Seven reasons for reading pedagogical materials to improve instruction are outlined, advice on how the reading can be used most effectively is given, and appropriate readings are recommended. (MSE)

College teachers can act as intermediaries between a class and a body of knowledge by making three important contributions: structure, evaluation, and support. The teacher's task is to keep the student's initial drive and enthusiasm intact while thwarting the desire to be content with easy answers. Teachers need to encourage a critical outlook and…

Aspects of the lecture that make it come across well, requirements for learning in the classroom, and selected findings from an instructor-designed questionnaire that includes student evaluations of instruction are discussed. Lecturing teachers need to talk with credibility and enthusiasm and to prepare the substance of the presentation, the…

These two documents present (1) a user's guide to the Personal Teaching Improvement Guides Program developed at the University of California, Berkeley and (2) a sample guide. The program uses results of student evaluations (keyed to 24 teaching practices) and descriptions of successful teaching practices to individualize instructional improvement…

This volume offers practical suggestions to teachers on how to improve teaching methods at the higher education level. Suggestions span various types of teaching tasks and settings. Chapter 1 is on teaching in large groups and includes lecture preparation, what to do when things go wrong, evaluating a lecture, and related topics. Chapter 2…

Elements of good teaching and ways to master effective teaching techniques are examined, drawing on direct observation, the literature, and student accounts of outstanding professors. A model of effective college teaching that includes nine styles of classroom instruction is proposed. The dramatic and interpersonal aspects of teaching and the…

This book examines elements of good college teaching and ways to master effective teaching techniques, drawing on direct observation, research on teaching and learning, and student accounts of outstanding professors. Chapter 1 reviews research on exemplary teaching and proposes a two-dimensional model of effective college teaching based on…

Designed to help teachers improve instruction, this handbook provides tips gathered from focus groups of teachers and students at New Jersey's Mercer County Community College, as well as from other teaching resources. The first part focuses on the contribution of faculty-student interaction to student success, listing 21 suggestions for building…

An overview of the field of adult education is presented, and the nature of adult learners and eight basic instructional modes are discussed. The focus is skills that make people better teachers and the intended audience is college professors, continuing education instructors outside the formal education setting, and students of higher education.…

This introductory guide to college instruction is intended for graduate students who are or are to become teaching assistants (TAs). It proposes that TA effectiveness may be improved through self-reflection, information about teaching, and adjustments in teaching practices. The first three chapters are introductory. The first considers teaching…