CATLOE Reads

A photograph of the Minerva status at the University at Albany

CATLOE staff work hard to informed about the newest developments in the research on human learning and best practices for teaching. On the CATLOE reads page, we share our recommendations for books that are certain to inform and inspire UAlbany teachers!

We invite you to stop by and take a look at these books in the CATLOE Resource Library. We’ll provide the coffee and a comfy chair!

Featured Reads - Fall 2026

Catherine Denial, A Pedagogy of Kindness (2024)

Book cover for *A Pedagogy of Kindness* by Catherine J. Denial. The image shows colorful overlapping umbrellas form a geometric pattern, with white title text centered across lower portion.

A great read for instructors who want to build better relationships with students

A Pedagogy of Kindness invites college instructors to be kinder to our students—and to ourselves. Denial is careful to distinguish kindness from simply being “nice,” offering a compelling argument that we can maintain integrity while still showing compassion for our students. Readers will leave this book with both a new lens through which to view teaching and concrete, manageable strategies to communicate care for students in syllabi, in classes, and in our assessment of their learning.

Learn more about A Pedagogy of Kindness from the University of Oklahoma Press.

James M. Lang, Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning (2021)

Book cover for *Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning* by James M. Lang. The image shows a green background design featuring a white circular title panel, curved pale-green bands, James M. Lang’s name, “Second Edition,” and Jossey-Bass imprint.

A great read for instructors who want to make small, high-impact changes to their teaching

Small Teaching focuses on manageable, practical teaching strategies that have a big impact on student learning. All of Lang’s practical suggestions are explicitly grounded in current research on human learning, and the book is organized around specific cognitive actions that have a demonstrable effect on students’ learning. Readers are guaranteed to leave this book with many ideas for new practices that will yield big results without a big investment of time.

Learn more about Small Teaching from Wiley Publishing.

John Warner, More than Words: How to Think about Writing in the Age of AI (2025)

Book cover for More Than Words by John Warner. The image shows a partial headline “more than words” with a vertical text cursor between “than” and “words.” Blue rounded cards feature the subtitle “How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI” and author name “John Warner,.

A great read for instructors who want to help students develop as thinkers and writers without relying on AI

More than Words makes an impassioned argument for the value and uniqueness of human-produced writing. Rather than simply lament the rise of generative AI as a mechanism for students to offload the difficult cognitive work of writing, Warner invites us to use this challenging moment to re-examine our approach to teaching writing. Most importantly, he urges us to move forward, providing a three-part framework for action: resist, renew, and explore.

Learn more about More than Words from Basic Books.

Find more great reads!

Visit the CATLOE Print Library page to learn more about all the titles in our collection.