Marilla D. Svinicki has a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder and is director of the Center for Teaching Effectiveness and associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. She is also the editor in chief of the series New Directions for Teaching and Learning. She has published two edited books and many chapters on the topic of learning in postsecondary classrooms. Her teaching and research interests are in the areas of learning and motivation as translated into teaching practice.