IU Teaching Handbook: Section 1 — Preparing to Teach

This first section of the IU Teaching Handbook discusses how to plan a course, issues of professionalism, and the use of teaching evaluations to improve a course from year to year.

Contents

Planning a Course

Professionalism

Interpreting Teaching Evaluations

Bibliography

Printed copies of this handbook are available for purchase at Collegiate Copies at 1434 East Third Street (339-3769).

Planning a Course

Adapted with permission from Farris, 1985

Your preparation for teaching a course will depend both upon type of class for which you are responsible, the discipline (science, humanities, etc.), the size of the class, and whether it is a requirement.

Regardless of these factors, all preparation involves establishing what it is you want students to learn (instructional objectives), choosing instructional strategies (lecture, discussion, lab, individual presentations, group projects, one-on-one consultation, etc. or a combination), and selecting appropriate materials (texts, handouts, films, videotapes, etc.) to achieve those aims.

Good organization is important to all phases of instruction, from curriculum development to determining presentation format. Organizing a course does not mean throwing together a conglomeration of lectures, discussions, and handouts. From the syllabus to the final examination, every aspect of the course should focus on defined educational goals, the most important of which is the level of learning you expect students to achieve.

Links

The following links will take you to additional information about Indiana University.

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Identifying Objectives

The first step in organizing a lecture, discussion, lab, or course should be to establish the level of performance you expect from your students and their current level of performance. You may need to administer a diagnostic test or a survey to determine what students already know and what they need to learn.

Begin by asking yourself: What do I want my students to be able to do? How will they be different as a result of this lecture, discussion, lab, or course? The answers to these questions are your objectives. Bloom (1956) has proposed a taxonomy of learning objectives which move from lesser to greater levels of abstraction and complexity in the thinking process. Instruction can be organized around one or more of these objectives:

A college course should aim at teaching more than the simple task of recalling facts. By sharing information about these levels of thinking about subject matter content with your students, you can help them to become more reflective learners.

Lectures facilitate learning at the lower end of the taxonomy—knowledge, comprehension, and application, while discussions, problem-solving, writing, and other more interactive teaching strategies tend to facilitate higher-order objectives—analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Your choice of teaching strategies should reflect the levels of thinking and learning in which you want students to be engaged.

After determining your objectives, your next step in the planning process is to decide how to evaluate the extent to which students have mastered each objective. If your objectives are clearly defined, it is easy to evaluate them. For example, if one of your objectives is to have students learn to apply subject area principles to new situations, then the evaluation process could present an unfamiliar case or collection of new data. Students would be asked to identify how the learned principle can be applied, and what the product or outcome of the application would look like. If another objective is for students to evaluate the relative validity of multiple interpretations of an event, you can test their mastery by providing several contrasting interpretations and ask students to apply the criteria they have learned for assessing relative validity.

It is important to be aware of the fact that some of the objectives you identify for your course will deal with course content. You will need to determine how much material students can realistically cover in a 15-week semester. Students learn more and have better retention of information and skills when the instructor limits the scope of material covered. A well-focused course that provides a sound intellectual challenge will be more successful and lead to greater student achievement than a course whose main goal is to “expose” students to lots of material. Make sure that all materials selected help students master a specific course objective. Content that does not have an explicit purpose within the framework of your objectives should not be included in the syllabus. If, after further thought and reflection, you decide the material is important and should be included, you will need to revise your objectives to reflect this change.

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Selecting Instructional Strategies That Fit Objectives

Adapted with permission from Farris, 1985

The teaching strategies you select will depend directly on your course objectives. If you need to cover 50 years of research in ten weeks, and your primary goal is that students be able to recall the facts, you will probably use the “lecture and test” approach. If you want your students to be capable of applying course material, you will not only have to present factual material through readings and lectures, but also show them how to develop generalizations from the background knowledge (discussion, study problems, assignments). In addition, you will need to provide them with multiple opportunities to apply newly learned principles in novel situations (laboratory experiments, papers, case studies, small group projects, and examinations). For students to learn and remember a concept, they must see an example (and possibly even multiple examples), gain knowledge of the generalization, and apply the concept through an application activity that is as close to the real world as possible.

Matching instructional strategies to course objectives is an important part of the planning stage. To help you select teaching strategies compatible with your objectives, ask yourself some of the following questions:

By considering such questions, you can begin to formulate strategies and techniques that match the objectives you set for the course (adapted with permission from Ronkowski, 1986).

In summary, the planning stage of instruction consists of four steps:

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Your Instructional Style

Having established objectives and assessment techniques, determined an appropriate sequence, and chosen suitable instructional materials to help students meet your expectation, you now have the opportunity to implement these plans in a variety of ways. Remember, “the instructional strategies and techniques that you adopt as a teacher bespeak your attitudes about yourself and your students and your respective roles in the teaching process” (adapted with permission from Crow, 1980).

It is important to remember that everyone tends to teach in the style in which they learn best. An instructor who has studied with a great lecturer may feel lecturing is the only way to teach. However, this might not be the best instructional style for all of your students. Be aware that individuals vary greatly in their learning styles, and your goal is to take them from wherever they are to the next level of development. Learn to teach the students you have rather than the students you want to have. All students can succeed when their learning needs are addressed. The following differences represent a continua along which different people have learning preferences. Some people:

There is no one “best way” to learn, no one right or wrong preference on the continua. Try to include activities that allow students to learn in a variety of modes. The more active involvement students have in the learning process (through discussions, question and answer sessions, group projects, problem sets, presentations, etc.), the more information they will retain and the more enjoyable they will find their learning experience in your course. Using an interactive teaching style may result in the following benefits for students:

In general, considerable evidence indicates that teaching techniques that maximize interaction between students and teachers (and among students themselves) tend to emphasize cognitive tasks at the higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy of learning objectives (X-ref; see page 2). In selecting an instructional style for your lecture, discussion, lab, or course, keep in mind what it is you think is most important for your students to learn. The ways in which your objectives are carried out will either facilitate or hinder what you are trying to accomplish with students. This is why it is important to “fit” your teaching style to both your course objectives and to your students’ varied learning styles.

The following are some interactive teaching techniques to help do this (adapted from Povlacs, 1986):

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The First Day of Class

Adapted with permission from Northeastern University, 1986

The first day of class can be an anxious experience for your students. Students enter the first day of class with at least four questions (Ericksen, 1984):

To this list we should add:

Keep in mind that the first day of class sets the tone for the whole course. This is the best opportunity you have to establish your expectations for student achievement and behavior. Take advantage of the fact that most students will be looking for signs to indicate what the course holds for them, and will therefore be highly attentive. Therefore, be careful to communicate to students not only your high expectations for them, but also your commitment to and support for their learning.

Avoid bold de-motivating statements such as, “Half of you might not finish the course,” or “Only one student made an A in this course last semester.” Even if there is truth in these statements, they tend to discourage those students who, though highly capable, lack the confidence necessary to persevere past the negative rhetoric. Instead, use language that encourages students: “This course will challenge you, but I know you are capable of doing it.”

It is essential to go over the syllabus carefully with the students. The syllabus represents the thought and planning that went into your course. It therefore conveys to students much about who you are, how well you are organized, and what kind of teacher you will be. Presenting and discussing the syllabus will give students a chance to ask questions, to clarify policies, and to reflect upon the demands of the course. This is a good time to talk with your students about academic honesty and the ethical standards you have set. Make clear your estimate of how much out-of-class study and preparation time the course will require.

Treat the first day as a substantive meeting, not merely an administrative house keeping day. Give students a sampling of what they will be doing in your course. This conveys your seriousness as an instructor, and communicates to students that class time will be spent productively. If you expect students to participate in discussion during the semester, set up a discussion on the first day to establish early that this is what your classroom will be like. If you want students to be active listeners and questioners in class, design an activity that will allow you to model how this process works in your classroom. If writing is an important part of your course, give students a brief, in-class writing exercise related to their first assignment.

One excellent exercise on the first day is to administer a “pre-test” or “knowledge survey” on topics you will be covering during the semester. The purpose of this activity is two-fold. First, it allows you to see what knowledge or understanding students do or do not bring into the classroom; second, it gives students a chance to reflect upon what they need to know to succeed in the course.

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First Class Survival Tips

Adapted with permission from Unruh, 1986

The first class sets the semester in motion, so consider carefully what you want to do in that first meeting. The culture of a course is fixed very early in the term; the first thing students learn in any class are the “rules of the game.” If you want your students to do writing or group work or to ask questions late in the semester, get them to do these things from the beginning. Once their expectations for the class are formed, it is difficult to get them to change. The following is an agenda that may help you structure the meeting and allay some of your anxiety.

If you want to achieve an informal style, arrive early and begin to know your students. This will help you relax and help your students get to know you. If you prefer a more formal style, wait until the appointed hour and then enter the classroom. Allow a little extra time for “lost” students.

Once you begin speaking, try to speak slowly. Remember to slow the rate of speech and focus your attention on what you want to get across instead of how you are saying it or how you appear. If you are afraid of speaking in front of a group, you are not alone. Public speaking beats out sharks and flying as the number one fear in the United States. It does get easier.

Begin by introducing yourself and write your name on the board. You might go around the room and ask for names, majors, city of origin, and the like. Remember, the students are at least as nervous as you are. Locate each name on the roster and make a point of learning student names.

Let your students know that you are organized. Give them a syllabus that includes the following information: your name, office hours, times and locations of other class meetings, the professor’s name and office hours, your office telephone number, the required text and readings, the number and dates of examinations, information about lab or homework assignments, guidelines for term papers or class projects, a breakdown of how the course grades will be determined, the time and date of the final exam, whether class notes are available, and other information of interest. For complete syllabus contents, see “The Syllabus” section below.

Prepare for predictable enrollment problems and procedures. Tell students who wish to add your course or section to call the Registrar’s Office Automated Course Exchange at 855-1000; students can check for waitlist statistics by referring to the Registrar’s Office web page at http://www.indiana.edu/~registra. If the course or section is full and students ask to be added on an overload basis, consult with your department about its policy.

Briefly sketch the kind of material presented in your class and the kinds of activities required of them throughout the semester to give students an idea of what to expect from your course. Be enthusiastic! Enthusiasm comes from confidence, excitement about the subject, and pleasure in teaching. Your facial expressions and smiles, attentiveness to students, movement away from the podium or chalkboard, and eye contact that is long enough to observe students’ expressions will all demonstrate your enthusiasm. Other ways to express enthusiasm include using vocal inflections to emphasize and de-emphasize material, and being willing to listen to students and to express interest in their contributions (adapted with permission from University of Nevada, Reno).

Finally, ask if there are any questions regarding the course, its requirements, or your role within it. Be sure to pause long enough for the students to reflect and formulate questions.

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Skills of a Good Teacher

Adapted with permission from University of Illinois, 1980

N. L. Gage (1976), director of research and development in teaching at Stanford University, formulated six characteristics of effective presentations. He found that successful college instructors:

At the Teaching Resources Center, we have indeed found the above points to be important. We often find a course can be significantly improved simply by implementing these. Be aware that not all lessons proceed as planned, and allow some class time for various unexpected happenings. Instructional skill takes time to develop, as does any valuable talent. Work on one, or at the most, two skills each week.

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The Syllabus

Your course syllabus can do much to calm student anxiety on the first day of class. The ideal syllabus (either one you design or one provided by a lead instructor or by the department) should serve as a basic reference document for both you and your students, and as such should include the following items:

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Class Rolls & Grade Books

You will receive a class roster at the beginning of the semester. A revised roster, which reflects the class enrollment once students have dropped and added the course, will arrive later in the semester. You may want to photocopy the roster for keeping attendance records in your sections or labs, or to record grades throughout the semester. It is always advisable to have at least one duplicate copy of your recorded grades in the event that your roster is misplaced. Class rosters, including student e-mail addresses, are also available from the Registrar’s Office, by phoning 855-0121, or e-mailing registrar@indiana.edu. If you are listed as the instructor of record with the Registrar’s Office and have an IU computer account, you may access your own electronic roster directly at http://www.indiana.edu/~registra/Services/elecrost.html. This roster distribution site is “user friendly” and will tell you how to proceed step-by-step.

Computer grade book programs or spreadsheets offer an efficient way of keeping track of student grades, attendance, and general background information (telephone, address, class schedule, etc.). Public domain or shareware grade book programs are available for free or very inexpensively. These are generally easy to use. You can also use a general-purpose spreadsheet like Excel to calculate your grades and store your records. A sample Excel grade book is available for download. For more information, contact Campus Instructional Consulting, Franklin Hall 004, 855-9023, teaching@indiana.edu, or the Teaching & Learning Technologies Lab, Ballantine Hall 307, 855-7829.

Information about the campus calendar, including last day to drop and final exam schedules, is published in the Schedule of Classes each term.

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Course Packets & Readers

When planning their courses, many faculty members find that no commercially published textbooks meet their needs. They choose to compile course packets or readers of photocopied articles instead. Course packets can be a very useful way to make the best texts available to your students. If you decide to compile a course packet for your course, consider the following guidelines so as to make the document as accessible as possible for students.

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Classrooms

Adapted with permission from University of Tennessee, 1986

Before your first class meeting, you should check the rooms where you will be teaching. Look at the way the rooms are organized. Seating is a prime consideration, and it can do a great deal to either facilitate or hinder what goes on in your classroom. The traditional rule of thumb is to make sure that students are clearly within the instructor’s range of vision.

Remember that you may be able to manipulate seating to foster any number of effects from closeness to conflict. There are any number of ways to arrange seating. You’ll want to experiment and solicit suggestions from students. For example, if you want to encourage discussion, place desks or chairs in a circle or horseshoe. This arrangement facilitates the give-and-take of conversation, as students can see one another when they talk. Students are also much more likely to get to know one another in a face-to-face seating arrangement and are more apt to stay attentive throughout the hour, as it is more difficult to withdraw or “space out” from a circle without being noticed. If you plan to lecture, arrange the furniture so that all students can easily see you without straining. Ask your students to comment upon present arrangements and on what would be useful for them.

Good environments are frequently flexible ones. Feel free to have students move their chairs several times during a class. For example, you might have them move into a circle for discussion, into small groups for in-depth exploration of a topic, and back to rows for your lecture. Experiment with different room arrangements to find those that work best for you (adapted with permission from Ronkowski, 1986).

If you plan to have students work in groups but your assigned room has fixed chairs, you may have to be especially creative in grouping students. Asking students in a given row to stand, face students in the row behind, and pair off, is one way to manage the situation. Allowing students to gather in corners of the room, or even to go outside to meet (with a deadline for returning) can also be a successful way of dealing with the limitation.

In some newer and remodeled buildings, classrooms have dry marker boards instead of the more traditional chalk. Check with your department or the building manager to see where you can get the right kind of erasable markers.

If there is a problem, the room might be changed. Follow your department’s policy for obtaining a room change. Ordinarily the office to contact is Classroom Scheduling, 855-2489. Your departmental scheduling officer may also be helpful if you need to change your classroom.

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Office Hours

Adapted with permission from Unruh, 1986

Office hours are an important extension of the classroom. This is one of the few times when the protective shield of impersonality at the university can be broken.

Some students are reluctant to come to office hours. Freshmen have just come from a high school environment where “going to the office” meant being punished. One instructor we know started calling it “Study Table” instead of “Office Hours” and found that many more students wanted to study with a group of fellow students than had ever wanted to “come to the office.”

Another strategy to encourage student-instructor interaction is to require all students to sign up for an office conference with you at a key point in the semester (before a major exam, before a major paper). Shy students will thus have a compelling reason to speak with you face-to-face, something they might never volunteer to do. This also gives you an opportunity to have a conversation with each student about his/her performance, and to offer encouragement on an individual level. Development of a more informal, personal relationship with students can improve the atmosphere of the classroom.

Getting students to come to your office hours is not always a problem; you may find that many students will come in, and for many different reasons. You may find yourself helping a student with the material for your course, with the logistics of a course that contains unfamiliar material, or with a personal problem. You should be aware of ways to facilitate a helpful tutorial or counseling session:

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Professionalism

Sexual Harassment

Adapted with permission from Farris, 1985, and the Indiana University Academic Handbook

The university’s educational mission is promoted by professionalism in instructor-student relationships. Professionalism is fostered by an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect. Actions of instructors and students that harm this atmosphere undermine professionalism and hinder fulfillment of the university’s educational mission. Trust and respect are diminished when those in positions of authority abuse or appear to abuse their power. Those who abuse their power in such a context violate their duty to the university community.

Instructors exercise power over students, whether in giving them praise or criticism, evaluating them, making recommendations for their further studies or employment, etc. All amorous or sexual relationships between instructors and students are unacceptable when the instructor has any professional responsibility for the student. Such situations greatly increase the chances that the instructor will abuse his or her power and sexually exploit the student. Voluntary consent by the student in such a relationship is suspect, given the fundamentally asymmetric nature of the relationship. Moreover, other students and instructors may be affected by such behavior because it places the instructor in a position to favor one student’s interest at the expense of others and implicitly makes obtaining benefits contingent on amorous or sexual favors. Therefore, the university will view it as a violation of the Code of Academic Ethics if instructors engage in amorous or sexual relations with students for whom they have professional responsibility, either in an instructional context (a student enrolled in your class) or a non-instructional context (any decisions that may reward or penalize a student with whom he or she has or has had an amorous or sexual relationship, especially when the instructor and student are in the same academic unit or in allied units).

Issues of sexual harassment can be especially tricky for associate instructors because they occupy the roles of both instructor and student. Associate instructors are in a particularly vulnerable position: as an instructor you have some power over your own students, and as a graduate student you are subject to the power of the faculty over your academic record and letters of recommendation. Therefore, the issue of sexual harassment must be addressed from two directions; your potential for harassing (or being perceived as harassing) your students, and the potential for you to be harassed by those who instruct and supervise you.

The following are some general guidelines for protecting yourself and the students you teach from sexual harassment:

More information, including the formal definition of harassment and the procedures to follow in such cases, can be found in the IU Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct, Part I. A. 3 (1–2) and Appendix 2 (41–42) and the IU Academic Handbook, p. 35.

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Privacy of Student Records

Federal law provides for the confidentiality of student records. Each instructor must take care that student records not be revealed to anyone other than the student. If you post grades of any kind, be certain to establish for each student a special identification code (or use only a part of their ID numbers) that only you and the student know. Or you can post the grades via the World Wide Web, if you have set up an on–line grade book developed by the Bureau of Evaluative Studies and Testing (BEST, 855–1595). Use the students’ names and identification numbers to keep grade records, but do not permit any student to inspect those records.

Indiana University, in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 (also known as the Buckley Amendment), permits its students to inspect their records whenever appropriate and to challenge specific parts of them. Specific guidelines and procedures for inspection of student records may be found in Appendix 4 of the IU Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct (43–45). A detailed statement of these rights, and a summary of our institutional policies as mandated by the University Faculty Council, are set out in the Academic Handbook, the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct, and the Schedule of Classes.

In general, the Buckley Amendment prohibits the release or disclosure to anyone other than the student her/himself of any part of the content of a student’s education records without the prior, written consent of the student. Some (relatively common) examples of the inappropriate disclosure of education records by instructors are:

Indiana University fully supports the rights of its students to access and review their education records and to prevent the disclosure of their contents to third parties without prior consent from the student. The university instructs all academic personnel to ensure that their practices comply with the university’s system–wide policy concerning the release of student information. University academic personnel who wish further clarification on these matters may contact Michael Klein or Kip Drew, Office of University Counsel, 855–9739.

(adapted by permission from an unpublished memo, K. R. R. Gros Louis, 1995)

Links

The following links will take you to additional readings associated with this general section.

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Letters of Recommendation

Adapted with permission from University of Tennessee

Students may ask you to recommend them for a particular job, acceptance to another institution, or graduate school. If you feel you must decline, simply explain why not. If you are willing to write the letter, do so promptly, while you still have the student and his or her performance sharply in mind.

Keep in mind that you are legally responsible for statements you make in your recommendation, to the extent, at least, that you are liable for any deleterious remarks you make. If you have reason to be concerned about something you want to express, preface what you have to say with something like, “To the best of my knowledge…” Under the Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a student has the right to see a copy of your recommendation unless he or she signs a waiver; however, if you wish to, you are free to give a copy of the recommendation to the student.

If you seek any further advice concerning the writing of these letters, please visit Writing Tutorial Services in Ballantine Hall 206.

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Teaching Portfolios

Teaching portfolios are becoming a common and highly successful tool for the evaluation of teaching. When done well they can be used for both summative and formative assessments of teaching. Summatively, portfolios give a much more comprehensive and accurate picture of your teaching than any other single device. Formatively, the portfolio helps an instructor reflect systematically and regularly upon his/her teaching. For anyone planning to apply for tenure or for a position at a university, a solid teaching portfolio is essential.

Campus Instructional Consulting runs workshops every fall on how to develop a teaching portfolio. They also have handouts that provide suggestions and guidelines. Your department may also sponsor portfolio workshops.

Another good source of information is The Teaching Portfolio, by Peter Seldin. Seldin has categorized the material of a teaching portfolio into three areas, suggested by the list below. You might begin construction of your own portfolio by generating or collecting as many of these items as you can.

Documents that the teacher produces

Documents from peers, students, institutions

Documents showing student achievement

Links

The following links will take you to additional readings associated with this general section.

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Interpreting Teaching Evaluations

There are several reasons to evaluate your teaching performance. You might want to know how well you delivered a lecture or managed a classroom activity, how students are feeling about a special technique you are using, whether you are providing enough or too much content, if students think your tests are fair, how useful the textbook and/or readings are, how much material is learned, or any of several other questions about the teaching/learning process and its results.

Campus Instructional Consulting often works with faculty and instructors to interpret end–of–the–semester student evaluations and to determine what changes might help their students learn.

Summative and Formative Evaluations

In conversations about the evaluation of teaching, one often hears several terms bandied about, describing different types of assessment. It is useful to clarify these terms and the purposes of these different techniques:

FORMATIVE EVALUATION is aimed at personal teaching improvement; it is designed to provide an instructor with information he/she can use in current and future classes. Our “Student Evaluation of Teaching” (SET) (and the accompanying consultation with TRC staff) is a kind of formative evaluation. One takes advantage of another kind of formative evaluation when inviting a TRC staff member to the classroom to observe what happens there and discuss it. Formative evaluation is best done before the semester ends, so that one has a chance to make changes that will directly impact the learning going on in the classroom. Such evaluation is confidential and not used for purposes of tenure or promotion decisions. It is conducted as a conversation with peers who are interested in helping you reach your teaching goals.

An instructor can do his/her own formative assessment by having students respond to a mid–term questionnaire about what is facilitating their learning and what they would like to see changed. Also look under Classroom Assessment Techniques for ways to get immediate feedback in order to make mid–course corrections.

SUMMATIVE EVALUATION is an after–the–fact assessment of a course. End of semester evaluations like BEST’s MultiOp, or departmental surveys which are used primarily for performance review, are summative. Summative forms should always include these two items: “This is one of the best courses” and “This is one of the best instructors” or some variation of these two items.

Teacher–Course Evaluations by Students

Instructors have several options available to collect feedback from their students.

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Other Sources of Instructional Feedback

Classroom Assessment

Good teachers will often also want to do less formal evaluations. In fact, a set of techniques, called Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs), developed by Angelo and Cross (1993) have been developed to allow ongoing, immediate feedback. These techniques are quick to use, easy to interpret, and provide a wealth of information about students’ thinking.

CATs are feedback devices to help us determine how much, how well, and simply how our students learn. Campus Instructional Consulting staff can help you identify the question you would like to ask about your students’ learning and adapt a CAT to your topic. Many instructors on the Bloomington campus are beginning to use them regularly.

Teaching Consultation

Teaching Consultation is available to all instructors at Indiana University. This process is designed to provide you with a comprehensive and in–depth look at your instruction, both in its design and in the classroom presentation. Through the voluntary, individualized, and confidential service, you work with a teaching consultant to collect a variety of information on your classroom performance. Review and discussion of this information provides you with the kinds of insights into your teaching, which can assist in improvements. For more information, contact an IU instructional consultant. Check the list in the inside cover of this handbook for information specific to your school or discipline.

Links

The following links will take you to additional readings associated with this general section.

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Bibliography

General References

Most of these works are available at Campus Instructional Consulting , Franklin 004.

Angelo, T. A. & Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey–Bass Publishers. This is the sourcebook for methods to find out what your students are thinking, what they understand and what they don’t, and how they feel about your class.

Astin, Alexander (1993). What Matters in College: Four Critical Years Revisited. San Francisco: Jossey–Bass.

Christensen, C. R. (1987). Teaching and the Case Method. Harvard Business School: Publishing Division. This is a good review of the case discussion method.

Davis, B. G. (1993). Tools for Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey–Bass Publishers. Davis presents excellent practical advice on college teaching, suggests several innovative teaching strategies, and provides an overview of the research on many teaching issues.

Eble, K. E. (1976). The Craft of Teaching: A Guide to Mastering the Professor’s Art. San Francisco: Jossey–Bass Publishers. Eble reflects on the profession of teaching and gives practical advice for improving teaching effectiveness.

Erickson, B. L., & Strommer, D. W. (1991). Teaching College Freshmen. San Francisco: Jossey–Bass Publishers. Erickson and Strommer discuss good teaching in general and many of the issues which are particular to first–year students and their adjustment from high school to college.

Furmann, B. S., & Grasha, A. F. (1983). A Practical Handbook for College Teachers. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. Both a review of the research on teaching and very concrete suggestions for improvement.

Gullette, M. M. (Ed.). (1982). The Art and Craft of Teaching. Cambridge, MA: Harvard–Danforth Center for Teaching and Learning. In this collection of eight essays, experienced teachers provide insights and practical advice for beginning teachers.

Grasha, Anthony (1996). Teaching with Style. Alliance Publishers. Outstanding resource. Comprehensive, easy to use. This book is full of practical ideas on teaching and explanations of how to. It also does a good job of linking concrete assignments or exercises to the theories that support them.

Heinich, R., Molenda, M., & Russell, J. D. (1993). Instructional Media and the New Technologies of Instruction (4th ed.). New York: Wiley. The book on choosing and using media and technology in the classroom.

Hill, W. F. (1969). Learning through Discussion (Rev. ed.). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications. Especially helpful for learning how to structure and lead discussion sessions effectively.

Indiana University Bloomington, Dean of the Faculties Office. (1986). Evaluation of Teaching Handbook. Bloomington, IN: Author. A good starting place on teaching evaluation. Why to do it and different sources: students, peers, self.

Lewis, K. G. (1993). The TA Experience: Preparing for Multiple Roles. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press. The proceedings of the third national conference on the training and employments of graduate teaching assistants, this volume contains many useful articles about graduate students’ teaching.

Lowman, J. (1984). Mastering the Techniques of Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers. An excellent introduction to university teaching. He stresses skills needed to both present material and establish rapport with students.

McKeachie, W. J. (Ed.). (1999). Teaching Tips: A Guidebook for the Beginning College Teacher (10th ed.). Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company.

McKeachie (and in the current edition, several other teaching experts have also contributed chapters) offers advice on a broad range of topics, suggests the best use of innovative teaching strategies, and provides overviews of theoretical work done on various teaching issues. The classic in the field.

Nyquist, J., et. al. (Eds.). (1991). Preparing the Professoriate of Tomorrow to Teach. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing. The proceedings of the second national conference on the training and employment of graduate teaching assistants, this volume contains many useful articles about graduate students’ teaching. Section IV, “The International Teaching Assistant,” presents good advice on the unique challenges of teaching outside one’s own culture.

Sarkisian, E. (1990). Teaching American Students: A Guide for International Faculty and Teaching Fellows. Harvard University, Danforth Center for Teaching and Learning. A clear, brief treatment of the assumptions which shape the American university classroom and strategies for international teachers.

Seldin, Peter (1997). The Teaching Portfolio (2nd ed.). Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing. Seldin gives practical advice for creating a teaching portfolio.

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