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Review
First Steps to Excellence in College Teaching
reviewed by Mary Dobbs (E&AS, PRC)
First Steps to Excellence in College Teaching is a really good book for everyone to have on their
shelves. I picked up a few ideas that I will be trying -- the advance organizer and the Keller Plan. These are both things that
are not new, but the book clarified how to use them successfully.
I'm still pondering whether the book should be purchased for new faculty. If they are really new to teaching, I think I would
suggest that essential chapters be pointed out to them -- probably 3, 4, and 9 for starters and then add in 7 and 8. The rest
could be saved for another time.
The Teaching Creed is excellent. It should be addressed at convocation -- sometimes we need a
reminder of why we are really here and what is really important.
Chapter 5 is definitely for the more experienced teacher. A new teacher really
does need to practice becoming a good lecturer before moving on to other methods. Chapter 6 left me with my mouth hanging
open. This was something entirely new to me. (I didn't think anything was entirely new to me!) I guess I don't perceive a math
class as being a class lending itself to a great deal of discussion. I was fascinated by the scatterplots and analyses though -- that
is mathematical! It's interesting, but ...
The initial question was whether this should be purchased for new instructors. I think I feel like it is more appropriate in general
for someone with some experience. New instructors may profit more from working with mentors who will help them work
their way through "the way things are done here." I'm thinking about basics -- like making sure the roles are accurate, how to
use early alert roles, the importance of sticking to the course outline, exam schedules, office hours, etc. I felt overwhelmed this
fall with how to make this wonderful computer work, how to get and operate voice mail, which meetings I needed to attend
and which ones were just nice if I had time. Thank heaven, teaching classes was the easy part of the job.
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1999