An e-book by James H. Korn, Mary Stephen, and Jason Sikorski
Designed primarily with new teachers in mind, this text offers insight, research, and exercises to stimulate new ways of thinking about teaching that may appeal to instructors at all experience levels. Faculty who teach graduate courses on teaching also may find the Guide useful, either as either a required or course text or as a supplement to course texts.
Think of the Guide as more like a live course than a textbook; it provides numerous learning activities and prompts for reflection. Readers can work through the Guide just as they might a course; often they will be asked to pause and complete activities before moving on to the next unit. In this way, the authors hope to stimulate reflective, intentional pedagogical practices and to challenge assumptions about how teaching decisions are made.
A Guide for Beginning Teachers
Table of Contents
Unit 1: Introduction to the Guide
Unit 2: Developing Your Philosophy of Teaching
Unit 3: Planning a Course: Philosophy Becomes Practice
Unit 4: Class Presentations
Unit 5: Managing Class Discussions
Unit 6: Writing to Learn and Other Forms of Active Learning
Unit 7: Assessment and Grading
Unit 8: Evaluating Teaching
Unit 9: Values and Ethics
Unit 10: Developing Your Teaching Portfolio
Unit 11: Landing a Teaching Job
About the Authors
James H. Korn, Ph.D.
James, who more commonly goes by Jim, received his Ph.D. from Carnegie-Mellon University (1965) in physiological psychology. He served on the faculty at CMU until 1974, when he came to Saint Louis University to serve as department chair. For most of his career, Jim has been actively involved in the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, serving as President in 1988-89. Jim also played a crucial role in the founding of the Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching & Learning. He is currently retired.
Mary Stephen, Ph.D.
Mary received her Ph.D. from Saint Louis University (1997) in foundations of education, following earlier degrees and extensive graduate work in mathematics and computer science. In 2000, after over 30 years of teaching mathematics, computer science and instructional technology in higher education, Mary joined the staff of the Reinert Center for Teaching Excellence (now the Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching & Learning) at Saint Louis University where she had the opportunity to work with faculty members interested in expanding their teaching expertise, especially in the area of technology integration, and with graduate students pursuing the Center's Certificate in University Teaching Skills. Mary retired as director of the Center in 2011, and is currently a part-time visiting professor at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.
Jason Sikorski, Ph.D.
Jason received his Ph.D. from Auburn University (2005) in clinical psychology. He is a past winner of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology McKeachie Early Career Award (2004). Jason also was the first chairperson of the Graduate Student Association for beginning teachers within the Society for the Teaching of Psychology
Photo by: Shutterhacks, Copyright 2012
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
An earlier version of this e-book was published in 2010 on the Society for the Teaching of Psychology website and was written specifically for psychology teachers. This version has been expanded to apply to all areas of teaching, including the humanities, arts, sciences, and professions.