How to Teach

"Research and teaching have always cohabited: anyone who teaches a subject well wants to know more about it, and when she knows more, to impart that knowledge."

• Brooks, Peter (2011), "Our Universities: How Bad? How Good?", New York Review of Books 58(5) (March 24): 10–13; quote on p. 12.

"Since starting my working life in electrical engineering, I have seen more fundamental changes in that field than in computer science. However, my electrical engineering education remains valuable because it stressed fundamental science and mathematics. … The problems caused by technology changing quickly are actually a subset of the problems caused by the fact that nobody can be familiar with all technologies at once. Educators should teach fundamentals, illustrating them with example technologies. Graduates stay current by learning about new technology as needed."

• Parnas, David Lorge (2003), "Give Meaning to the Status of Software Engineer" (letter to the editor), Communications of the ACM 46(3) (March): 12–13; quote on p. 12.

1. 
   • To find out the rest of the story, read PHD on Being a TA

2. UB Teaching and Learning Center

3. TA Orientation — Fall 2007 (Powerpoint)

4. CSE Graduate Handbook: Assistantships—General Information

5. Generic Recitation-Section Lesson Plan

6. Rapaport, William J. (2006) "Advice for (New) TAs" [Powerpoint]

7. Rapaport, William J. (2014), "How to Give Presentations & How to Teach"

8. Rapaport, William J. (2006), "How I Grade"
   • Universal Grade Change Forms :-)

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9. Rapaport, William J. (2006), William Perry's Scheme of Intellectual and Ethical Development"
   • Powerpoint version

10. Althen, Gary (1988), "Manual for Foreign Teaching Assistants".

11. Case, Bettye Anne (ed.) (1989), Keys to Improved Instruction by Teaching Assistants and Part-Time Instructors, MAA Notes No. 11 (Mathematical Association of America); ISBN 0-88385-061-3.
    1. Out of print, but Rapaport has a copy somewhere:-)

    2. Available for purchase (25 Aug 2006) at: alibris.com, barnesandnoble.com, Biblio.com, etc.

    3. Some of it is online at:
       1. Columbia University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Teaching Manual

       2. Cohen, Robby; & Robin, Ron (eds.) (1985), "Teaching at Berkeley: A Guide for Foreign Teaching Assistants", from Case 1989.
          • This may be password-protected; email me for permission.

       3. Reznick, Bruce A. (1985), "Chalking It Up: Advice to a New TA", from Case 1989.
          • This may be password-protected; email me for permission.

12. Expectations that TAs (should) have of the faculty that they work for.

13. University of Iowa Teaching Resources

14. Speaking of Teaching: Stanford University's Newsletter on Teaching
    • Continually updated, with articles on topics like:
      • How to Create Memorable Lectures
      • Teaching in the US Classroom
      • Faculty/TA Teaching Partnerships
      • etc.

15. Arras, John D. (2006, March 24), "It's a Simple Game: A professor reduces his teaching life to a few bullet points" , Chronicle of Higher Eduation, p.C3.

16. Brookfield, Stephen D.; & Preskill, Stephen (2005), "Keeping Discussion Going through Questioning, Listening, and Responding", Discussion as a Way of Teaching (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Wiley), Ch.5.

17. Brown, Ron (2006), "Five Short Stories on Teaching", Tomorrow's Professor #693 (Jan. 27).

18. Bugeja, Michael J. (2007), "Distractions in the Wireless Classroom", Chronicle of Higher Education (26 January): C1,C4.
    • "Getting your students' attention may be as simple as requiring them to turn off the technology."

19. Cushman, Thomas (2007), "Hemlock Available in the Faculty Lounge", Chronicle of Higher Education (16 March): B16.
    • What teaching evaluations for Socrates might have looked like (humor).

20. Grafton, Anthony (2006), "The Nutty Professors: The History of Academic Charisma", The New Yorker (23 October): 82-87.
    • A review of Clark, William (2006), Academic Charisma and the Origins of the Research University.
    • If you've ever wondered about the history of academic lectures in universities and how universities evolved to be what they are today, you might find this review of interest.

21. Hummel, Rolf E. (2005), "Contemplations after Forty Years of Teaching", University of Florida Pedagogator 3(13) (July/Aug).
    • Advice on how to give a lecture.

22. Lang, James M. (2006), "Shaking Things Up", Chronicle of Higher Education (3 November): C2-C3.
    • "In the crush of midsemester deadlines and obligations, how can you find time to rethink your teaching techniques"

23. Lang, James M. (2007), "Did You Learn Anything?", Chronicle of Higher Education (9 March): C1,C4.
    • A plea for midsemester course evaluations: "Students are very accurate jusges of the most important question we can ask them about their classroom experiences."

24. Lang, James M. (2007), "Classroom Transparency", Chronicle of Higher Education (6 April): C2-C3.
    • "The best teachers are the ones who take the time to explain to students why they are learning what they are learning."

25. Lang, James M. (2007), "Perfecting Your Vocal Technique", Chronicle of Higher Education (4 May): C2-C3.
    • "You may resist the notion of teaching as a performance, but your classroom voice can help or harm student attentiveness."

26. Lang, James M. (2007), "Finding a Light", Chronicle of Higher Education (21 September): C2-C3.
    • "A self-published book on teaching is the surprising source of some valuable insights on the college classroom": Teaching as a dance, Class preparation, Seating charts, The wisdom of A students, Talking outside of class.

27. Leavitt, Melissa C. (2006), "Team Teaching: Benefits and Challenges"

28. Loui, Michael C. (2003), "A Selected Bibliography on College and University Teaching"
    • Loui is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

29. Singham, Mano (2004), "Talkers and Listeners", National Teaching and Learning Forum Newsletter 13(2).
    • On how to run successful discussion sessions, given that some students "hog" the conversation (talkers) and others never speak (listeners).

30. Meacham, Jack (2006), "Questioning the Best Learning Technology", Peer Review 8(4) (Fall).
    • Meacham is a UB prof of psychology.

31. Mosteller, Frederick (1980), "Classroom and Platform Performance", American Statistician 34(1): 11-17.
    • " A good metaphor for making presentations is good teaching. Teachers seek to explain content and thinking; and to present that material with credibility, with authority, and without patronizing authoritarianism. Here is an excellent paper by the great statistician Frederick Mosteller on teaching." —Edward Tufte

32. Wankat, Phillip; & Oreovicz, Frank (2006), "Activity Breaks: A Push for Participation", ASEE Prism 15(5; January).
    • "Looks at ways to use "activity breaks" to modify the lecture approach."
    • "ASEE" is the American Society for Engineering Education.

33. Pai, Aditi, "Adapting to the American Classroom: Evolution of an International Teaching Assistant", Teaching and Learning (UB Center for Teaching and Learning Resources) 3(1): 3-5.

34. Faculty/TA Teaching Teams, Tomorrow's Professor #854

35. Description of an Online Tutorial for Designing Effective and Innovative Courses, Tomorrow's Professor Msg.#874 (Stanford University)

36. Doyle, Terry (2008):
    • "The Learner-Centered Classroom: It's Not Your Grandfather's Style of Teaching"
    • "Tales from Real Life: Adjusting to Change"
    • "A Clear Rationale for Learner-Centered Teaching"
    • "Stakeholders Exercise"
    • "Helping Students Change: Professors Should Emphasize Lifelong Learning Skills"

    NEA Higher Education Advocate 26(1) (October): 5-8.

37. Felder, Richard M.; & Brent, Rebecca (2008–2009), "The Ten Worst Teaching Mistakes", Chemical Engineering Education
    • "I. Mistakes 5–10", Vol. 42, No. 4 (2008), pp. 201–202.
    • "II. Mistakes 1–4", Vol. 43, No. 1 (Winter 2009), pp. 15–16.

38. Patterson, David (2009), "Your Students Are Your Legacy", Communications of the ACM 52(3) (March): 30-33.
    • An article on how to advise graduate students.

39. Ullman, Jeffrey D. (2009), "Advising Students for Success", Communications of the ACM 52(3) (March): 34-37.
    • Another article on how to advise graduate students.

40. Vicens, Quentin; & Bourne, Philip E. (2009), "Ten Simple Rules to Combine Teaching and Research", Tomorrow's Professor Msg. 948.

41. Huston, Therese (2009), "How to Teach What You Don't Actually Know", Chronicle of Higher Education 55(42) (24 July): A25–A26.

42. Barkley, Elizabeth F. (2010), "Student Engagement Techniques for Seminars", Tomorrow's Professor Msg. 1029.

43. Wailgum, Thomas (2010), "How Steve Jobs Beats Presentation Panic", Macworld (October): 54–55.

44. Sternberg, Robert J. (2010), "Teach Creativity, not Memorization", Chronicle of Higher Education (15 October): A29.

45. Clark, Richard; Kirschner, Paul A.; & Sweller, John (2012), "Putting Students on the Path to Learning: The Case for Fully Guided Instruction", American Educator 36(1) (Spring): 6–11.

46. Rosenshine, Barak (2012), "Principles of Instruction: Research-Based Strategies that All Teachers Should Know", American Educator 36(1) (Spring): 12–19, 39.

47. Su, Francis Edward (2013), "The Lesson of Grace in Teaching", The Mathematical Yawp (18 January).
    • Not only good advice on teaching, but also on being a "mensch".

48. Immerwahr, John (2012), "Teach Philosophy 101"
    • Aimed primarily at philosophy teachers, but has very useful information for teachers of any subject on how to organize your courses.

49. Corbett, Steven J.; & LaFrance, Michelle (2013), "It's the Little Things that Count in Teaching", Chronicle of Higher Education (13 September): A30–A31.
    • "Attention to the less ‘serious&resquo; aspects can make you a more effective instructor"