This paper presents a model for teaching large classes that facilitates a "small class feel" to counteract the distance, anonymity, and formality that often characterize large lecture-style courses in higher education. One author (E. P.) has been teaching a 300-student general education critical thinking course for ten years, and the…

In 1995, 2000, and 2005, the authors surveyed U.S. academic economists to investigate how economics is taught in four different types of undergraduate courses at postsecondary institutions. They especially looked for any changes in teaching methods that occurred over this decade, when there were several prominent calls for economists and…

Combining lecture and small group discussion sessions, the course is divided into 5 units each centered about one major concept designed for arriving at some general understanding of a dimension of the total society. Grading is on a semi-contractual basis allowing the student unlimited opportunity to achieve the grade desired as well as desired…

Suggestions on how to enhance college teaching are provided. Lecturing is stressed as a critical component of teaching, and each lecture's introduction, main body, and conclusion must be correlated prior to any given lecture. Information on how to compose and give a lecture includes: what to put in an introduction; what can be done to help the…

Information on the responsibilities related to teaching undergraduate college students is provided in this handbook for teaching assistants (TA). Chapters cover: administrative details, such as ordering books, submitting time schedules, getting a classroom, and working with a professor; teaching, including guidelines for giving lectures, leading a…

This handbook on teaching is divided into seven parts. Following the introduction (Part I), Part II presents essays on student and faculty rights and responsibilities, evaluation and assessment, grades, and teaching and efficiency. Part III is a summary of interviews on teaching and research with 20 professors from the University of Kansas…

As offerings of online courses, programs, and degrees continue to increase, universities are grappling for ways to assess and assure quality. The quality and quantity of interaction between faculty and students and among students constitutes a significant component of the definition of quality for any course, whether online or face-to-face. It…

A handbook for University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) teaching assistants is provided compiled from materials developed at UCLA and other college teaching programs. Separate sections cover: teaching roles, meeting the first class, leading sections, teaching one's own course, motivating students, teaching tips, preparing examinations,…

Information on teaching at the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is presented for both new and established teachers. Course and lecture organization, presentation techniques, and teaching aids are covered, along with exams, grading, and teacher evaluation. Class size and composition and classroom…

College teaching, teaching skills, and practical problems are considered. The emphasis on subject matter specialization in graduate school and effects on the preparation of college teachers are considered, along with suggestions about what beginning college teachers need to know beyond subject matter training. After briefly considering assumptions…

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.…

Materials in this sourcebook are designed for use by college administrators charged with developing in-service programs that provide instructional support, procedural information, and recognition for part-time vocational instructors. The introduction to the sourcebook examines the problems encountered by part-time faculty and then discusses…

A teaching guide designed for use by new university teaching assistants provides help in preparing for and carrying out instructional responsibilities. Separate chapters give guidance with: preparing the course description and syllabus, including writing objectives; selecting teaching strategies (lecture, discussion, and laboratory experience);…