This best-selling handbook is an essential toolbox—a compilation of hundreds of practical teaching techniques, formats, classroom activities, and exercises. It is now newly revised and expanded to cover more on the topics relevant to today's classroom such as technology and the Internet, simulations and games, diversity, service learning, and faculty evaluation systems.

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 Best :

Everyone—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 Tips

This 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 Experiences

This 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

The Author
Preface
Laying the Groundwork for Student Learning
Understanding Your Students and How They Learn
Your Undergraduate Student Body Profile
How People Learn
How Structure Increases Learning
The Cognitive Development of Undergraduates
Encouraging Cognitive Growth
Teaching the Millennial Generation
The Adult Learner
Inclusive Instructing
The Challenge
Outcomes-Centered Course Design
Why Outcomes-Centered Course Design?
Writing Outcomes
Types of Learning Outcomes
Types of Cognitive Outcomes
Designing the Learning Process
Helpful Frameworks for Designing a Course
Showing Students Their Learning Process
Outcomes-Centered Course Development
The Complete Syllabus
Appropriate Syllabus Items
The Graphic Syllabus
The Online "Living Syllabus"
Getting Students to Read Your Syllabus
The Evolving Syllabus
Your First Day of Class
Before the First Class
First Impressions
Exchanging Information
Social Icebreakers Getting to Know You
Subject-Matter Icebreakers
Drawing Class to a Close
Motivating Your Students
What We Know About Motivation in Learning
Credible Theories of Motivation
Strategies for Motivating Students
Equity in the Classroom
Managing Your Courses
Copyright Guidelines for Instructors
Where Copyright Does and Does Not Apply
Common Copyright Misconceptions
Free Use Fair Use, Facts, and Public Domain
Printed Text
Visual Materials
In-Class Performances
Recording Broadcast Programming
Online/Electronic Materials and Distance Learning
Obtaining Permission or a License
How Copyright Violations Are Actually Handled
For Further and Future Reference
Preventing and Responding to Classroom Incivility
What Is Incivility?
Why the Increase?
Preventing Incivility Your Classroom Persona
Responding to Incivility
Seek Assistance
Preserving Academic Honesty
How Prevalent Is Cheating?
Who Cheats and Why?
Detecting Cheating
Preventing Cheating
Honor Codes
Changing Student Values
Making the Most of Office Hours
Getting Students to See You
Making the Time Productive
Student-Active Tutoring
Students in Academic or Emotional Trouble
Course Coordination Between Faculty and TAs
Before the Term Course Review and Role Specifications
During the Term Regular Meetings and Teaching Feedback
Extending Managing to Mentoring
Choosing and Using the Right Tools for Teaching and Learning
Matching Teaching Methods with Learning Outcomes
Types of Tools
Dangerous Knowledge?
Making the Lecture a Learning Experience
Purpose To Lecture or Not to Lecture?
Preparing an Effective Lecture
Delivering an Effective Lecture
Incorporating Student-Active Breaks The Interactive Lecture
Teaching Students to Take Good Notes
Making the Lecture Effective for Everyone
Leading Effective Discussions
When to Choose Discussion
How to Set the Stage for Discussion
How to Maximize Participation through Skillful Discussion Management
Questioning Techniques for Discussion and Assessment
Questioning as a Process of Inquiry
Typologies of Good Discussion Questions
Poor Questions for Discussion Purposes
Turning the Tables
Experiential Learning Activities
Student Presentation Formats
Role-Playing
Simulations and Games
Service-Learning The Real Thing
Learning in Groups
A Group by Any Other Name . . .
The Case for Group Work
Changing Methods, Changing Roles
The Setup and Management of Student Groups
Management Tips
Tried and True Group Learning Strategies
Preparing Students for Life
Writing-to-Learn Activities and Assignments
Free Writes
The One-Minute Paper
Journals
One-Sentence Summaries
Learning Logs
Dialectical Notes
Directed Paraphrasing
Letters, Memos, Notes, and Electronic Posts
Mock Tests
Drafts for Peer Feedback
Multiple Purposes
More Tools Teaching Real-World Problem Solving
Inquiry-Guided Learning
Definitions of Inquiry-Guided Learning
The Effectiveness of Inquiry-Guided Learning
Objects and Modes of Inquiry
Variations of Inquiry-Based Learning
The Case Method
The Effectiveness of the Case Method
The Appropriate Subject Matter
What Makes a Good Case
Types of Cases
Debriefing Cases
A Postscript for Pioneers
Problem-Based Learning (PBL)
How PBL Works
Good PBL Problems and Where to Find Them
The Effectiveness of PBL
What Students Think
Kudos for Creativity
Quantitative Reasoning and Problem Solving
Understanding Students' Problems with Problems
Modeling Expert Reasoning
Teaching the Steps of Problem Solving
Tutoring Students out of Bad Habits
Routinizing Peer Feedback
Making Problems More Real and Challenging
Using the Power of Group Learning
Accommodating New Methods to Traditional Settings
Problem Solving in the Sciences
Where Science Education Falls Short
How to Help Students Learn Science General Advice
How the Lecture Can Be Made into a Meaningful Learning Experience
How the Lab Can Be Made into a Meaningful Learning Experience
The Essentials of Lab Safety and Management
Why Science Education Is so Important
Making Learning Easier
Getting Students to Do the Readings
Why Students Don't Do the Readings
How We Can Equip and Induce Students to Do the Readings
Specific Tools for Holding Students Accountable
Managing Your Workload
Teaching Your Students to Think and Write in Your Discipline
Crossdisciplinary Commonalities
Teaching Critical Thinking Through the Discipline's Metacognitive Model
Metacognitive Differences Among Disciplines
Making Students Better Thinkers and Writers
Teaching Students to Write for Their Futures
The Many Worlds of Writing
Accommodating Different Learning Styles
Kolb's Learning Styles Model and Experiential Learning Theory (ELT)
Teaching to Kolb's Types
Fleming and Mills' Sensory-Based Learning Style Typology
Feldman and Silverman's Index of Learning Styles (ILS)
Parallels Across Learning Style Models
Multi-Sensory, Multi-Method Teaching Most Effective for All
Using Visuals to Teach
Ways That Visuals Enhance Learning
Types of Visuals for Learning
The Future of Visuals in Teaching and Learning
Using Instructional Technology Wisely
Reliable Low-Tech Tools for the Classroom
The Choice of High-Tech Alternatives
Learning Management Systems
Lecture-Related Software
Web Resources
Laptops in the Wireless Classroom
Web 2.0 Tools
Looking Ahead
Assessing Learning Outcomes
Assessing Student Learning in Progress
Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs)
Formative Feedback
Student Portfolios
Extending Classroom Assessment to Classroom Research and the Scholarship of
Teaching and Learning
Constructing Summative Assessments
General Testing Guidelines
Objective Test Items
Constructed Response Instruments Essay Questions and Writing Assignments
Tests and Assignments The Ultimate Teaching Evaluations
Preparing Students for Tests
Test Preparation Measures
Anxiety Reduction Measures
What the Effort Is Worth
Grading Summative Assessments
The Meaning of Grades
Summative Assessments and Grading Systems
The Qualities of a Sound Grading System
Grading Constructed Responses and Papers
Grading Lab Reports
How to Grade Mechanics Quickly While Ensuring Students Learn Them
Contract Grading
Returning Students' Work
Helping Students Use Your Feedback to Improve
The Real Meaning and Limits of Grades
Evaluating and Documenting Teaching Effectiveness
Defining and Measuring Teaching Effectiveness
Student Evaluations
Peer, Administrative, and Self-Evaluations
Documenting Your Effectiveness
Comprehensive Approaches to Faculty Evaluation
Complex Beyond Measure
Appendix Instructional Support and Resources at Your Institution
References
Index
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

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Teaching at Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors, 3rd Edition

9780470401040

0470401044

Supplemental Materials

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

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