commons. As the authors explain, the teaching commons is a conceptual space in which communities of educators committed to inquiry and innovation come together to exchange ideas about teaching and learning and use them to meet the challenges of educating students for personal, professional, and civic life.

Mary Taylor Huber is a senior scholar at The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Pat Hutchings is vice president of The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.