Our Instructors

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Elizabeth F. Barkley

College Professor & Author
Executive Director of the K. Patricia Cross Academy

An innovative educator who has dedicated over four decades to serving students and teachers, Elizabeth is both the Executive Director of the K. Patricia Cross Academy, and an instructor.

Over the course of her career she’s been named California's Higher Education Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, formally recognized for her contributions to undergraduate education by the California State Legislature, and chosen as recipient of the Terry O’Banion Lifetime Achievement Prize for Inspiring Significant Change to Teaching and Learning.

She’s also been selected as "Innovator of the Year" in conjunction with the National League for Innovation, presented with the Hayward Award for Educational Excellence, and honored by the Center for Diversity in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.

Additionally, she’s been named one of two Carnegie Scholars in the discipline of music by the Carnegie Foundation in conjunction with the Pew Charitable Trusts; and her “Musics of Multicultural America” course was selected as “Best Online Course” by the California Virtual Campus.

Professor Emerita of Music History at Foothill College in Los Altos, Elizabeth holds a B.A. and M.A. from University of California, Riverside and a Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley.

Bestselling books include:

Engaged Teaching: A Handbook for College Faculty

Co-authored with Claire H. Major (SocialGood, 2022)

Interactive Lecturing: A Handbook for College Faculty

Co-authored with Claire H. Major
(Wiley/Jossey-Bass, 2018)

Learning Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty

Co-authored with Claire H. Major
(Wiley/Jossey-Bass, 2016)

Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty

Co-authored with Claire H. Major and K. Patricia Cross
(Wiley/Jossey-Bass, Second Edition, 2014)

Student Engagement Techniques

(Wiley/Jossey-Bass, 2010)

Crossroads: The Roots of America's Popular Music

(Prentice Hall, 2nd Edition, 2007)

Interactive digital textbooks* include:

Crossroads: The Music of American Cultures (2013)
World Music: Roots to Contemporary Global Fusions (2012)
Great Composers and Music Masterpieces of Western Civilization (2015)

Co-authored with Robert Hartwell

*For Kendall Hunt in conjunction with Great River Learning

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Claire H. Major

University Professor & Author
Executive Information Officer of the K. Patricia Cross Academy

A thought leader devoted to elevating higher education, Claire serves as the Executive Information Officer of the K. Patricia Cross Academy and as an instructor.

A Professor of Higher Education at The University of Alabama, Claire teaches courses on college teaching, technology in higher education, reading research in the field of higher education, and qualitative research methods.

Her research interests include faculty work, pedagogical approaches, technology for teaching, and online learning. She also focuses on issues of higher education in popular culture and higher education as a field of study.

Typically drawing upon qualitative methods to answer research questions, Claire holds a B.A. from University of South Alabama, an M.A. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia.

A popular author, Claire has published work in leading education journals and presents at both national and international conferences.

Popular Books:

Engaged Teaching: A Handbook for College Faculty

Co-authored with Elizabeth F. Barkley (SocialGood, 2022)

Teaching Online: A Guide to Theory, Research, and Practice

(Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015)

Interactive Lecturing: A Handbook for College Faculty

Co-authored with Elizabeth Barkley
(Wiley/Jossey-Bass, 2018)

Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty

Co-authored with Elizabeth F. Barkley and K. Patricia Cross
(2nd edition, Jossey Bass, 2014)

The Essential Guide to Qualitative Research: A Handbook of Theory and Practice

Co-authored with Maggi Savin-Baden
(Routledge, 2013)

An Introduction to Qualitative Research Synthesis: Managing the Information Explosion

Co-authored with Maggi Savin-Baden
(Routledge, 2011)

Foundations of Problem-Based Learning

Co-authored with Maggi Savin-Baden
(Open University Press, 2004).

I really liked the design of the website. It was very easy to navigate, and I appreciated how all the different teaching techniques were right alongside each other. Believe it or not, I utilized some of these techniques as both a student, and as a teaching assistant. Overall, I think the website is a wonderful reference for both teachers and students in terms of expanding their learning capabilities! 

Teaching Assistant

I included the [K. Patricia Cross Academy] website in the facilitated online workshop I created for faculty to help them move to online teaching. The gratitude for sharing this site with faculty has been overwhelming! They are finding it so very helpful! We have even linked it to our Faculty Toolkit web page through Faculty Professional Development. 

Faculty Member

The Cross Academy is a resource every teacher should utilize.  The ideas and information create engaging opportunities for students and are easy for teachers to adapt to their lessons. After Dr. Major's class I shared this resource with my mom, an educator of 40 years, who loves the ideas and has implemented a few in her high school classroom.

Museum Director

Your content - especially the videos - is lucid, simple to understand, and it seamlessly bridges the gap between theory and practice. 

Faculty Member

I really enjoyed navigating the site. I especially found it to be extremely beneficial for someone like me, who has more of an interdisciplinary focus in both communication and education, and particularly an interest in pedagogical communication. The site introduced a lot of really interesting and useful techniques for active teacher-student engagement regardless of the subject matter, which I also believe is very useful.

Teaching Assistant