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Scholarship July 3, 2025

First Steps to Excellence in College Teaching

The Wabash Center

Author
Johnson, Glenn Ross
Publisher
Atwood Publishing, Madison, WI
ISBN
0912150424
Table of Contents
Preface

ch. 1: Determining Your Objectives
ch. 2: Selecting Textbooks and Developing a Syllabus
ch. 3: Those First Few Class Days
ch. 4: How to Lecture More Effectively
ch. 5: Moving from "Sage on the Stage" to "Guide on the Side"
ch. 6: Using the Cognitive Interaction Analysis System (CIAS) to Improve Discussions
ch. 7: Going Beyond Lectures and Discussions
ch. 8: Term Papers, Oral Reports, and Media
ch. 9: Evaluating Your Students

Teaching Creed
Appendix
Sample Syllabus: EDCI 601 — "Teaching College"
Practice Lesson: Cognitive Interaction Analysis System (CIAS)
Bibliography
Media attention focused on the instructional quality in colleges and universities reflects a higher education system that must do a better job of preparing instructors. First Steps is written just for that purpose — to help new instructors and teaching assistants set and meet standards of excellence.

Glenn Ross Johnson provides the basics of instruction, from preparation through evaluation, step-by-step. He focuses on what new instructors need most, covering the essentials such as:

• Determining your course objectives

• Selecting textbooks

• Involving your students more actively

• What can be learned about your teaching through the Cognitive Interaction Analysis System (CIAS)

• Evaluating your students (From the Publisher)