The Art and Craft of Teaching

A must book. -- Theodore Sizer

A practical guide for everyone who must deliver a lecture, lead a discussion, assign a grade, or carry out the hundreds of tasks involved in being a successful teacher from the first day of school to the last.

A concise and lively guide for college and university teachers, this collection of essays provides insights and solid advice for beginners as well as more experienced teachers. For the past eight years, the Harvard–Danforth Center for Teaching and Learning has been organizing programs that seek to improve university instruction. As part of these programs, the Center sponsors a faculty seminar on teaching lead by noted Harvard Professor C. Roland Christensen. The authors of this book—teachers in a wide variety of academic fields—were all participants in the seminar. In writing the book together, they drew on the Center’s resources and on their combined store of skills, techniques, and attitudes.

Topics include preparing for the first day of class, delivering good lectures, leading effective discussions, using the rhythms of the semester, teaching essay writing, grading and evaluation, and learning how to become a better teacher. The authors offer workable solutions for problems that every instructor faces and suggest strategies that will enrich the classroom experience for both teachers and students.