What makes a good college teacher? This book provides an evidence- based answer to that question by presenting a set of "model teaching characteristics" that define what makes a good college teacher. Based on six fundamental areas of teaching competency known as Model Teaching Characteristics outlined by The Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP), this book describes how college faculty from all disciplines and at all levels of experience can use these characteristics to evaluate, guide, and improve their teaching. Evidence based research supports the inclusion of each characteristic, each of which is illustrated through example, to help readers master the skills. Readers learn to evaluate their teaching abilities by providing guidance on what to document and how to accumulate and organize the evidence. Two introductory chapters outline the model teaching characteristics followed by six chapters, each devoted to one of the characteristics: training, instructional methods, course content, assessment, syllabus construction, and student evaluations. The book: -Features in each chapter self-evaluation surveys that help readers identify gaps between the model characteristics and their own teaching, case studies that illustrate common teaching problems, discussion questions that encourage critical thinking, and additional readings for further exploration. -Discusses the need to master teaching skills such as collaborative learning, listening, and using technology as well as discipline-specific knowledge. -Advocates for the use of student-learning outcomes to help teachers better evaluate student performance based on their achievement of specific learning goals. -Argues for the development of learning objectives that reflect the core of the discipline‘s theories and applications, strengthen basic liberal arts skills, and infuse ethical and diversity issues. -Discusses how to solicit student feedback and utilize these evaluations to improve teaching. Intended for professional development or teacher training courses offered in masters and doctoral programs in colleges and universities, this book is also an invaluable resource for faculty development centers, college and university administrators, and college teachers of all levels and disciplines, from novice to the most experienced, interested in becoming more effective teachers.

The essential guide to teaching and learning in higher education for early career academics, postgraduate researchers, graduate teaching assistants and professional services staff. This accessible text offers practical guidance for anyone new to teaching in higher education. It covers key aspects of teaching and learning relevant for early career academics, postgraduate researchers, graduate teaching assistants and professional services staff, including those working towards Advance HE/Higher Education Academy (HEA) recognition. Understand how to plan and evaluate teaching sessions, the dynamics of teaching in small and large groups, how to use technology effectively, the particular challenges of laboratory and fieldwork and the importance of inclusive practice and career development. Key features include: · Practical strategies to enhance student learning and motivation. · Case studies from higher education professionals in various roles · Activities and reflection points applying educational principles to your own teaching · Chapter links to the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF)

"This book is a sophisticated and insightful conceptualization of outcomes-based learning developed from the concept of constructive alignment. The first author has already made a significant contribution to the scholarship and practice of teaching and learning in universities…Together with the second author, there is now added richness through the practical implementation and practices. The ideas in this book are all tried and shown to contribute to more successful learning experience and outcome for students." Denise Chalmers, Carrick Institute of Education, Australia Teaching for Quality Learning at University focuses on implementing a constructively aligned outcomes-based model at both classroom and institutional level. The theory, which is now used worldwide as a framework for good teaching and assessment, is shown to: Assist university teachers who wish to improve the quality of their own teaching, their students' learning and their assessment of learning outcomes Aid staff developers in providing support for teachers Provide a framework for administrators interested in quality assurance and enhancement of teaching across the whole university The book's "how to" approach addresses several important issues: designing high level outcomes, the learning activities most likely to achieve them in small and large classes, and appropriate assessment and grading procedures. It is an accessible, jargon-free guide to all university teachers interested in enhancing their teaching and their students' learning, and for administrators and teaching developers who are involved in teaching-related decisions on an institution-wide basis. The authors have also included useful web links to further material.

Using empirical research this text gives faculty and graduate teaching assistants the tools for understanding why certain teaching practices work and how to adjust their teaching to changing classroom room and online environments.

First Published in 2012. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

A guide to thirty-five creative assignments for pairs and groups Collaborative Learning Techniques is the bestseller that college and university faculty around the world have used to help them make the most of small group learning. A mountain of evidence shows that students who learn in small groups together exhibit higher academic achievement, motivation, and satisfaction than those who don't. Collaborative learning puts into practice the major conclusion from learning theory: that students must be actively engaged in building their own minds. In this book, the authors synthesize the relevant research and theory to support thirty-five collaborative learning activities for use in both traditional and online classrooms. This second edition reflects the changed world of higher education. New technologies have opened up endless possibilities for college teaching, but it's not always easy to use these technologies effectively. Updated to address the challenges of today's new teaching environments, including online, "flipped," and large lectures, Collaborative Learning Techniques is a wonderful reference for educators who want to make the most of any course environment. This revised and expanded edition includes: Additional techniques, with an all-new chapter on using games to provide exciting, current, technologically-sophisticated curricula A section on effective online implementation for each of the thirty-five techniques Significantly expanded pedagogical rationale and updates on the latest research showing how and why collaborative learning works Examples for implementing collaborative learning techniques in a variety of learning environments, including large lecture classes and "flipped" classes Expanded guidance on how to solve common problems associated with group work The authors guide instructors through all aspects of group work, providing a solid grounding in what to do, how to do it, and why it is important for student learning. The detailed procedures in Collaborative Learning Techniques will help teachers make sure group activities go smoothly, no matter the size or delivery method of their classes. With practical advice on how to form student groups, assign roles, build team spirit, address unexpected problems, and evaluate and grade student participation, this new edition of the international classic makes incorporating effective group work easy.

This book examines university teaching from several perspectives: What male and female professors do in the classroom, their perceptions and feelings about teaching, and how students respond. Data were gathered by observing professors in their classrooms, doing selected unstructured interviews, and soliciting evaluations/feedback from their students. This triangulation of data provides a richness of information and insight into the process of university teaching. In addition to providing useful feedback to professors and administrators, this study integrates several social psychological approaches to gender with more recent feminist formulations. The findings support recently developed perspectives which argue that gender is a constantly created social phenomenon, not one cast securely in the concrete of social structure.

Higher education is a strange beast. Teaching is a critical skill for scientists in academia, yet one that is barely touched upon in their professional training—despite being a substantial part of their career. This book is a practical guide for anyone teaching STEM-related academic disciplines at the college level, from graduate students teaching lab sections and newly appointed faculty to well-seasoned professors in want of fresh ideas. Terry McGlynn’s straightforward, no-nonsense approach avoids off-putting pedagogical jargon and enables instructors to become true ambassadors for science. For years, McGlynn has been addressing the need for practical and accessible advice for college science teachers through his popular blog Small Pond Science. Now he has gathered this advice as an easy read—one that can be ingested and put to use on short deadline. Readers will learn about topics ranging from creating a syllabus and developing grading rubrics to mastering online teaching and ensuring safety during lab and fieldwork. The book also offers advice on cultivating productive relationships with students, teaching assistants, and colleagues.

The first full-length history of college teaching in the United States from the nineteenth century to the present, this book sheds new light on the ongoing tension between the modern scholarly ideal—scientific, objective, and dispassionate—and the inevitably subjective nature of day-to-day instruction. American college teaching is in crisis, or so we are told. But we've heard that complaint for the past 150 years, as critics have denounced the poor quality of instruction in undergraduate classrooms. Students daydream in gigantic lecture halls while a professor drones on, or they meet with a teaching assistant for an hour of aimless discussion. The modern university does not reward teaching, so faculty members at every level neglect it in favor of research and publication. In the first book-length history of American college teaching, Jonathan Zimmerman confirms but also contradicts these perennial complaints. Drawing upon a wide range of previously unexamined sources, The Amateur Hour shows how generations of undergraduates indicted the weak instruction they received. But Zimmerman also chronicles institutional efforts to improve it, especially by making teaching more "personal." As higher education grew into a gigantic industry, he writes, American colleges and universities introduced small-group activities and other reforms designed to counter the anonymity of mass instruction. They also experimented with new technologies like television and computers, which promised to "personalize" teaching by tailoring it to the individual interests and abilities of each student. But, Zimmerman reveals, the emphasis on the personal inhibited the professionalization of college teaching, which remains, ultimately, an amateur enterprise. The more that Americans treated teaching as a highly personal endeavor, dependent on the idiosyncrasies of the instructor, the less they could develop shared standards for it. Nor have they rigorously documented college instruction, a highly public activity which has taken place mostly in private. Pushing open the classroom door, The Amateur Hour illuminates American college teaching and frames a fresh case for restoring intimate learning communities, especially for America's least privileged students. Anyone who wants to change college teaching will have to start here.

What makes a great teacher great? Who are the professors students remember long after graduation? This book, the conclusion of a fifteen-year study of nearly one hundred college teachers in a wide variety of fields and universities, offers valuable answers for all educators. The short answer is—it’s not what teachers do, it’s what they understand. Lesson plans and lecture notes matter less than the special way teachers comprehend the subject and value human learning. Whether historians or physicists, in El Paso or St. Paul, the best teachers know their subjects inside and out—but they also know how to engage and challenge students and to provoke impassioned responses. Most of all, they believe two things fervently: that teaching matters and that students can learn. In stories both humorous and touching, Ken Bain describes examples of ingenuity and compassion, of students’ discoveries of new ideas and the depth of their own potential. What the Best College Teachers Do is a treasure trove of insight and inspiration for first-year teachers and seasoned educators.