improve my teaching

young professor at chalkboard

23 Practical Strategies to Help New Teachers Thrive

Jennifer Patterson Lorenzetti, MS September 4, 2017

“If you know the content, you can teach.”

How many of us have heard this sentiment before? How many of us believe it ourselves?

It is easy to assume that a content expert is automatically qualified to teach a course on his or her area of

Read More »
Peer Review. Two colleagues chatting.

Peer Review Strategies that Keep the Focus on Better Teaching

Maryellen Weimer May 24, 2017

The peer review processes for promotion and tenure and for continuing appointment provide committees with what’s needed to make overall judgments about the quality of instruction. For teachers, however, peer reviews usually don’t contain the diagnostic, descriptive feedback they need to continue their growth and

Read More »
male professor

“I Tried It and It Didn’t Work!”

Maryellen Weimer June 4, 2014

Someone sought me out recently to say that she’d tried something I had recommended and it didn’t work. “You need to stop recommending that to people,” she told me. “How many times did you try it?” I asked. “Once and the students hated

Read More »

Six Steps to Making Positive Changes in Your Teaching

Maryellen Weimer January 23, 2013

I’m working my way through a 33-page review of scholarship on instructional change in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) disciplines. The authors reviewed an impressive 191 conceptual and empirical journal articles. However, what they found isn’t impressive both in terms of the quality

Read More »
Archives

Get the Latest Updates

Subscribe To Our Weekly Newsletter

Magna Digital Library

2718 Dryden Drive
Madison, WI 53704
1-800-433-0499

Magna Publications © 2023 All rights reserved

wpChatIcon
“If you know the content, you can teach.” How many of us have heard this sentiment before? How many of us believe it ourselves? It is easy to assume that a content expert is automatically qualified to teach a course on his or her area of expertise. Much of the graduate-level preparation for entering university teaching is based on this assumption; graduate students study their subject areas, but little discussion is had about how to teach and what methods might be most effective. This is regrettable, because while content is important, the content needs to have solid pedagogy behind it in order to be effective in the classroom. Content can fall flat if all the instructor is doing is sharing the information in didactic fashion. The concept extends to become a belief that good teachers don’t need to practice. This belief is also false, as many faculty development experts know; faculty development usually means remediation, whether one is dealing with experienced administrators or new faculty. Higher education supports this myth; if an instructor gets good ratings and is considered a “good teacher,” then no one recommends that he or she work with a faculty developer. However, few instructors can say that they have had an entire class period go perfectly, let alone an entire course. The reality is, there are ways to improve a class in both large and small ways every day. What works well one semester may not work well the next time the course is taught. There is always more to learn and there are always better ways to serve students. Professional athletes continue to practice their craft. Should professional teachers do any less? Drawing upon his 15 years of teaching and mentoring experience, Professor Ike Shibley, Jr. offers compelling and realistic advice on day-to-day teaching and improving student learning to guide new faculty members around predictable pitfalls and set them on the path to a rewarding teaching career. This 45-page white paper covers:

Download 23 Practical Strategies to Help New Teachers Thrive