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Home » Resources » Scholarship on Teaching » The Art & Craft of College Teaching: A Guide for New Professors & Graduate Students
Scholarship July 3, 2025

The Art & Craft of College Teaching: A Guide for New Professors & Graduate Students

The Wabash Center

Author
Rotenberg, Robert
Publisher
Left Coast Press, Inc., Walnut Creek, CA
ISBN
9781598741599
Table of Contents
Part 1 Teaching as an Art and Teaching as a Craft
ch. 1 The Learning Curve of the College Teacher
ch. 2 Plan of the Book

Part 2 What Do We Know About Postsecondary Intellectual Development?
ch. 3 Bloom and Perry on Adult Learners
ch. 4 Kolb and Experiential Learning
ch. 5 Gardner and Multiple Intelligences
ch. 6 Baxter-Magolda and Ways of Knowing
ch. 7 King and Kitchener and the Reflective Judgment Model
ch. 8 Current Approaches to Understanding Growth in Thinking Skills

Part 3 What Do We Know About Effective Undergraduate Teaching?
ch. 9 History and Development of Best Practices Research

Part 4 The Role of the Teacher in the Classroom
ch. 10 The Real Relationship Between Teacher and Student
ch. 11 Figuring Out What to Teach and How Much of It
ch. 12 Who Are the Students?

Part 5 Demands on the New Instructor
ch. 13 Departmental Demands
ch. 14 Demands of General Education Courses
ch. 15 Demands of the Undergraduate Major
ch. 16 Demands of Graduate Programs
ch. 17 Interdisciplinary Demands

Part 6 Constructing the Syllabus
ch. 18 Developing a Course for the First Time
ch. 19 The Impact of Class Size on a Syllabus
ch. 20 Taking the Calendar into Account
ch. 21 Ordering Books and Photocopying Material
ch. 22 Technical Components of a Syllabus
ch. 23 Selecting the Knowledge Base for the Course
ch. 24 Selecting Texts
ch. 25 Fitting the Course into the Curriculum
ch. 26 Organizing the Course around Problem Sets
ch. 27 Organizing the Course around Specific Experiences

Part 7 Determining Your Expectations for Students' Reasoning Skills
ch. 28 Characterizing Critical Thinking
ch. 29 How Do You Recognize Critical Thinking When You See It?

Part 8 Determining Your Expectations for Creativity
ch. 30 The Cognitive Basis for Creative Thinking
ch. 31 Characterizing Creative Thinkers
ch. 32 How Do You Recognize Creativity When It Occurs?
ch. 33 Supporting the Creative Process

Part 9 Assessing Student Learning
ch. 34 Best Practices in Student Assessment
ch. 35 Tools for Classroom-Level Assessment
ch. 36 Assessment Essays
ch. 37 Group Assessment
ch. 38 Portfolio Assessment

Part 10 The Lecture Classroom
ch. 39 What Is a Lecture?
ch. 40 Tools for More Effective Lectures
ch. 41 What Lecture Formats Can and Cannot Do
ch. 42 The Living Textbook Approach
ch. 43 Developing an Active Lecture Format
ch. 44 Techniques for Livelier Lecture Classes
ch. 45 Helping Students Listen Effectively to Lectures
ch. 46 Working with Teaching Assistants

Part 11 The Discussion Classroom
ch. 47 Discussion Techniques
ch. 48 Making It Difficult for the Students to Be Unprepared
ch. 49 Motivational Issues in Discussions
ch. 50 Dealing with Silence
ch. 51 Dealing with Talkers
ch. 52 Student-Generated Discussion
ch. 53 Designing a Discussion around Specific Roles
ch. 54 First Aid for Tired Discussions
ch. 55 Preparing for Discussions of Controversial Subjects
ch. 56 The Socratic Form of Discussion
ch. 57 Non-Socratic Forms of Discussion
ch. 58 Insuring Equity and Full Participation
ch. 59 Evaluating Discussion Outcomes

Part 12 The Seminar Classroom
ch. 60 Strategies for Organizing a Seminar
ch. 61 Preparation for Seminar Participation
ch. 62 The Seminar Process
ch. 63 Evaluating Seminar Performance

Part 13 The Laboratory Classroom
ch. 64 Collaborative Learning in the Scientific Laboratory?
ch. 65 Teaching Strategies for Laboratories
ch. 66 Teaching Reasoning Skills in the Laboratory
ch. 67 Collaborative Learning in Problem-Based Classrooms
ch. 68 Strategies for Problem-Based Learning in the Laboratory
ch. 69 Applying Problem-Based Learning in the Classroom
ch. 70 The Role of Theoretical Literature in Problem-Based Learning
ch. 71 Framing the Students' Learning Process in Problem-Based Learning
ch. 72 Tutoring Techniques in Problem-Based Learning
ch. 73 Managing Team and Group Research Dynamics
ch. 74 Forming Work Groups in a Collaborative Classroom
ch. 75 Dealing with Student Complaints
ch. 76 Case-Based Learning Methods
ch. 77 Designing a Case-Based Method Course
ch. 78 How to Teach Cases
ch. 79 Simulation and Games
ch. 80 Film, Video, and Audio Case Materials
ch. 81 Fieldwork, Internships, and Service and Experiential Learning
ch. 82 Field-Based Learning
ch. 83 Teaching in the Field
ch. 84 Evaluating Field-Based Learning
ch. 85 Writing Field-Based and Laboratory Reports
ch. 86 Evaluating Collaborative Learning

Part 14 Advising in the Classroom
ch. 87 Diffusing Career Anxiety
ch. 88 Supporting Time Management
ch. 89 Understanding Learning Disabilitiesv ch. 90 Helping Students with Emotional and Medical Issues
ch. 91 Dealing with Angry, Aggressive, or Bullying Studentsv ch. 92 Dealing with Flattery
ch. 93 Dealing with Discouraged and Struggling Studentsv ch. 94 Dealing with Emotional Reactions to Sensitive Topics

Part 15 Effective Grading of Student Achievement
ch. 95 Establishing Fair and Effective Grading Policies
ch. 96 How Not to Grade
ch. 97 Combating Grade Inflation
ch. 98 Criterion-Based Grading
ch. 99 Asking Appropriate Questions for Evaluation
ch. 100 The Test
ch. 101 Timed vs. Untimed Tests
ch. 102 Partial vs. Comprehensive Testingv ch. 103 Oral vs. Written Exams
ch. 104 The Presentation
ch. 105 The Essay
ch. 106 The Research Projectv ch. 107 The Group Project
ch. 108 How Group Work Differs from Individual Work

Part 16 Administrative Issues in the Classroom
ch. 109 Academic Integrity
ch. 110 Student Contractual Issues
ch. 111 Independent Studies
ch. 112 Makeup Policies and Exams
ch. 113 Grade Challenges

Part 17 Evaluating the Instructor
ch. 114 Student-Based Evaluation
ch. 115 What to Do About "Bad" Evaluations
ch. 116 Peer-Based Evaluation

A Final Word
The Art & Craft of College Teaching provides a hands-on, quick-start guide to the college classroom for those who are facing their first five years as independent teachers. In it, you'll find the answers to some of college teachings most common questions How do college students learn most effectively? What are the questions to consider when you develop a course for the first time? How does class size affect course design? How do you set your expectations for your students? How can you help students become better thinkers? Why is the assessment of student learning important to the classroom teacher? What makes lecturing effective? What techniques of preparation and performance work best with which discussions? How do you deal with a slow or non-responsive class? How do you deal with challenges to your authority in the classroom? How do you set up a seminar so that it runs will a minimum of input from you? How do you get students to work collaboratively and effectively on learning exercises? What are the best practices for grading student exams and papers? What do you actually learn from student evaluations? (From the Publisher)