What the Best College Teachers Do
What the Best College Teachers Do

Author: Ken Bain

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2011-09-01

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 0674065549

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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.

An Evidence-based Guide to College and University Teaching
An Evidence-based Guide to College and University Teaching

Author: Aaron S. Richmond

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-06-10

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13: 1317283279

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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 Chicago Guide to College Science Teaching
The Chicago Guide to College Science Teaching

Author: Terry McGlynn

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2020-11-09

Total Pages: 211

ISBN-13: 022654253X

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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.

A Guide to Teaching Art at the College Level
A Guide to Teaching Art at the College Level

Author: Stacey Salazar

Publisher: Teachers College Press

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0807779725

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This accessible guide will help studio art and design professors meaningfully and effectively transform their curriculum and pedagogy so that it is relevant to today’s learners. Situating contemporary college teaching within a historic art and design continuum, the author provides a practical framework for considering complex interactions within art and design pedagogy. Readers will gain a deeper appreciation of college students and their learning, an understanding of teaching repertoires, and insight into the local and global contexts that impact teaching and learning and how these are interrelated with studio content. Throughout, Salazar expertly weaves research, theory, and helpful advice that instructors can use to enact a mode of teaching that is responsive to their unique environment. The text examines a variety of educational practices, including reflection, critique, exploration, research, student-to-student interaction, online teaching, intercultural learning, and community-engaged curricula. Book Features: A clear introduction to research and theory in college learning and art education.A response to the current shift from studio practice to an investment in teaching practice.Reflective prompts, actions, teaching strategies, and recommended resources.User-friendly templates ready to customize for the reader’s own content.

In Search of Understanding
In Search of Understanding

Author: Jacqueline G. Brooks

Publisher: ASCD

Published: 1999-07-15

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 1416602739

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The activities that transpire within the classroom either help or hinder students' learning. Any meaningful discussion of educational renewal, therefore, must focus explicitly and directly on the classroom, and on the teaching and learning that occur within it. This book presents a case for the development of classrooms in which students are encouraged to construct deep understandings of important concepts. Jacqueline Grennon Brooks and Martin Brooks present a new set of images for educational settings, images that emerge from student engagement, interaction, reflection, and construction. They have considerable experience in creating constructivist educational settings and conducting research on those settings. Authentic examples are provided throughout the book, as are suggestions for administrators, teachers, and policymakers. For the new edition of their popular book, the authors have written an introduction that places their work in today's educational renewal setting. Today, they urge, the case for constructivist classrooms is much stronger and the need more critical. Note: This product listing is for the Adobe Acrobat (PDF) version of the book.

Total Participation Techniques
Total Participation Techniques

Author: Pérsida Himmele

Publisher: ASCD

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 1416612947

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Yes, there are easy-to-use and incredibly effective alternatives to the "stand and deliver" approach to teaching that causes so many students to tune out--or even drop out. Here's your opportunity to explore dozens of ways to engage k-12 students in active learning and allow them to demonstrate the depth of their knowledge and understanding. The authors explain why and how Total Participation Techniques (TPTs) get and hold attention, activate higher-order thinking, and provide formative assessments of academic progress. Learn how to implement field-tested techniques you can use right away, including: (1) Quick-Draws, Quick-Writes, Chalkboard Splash, and other TPTs that help you take the pulse of a class on the spot; (2) Various types of Hold-Up Cards, such as True/Not True and Selected Response, that are good for improving on-task participation and behavior; (3) Bounce Cards, Line-Ups, Simulations, and other TPTs that use movement to encourage students to interact and process their learning; and (4) TPTs that guide note-taking and concept analysis, such as Picture Notes, 3-Sentence Wrap-Up, and Debate Team Carousel. Each tpt includes step-by-step instructions and suggestions for how to adapt the technique to specific contexts and content areas.

Empowering the Community College First-Year Composition Teacher
Empowering the Community College First-Year Composition Teacher

Author: Meryl Siegal

Publisher: University of Michigan Press

Published: 2021-03-01

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 0472129007

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Community colleges in the United States are the first point of entry for many students to a higher education, a career, and a new start. They continue to be a place of personal and, ultimately, societal transformation. And first-year composition courses have become sites of contestation. This volume is an inquiry into community college first-year pedagogy and policy at a time when change has not only been called for but also mandated by state lawmakers who financially control public education. It also acknowledges new policies that are eliminating developmental and remedial writing courses while keeping mind that, for most community college students, first-year composition serves as the last course they will take in the English department toward their associate’s degree. Chapters focusing on pedagogy and policy are integrated within cohesively themed parts: (1) refining pedagogy; (2) teaching toward acceleration; (3) considering programmatic change; and (4) exploring curriculum through research and policy. The volume concludes with the editors’ reflections regarding future work; a glossary and reflection questions are included. This volume also serves as a call to action to change the way community colleges attend to faculty concerns. Only by listening to teachers can the concerns discussed in the volume be addressed; it is the teachers who see how societal changes intersect with campus policies and students’ lives on a daily basis.

What the Best College Students Do
What the Best College Students Do

Author: Ken Bain

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2012-08-27

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 0674070380

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The author of the best-selling What the Best College Teachers Do is back with more humane, doable, and inspiring help, this time for students who want to get the most out of college—and every other educational enterprise, too. The first thing they should do? Think beyond the transcript. The creative, successful people profiled in this book—college graduates who went on to change the world we live in—aimed higher than straight A’s. They used their four years to cultivate habits of thought that would enable them to grow and adapt throughout their lives. Combining academic research on learning and motivation with insights drawn from interviews with people who have won Nobel Prizes, Emmys, fame, or the admiration of people in their field, Ken Bain identifies the key attitudes that distinguished the best college students from their peers. These individuals started out with the belief that intelligence and ability are expandable, not fixed. This led them to make connections across disciplines, to develop a “meta-cognitive” understanding of their own ways of thinking, and to find ways to negotiate ill-structured problems rather than simply looking for right answers. Intrinsically motivated by their own sense of purpose, they were not demoralized by failure nor overly impressed with conventional notions of success. These movers and shakers didn’t achieve success by making success their goal. For them, it was a byproduct of following their intellectual curiosity, solving useful problems, and taking risks in order to learn and grow.

Teaching at Its Best
Teaching at Its Best

Author: Linda B. Nilson

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2010-04-20

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 0470612363

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Teaching at Its Best This third edition of the best-selling handbook offers faculty at all levels an essential toolbox of hundreds of practical teaching techniques, formats, classroom activities, and exercises, all of which can be implemented immediately. This thoroughly revised edition includes the newest portrait of the Millennial student; current research from cognitive psychology; a focus on outcomes maps; the latest legal options on copyright issues; and how to best use new technology including wikis, blogs, podcasts, vodcasts, and clickers. Entirely new chapters include subjects such as matching teaching methods with learning outcomes, inquiry-guided learning, and using visuals to teach, and new sections address Felder and Silverman's Index of Learning Styles, SCALE-UP classrooms, multiple true-false test items, and much more. Praise for the Third Edition of Teaching at Its BestEveryone veterans as well as novices will profit from reading Teaching at Its Best, for it provides both theory and practical suggestions for handling all of the problems one encounters in teaching classes varying in size, ability, and motivation." Wilbert McKeachie, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, and coauthor, McKeachie's Teaching TipsThis new edition of Dr. Nilson's book, with its completely updated material and several new topics, is an even more powerful collection of ideas and tools than the last. What a great resource, especially for beginning teachers but also for us veterans!" L. Dee Fink, author, Creating Significant Learning ExperiencesThis third edition of Teaching at Its Best is successful at weaving the latest research on teaching and learning into what was already a thorough exploration of each topic. New information on how we learn, how students develop, and innovations in instructional strategies complement the solid foundation established in the first two editions." Marilla D. Svinicki, Department of Psychology, The University of Texas, Austin, and coauthor, McKeachie's Teaching Tips