Tools for Teaching

If looking for summer reading ideas consider reading the book, Tools for Teaching (1993) by Barbara Gross Davis, published by Jossey-BassPublishers. It appears to be an excellent read for those wanting to improve certain aspects of their teaching for the 09-10 academic year.

Here is one review of the book that I am aware of by Sid Brown: It's the most useful book I've seen on college teaching, one that can serve beginning, as well as more experienced [college teachers]. Not only are the contents easily accessed, but they are well worth accessing. There are chapters on lecturing, discussion, writing skills, testing, instructional media--even one on "Teaching Outside the Classroom," featuring a section on "Guiding, Training, and Supervising Graduate Student Instructors." Each chapter holds practical, easily implemented hints on how to improve your skills so that your students improve theirs. Ten minutes spent with this book while motivated by a teaching problem will pay off immediately. Davis assumes that the beginning college teacher is busy, and bright enough to work out specific applications of general principles--excellent assumptions."

An excerpt from the book on Collaborative Learning: Group Work and Study Teams, is available at: http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/collaborative.html. In that excerpt, the author covers the following areas concerning collaborative learning: General Strategies, Designing Group Work, Organizing Learning Groups, Evaluating Group Work, Dealing with Student and Faculty Concerns About Group Work, and Setting Up Study Teams. The references that went into developing the excerpt are even included for those who would like to read more on the subject. I have been teaching via collaborative learning for many years and found it to be quite useful and hope you will share my sentiments once you have reviewed it, too.