OIRA Director Dr. Brent Anders Donates His Books to AGBU Papazian Library
3 min readYEREVAN, Armenia — Director of the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA), Senior Advisor for the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), and Adjunct Lecturer at the American University of Armenia (AUA), Dr. Brent A. Anders, donated three of the books he has authored to the AGBU Papazian Library.
In expressing how this book donation will help both the Library and CTL, Dr. Anders said, “These books address different aspects of teaching and learning and have required a great deal of time, work, and effort. That is why I wanted to ensure that all students and instructors at AUA have access to them. My hope is that my work in this field and my contributions today will help enhance the educational experience for our university and the community.”
The three books contributed by Dr. Anders are:
How to Enhance Instructional Presence: Research & Experience Based Techniques to Improve Both Online & Face-to-Face Instruction – A how-to book for instructors on using video and aspects of the Community of Inquiry Model to enhance instructional presence and improve teaching and learning.
How to Be a Super Student: Based on Science and Experience – A book geared specifically towards students, offering tips, advice, and detailed examples with online resources to help them achieve academic success. The book uses a thematic approach and presents each principal aspect of becoming a better student as a superpower that can be acquired.
The Army Learning Concept, Army Learning Model: A Guide to Understanding and Implementation – A reference book that presents the concepts and processes used by the U.S. Army to enhance and ensure successful training and instruction along with resultant student learning and retention.
When asked about what this donation meant for the library, Satenik “Bella” Avakian, director of the AGBU Papazian Library, expressed, “It’s a great privilege for the library to receive these books from the author. We are very thankful to Dr. Anders for the generous donation of his recently published books, which will serve as an exceptional addition to the Library’s print collection. The entire AUA community will benefit from these resources to amass highly effective learning skills and pick up new instructional methodologies and technologies.”
Dr. Anders also pointed to the dedication line in his latest book, How to Be a Super Student, adding that it is directed to “hardworking librarians and students everywhere.”
Commenting on his upcoming plans, Dr. Anders eagerly elaborates on his next book, which is being written “specifically for Armenia and will be available in the Armenian language thanks to the translation by my Armenian wife, Nelli. This new book deals with how to enhance the customer experience (CX). Although my specific field and expertise is in higher education and improving educational experience, one of my other passions is consumer psychology. This book, which is almost complete, offers an American viewpoint with many personal stories about my time and interactions here in Armenia. It also provides specific research-backed guidance on what can be done, right now, to improve customer experience and boost business in Armenia to ensure that it is competitive on a global scale.”
Dr. Anders has titled his new book “The Armenian Customer Experience Sleeping Dragon: An American Perspective – What Armenian Businesses Need to Know to Succeed.”
Instructors, students, staff, and the community can check out Dr. Anders’ books from the AGBU Papazian Library or purchase them online (as paperbacks or e-books) at this link.
The Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA) collects, compiles, analyzes, reports and archives data and information and supports the Administration, academic programs and academic support units in strategic planning and assessment in order to promote continuous improvement and ongoing quality assurance.
