Effective College and University Teaching: Strategies and Tactics for the New Professoriate

"This is a very exciting project…[a]part from being helmed by two exemplary teachers, there is a strong line-up of authors. This will be the most up-to-date book of its kind as it takes the perspective of educating GTA supervisors and is not just a ′tips′ book." Regan A. R. Gurung, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay Using empirical research, Effective College and University Teaching gives faculty and graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) effective strategies and tactics for pursuing excellence in their teaching, be it in the classroom or online. Whereas the majority of books on college and university teaching are how-to books, this volume provides both the rationale and a detailed guide for how to use these practices and teach them to others. Written by leading scholars and master teachers, this book outlines, reviews, and discusses best practices for becoming an effective undergraduate teacher. Aimed at the professional development of professors and graduate students, this text provides full coverage of those topics central to effective teaching practices such as developing a teaching philosophy, becoming an ethical teacher, and fostering active learning in the classroom.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgments Preparing the New Professoriate to Teach - Victor A. Benassi, William Buskist Creating Effective Working Relationships Between Faculty and Graduate Teaching Assistants - Steven A. Meyers Allaying Graduate Student Fears About Teaching - Sandra Goss Lucas Preparing for the Transition From Graduate School to the Academy: An Exemplar From Psychology - Mark M. Silvestri, Brennan D. Cox, William Buskist, and Jared W. Keeley Teaching in the Context of Professional Development and Work-Private Life Balance - Steven Prentice-Dunn The Science of Learning and Its Applications - Mark A. McDaniel and Cynthia Wooldridge Course Design - Victor A. Benassi and Gary S. Goldstein Writing and Developing Your Philosophy of Teaching - James H. Korn Developing Student-Teacher Rapport in the Undergraduate Classroom - Janie H. Wilson and Rebecca G. Ryan Learning-Centered Lecturing - David B. Daniel Active Learning - Elizabeth Yost Hammer and Peter J. Giordano Leading Discussions - Bryan K. Saville, Tracy E. Zinn and Krisztina Varga Jakobsen Assessing Student Learning - Robert Bubb Becoming an Ethical Teacher - G. William Hill IV and Dorothy D. Zinsmeister Conflict in the College Classroom: Understanding, Preventing, and Dealing With Classroom Incivilities - Mark M. Silvestri and William Buskist Diversity and Diversity Issues in Teaching - Rosemary E. Phelps Teaching Controversial Issues, Liberally - Harold L. Miller, Jr., and Diego Flores Technology in Higher Education - Christopher R. Howard Course and Instructor Evaluation - Jared W. Keeley Assessing the Effectiveness of GTA Prepatory Activities and Programs - Cecilia M. Shore Preparing Graduate Students for the Political Nature of the Academy - Randolph A. Smith and Stephen F. Davis Preparing for the Future: Undergraduates as Teaching Assistants - Thomas P. Hogan and John C. Norcross Useful Resources for Preparing the New Professoriate - Jennifer J. Stiegler-Balfour and Catherine E. Overson Index About the Editors About the Contributors

About the Author :
William Buskist is the Distinguished Professor in the Teaching of Psychology at Auburn University and a Faculty Fellow at Auburn’s Biggio Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. He has published widely on issues related to teaching and learning, both within his own discipline of psychology and more generally in higher education. His most recent publications include edited works with Groccia (Evidence-Based Teaching) and with Victor Benassi (Effective College and University Teaching: Strategies and Tactics for the New Professoriate). He has served as President for the Society for the Teaching of Psychology and is currently the Editor-in Chief for the Society’s e-book program). He has won numerous teaching awards at both the local and national levels as have many of his graduate student protégés. He is a Fellow of both the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science. Victor Benassi is a professor of psychology and faculty director of the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Center for Teaching Excellence. He has taught courses in college teaching and supervised graduate students′ teaching of psychology since the early 1980s. His research has addressed such topics as judgment of personal control, belief in alleged paranormal phenomena, and depression. Additionally, Professor Benassi is involved in developing and implementing Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) programs at UNH. He is one of several people from UNH who developed and implemented a formal academic program in college teaching that is available to graduate students and faculty from UNH and other institutions. In recent years, he has been developing an online course titled Preparing to Teach a Psychology Course. Through the efforts of eight master teachers of psychology, over 200 graduate students and faculty from the United States and eight other countries have completed the course. Dr. Benassi also has joint appointments as Professor of Psychology (Psychology Department) and Professor of College Teaching (Graduate School). He has received several UNH awards—the Excellence in Teaching Award, the Outstanding Use of Technology in Education Award, and the College of Liberal Arts’ Lindberg Outstanding Scholar/Teacher Award. In 2003, he received the American Psychological Foundation′s Distinguished Teaching of Psychology award.

Review :
“As the editors point out, this text offers a good measure of rationale theory as well as practical aspects. This is critical for two reasons. One, this approach allows for a cogent verification process of the ideas in the text via empirical research. Second, this allows, from a practical perspective, TAs and their trainers to understand why things work the way they do (or at least should) and how to make adjustments (and the reasons that should underlie those adjustments) if things to not work.” “This is a very exciting project and I am looking forward to it being published. Apart from being helmed by two exemplary teachers (and great individuals), there is a strong line up of authors. Although there are many other books out there with information that overlaps, the thrust of this book as nicely specified in the proposal takes a voice and direction that none of the other mentioned books take (and I have seen them all). Together with the fact that this will be the most up to date book of the lot it takes the perspective of educating GTA supervisors and is not just a ′tips′ book.”