Computing Research Association
Effective Teaching Resources
links to resources on the web and elsewhere
Compiled by Tim Finin
initially for the 1998 CRA
Effective Teaching Workshop. Some material adapted from Nigel Ward
(University of Tokyo),
Graduate Studies, Research and Careers in Computer Science (Iowa)
and other resources found on the web. Comments and suggestions
welcome.
General
-
The New Professor's Handbook, A Guide to Teaching and Research in
Engineering and Science, Cliff I. Davidson and Susan A. Ambrose,
Anker Publishing Company, Inc. $24.95 paperbound, 224 pages, 1994.
ISBN 1-882982-01-0. "...First, the book bridges the gab between
teaching theory, on which copious volumes have been written, and
practical aspects of college and university teaching in technical
courses. Second, the book puts into writing much of the "folklore"
about starting a research program as told by experienced professors,
information which is normally communicated by mouth."
-
The Assistant Professor's Guide to the Galaxy by George Bekey.
1988 essay was written for new faculty at USC.
-
Tomorrow's Professor: Preparing for Academic Careers in Science and
Engineering , Richard M. Reis, Stanford University, IEEE Press.
"... designed to help you prepare for, find, and succeed at an
academic career in science and engineering"
- A
Ph.D. is necessary but not sufficient: launching a career in the
engineering academy Harriet Black Nembhard, OR/MS Tomorrow, Summer
1997
-
The University: An owner's manual. Henry Rosovsky. Norton,
1990. 0-393-30783-2. (309 pages). Drawing on 11 years as dean of the
Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, Henry Rosovsky
offers a wise and witty view of America's colleges and universities;
how they are run and the challenges they face, with special
consideration to each of their "owners"--students, faculty, alumni,
trustees, and others.
- Some presentations by David Patterson (Berkeley): How to
Have a Bad Career In Research/Academia , 1997 CRA Academic Careers
Workshop;
Patterson's Rules for New Computer Science and Engineering Professors
, 1997 CRA Academic Careers Workshop; and How to Have a
Bad Career In Research/Academia , Symposium on Operating Systems
Design and Implementation, Nov. 1994.
-
Advice to a Young Scientist. P. B. Medwar. Basic Books, 1979.
0-465-00092-4. (106 pages). Nobel laureate Sir Peter Medawar deflates
the myths of invincibility, superiority and genius; instead, he
demonstrates it is common sense and an inquiring mind that are
essential to the scientist's calling.
-
A Ph.D. is Not Enough! A guide to survival in science. Peter
J. Feibelman. Addison-Wesley, 1993. 0-201-62663-2. (109 pages).
"... This book is meant for... for those who naively suppose that
getting through graduate school, doing a postdoc, ect., are enough to
guarantee a scientific career. I want you to see what stands between
you and a career, to help you prepare for the inevitable obstacles
before they overwhelm you."
-
The Compleat Academic: A practical guide for the beginning social
scientist. M. P. Zanna and J. M. Darley (Eds.). Random House,
1987.
Teaching
-
Teaching Tips : Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and
University Teachers, Wilbert J. McKeachie, Paperback 9th edition (January
1994) D C Heath & Co; ASIN: 0669194344
- The
Professor Business : A Teaching Primer for Faculty, Barbara
J. Flood, Joy K. Moll, May 1990, Information Today Inc; ASIN:
0938734415
-
University Teaching : A Guide for Graduate Students Leo M. Lambert
(Editor), Stacey Lane Tice (Editor), patricia Featherstone, Paperback
(June 1996), Syracuse University Press; ASIN: 0815626371. An
instructor's guide to the basic defining elements in university
teaching written by 29 professors, and including professional
enhancement tips for graduate students. The essays review getting
started in the classroom, leading discussions, conducting studios and
laboratories, using video and writing to enhance instruction,
multicultural sensitivity, and the challenges of balancing teacher and
student roles.
-
Improving your Classroom Teaching. Maryellen Weimer. Newbury Park
and London: Sage
Publications, 1993. 0-8039-4976-6. (128 pages)
-
A Berkeley
Compendium of Suggestions for Teaching with Excellence, Barbara
Gross Davis, Lynn Wood and Robert C. Wilson.
-
Reading lists from the Teaching Resources library at Waterloo
-
Short Bibliography on College Teaching from Stanford
-
Mastering the Techniques of Teaching,Joseph Lowman,, 344 pages,
2nd edition, September 1995, JB Jossey-Bass Publishers; ASIN:
078790127X.
- Richard Felder's page on
Resources in Engineering and Science Education.
Richard M. Felder is the Hoechst Celanese Professor of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina
State University. He has contributed over 100 publications to the
fields of engineering education and chemical process engineering,
writes a column on educational methods and issues for the journal
Chemical Engineering Education, and presents workshops on effective
teaching at conferences and on campuses in the United States and
abroad.
- "Who
Needs These Headaches? Reflections on Teaching First-Year Engineering
Students", Richard M. Felder, Success 101, Fall 1997,
pp. 2-4. Experiences with coordinating and teaching an integrated
first-year engineering curriculum, and five inferred principles for
teaching first-year engineering students effectively.
- "Tips
on Quantitative Tests", Richard M. Felder, Emphasis on Teaching
and Learning, November 1997, pp. 7-9. Suggestions for making
quantitative problem-solving tests both rigorous and fair.
- "Beating
the Numbers Game: Effective Teaching in Large Classes", Richard
M. Felder, 1997 Annual ASEE Conference
Proceedings.. Techniques for getting students actively involved
in large lecture classes and for efficient management of the logistics
of such classes.
- "Matters
of Style" (1997). Principles and applications of four learning
style models (Felder-Silverman, Kolb, and models based on the
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Herrmann Brain Dominance
Instrument).
- "Navigating
The Bumpy Road to Student-Centered Instruction" (1996). An article
on overcoming the obstacles frequently encountered in implementing
student-centered approaches like cooperative learning.
- "A
Longitudinal Study of Engineering Student Performance and
Retention. IV. Instructional Methods and Student Responses to
Them." (1995). A detailed outline of an instructional approach
that incorporates active and cooperative learning and a variety of
other methods designed to address a broad spectrum of learning styles.
- "Cooperative
Learning in Technical Courses: Procedures, Pitfalls, and Payoffs"
(1994). A monograph published as an ERIC Document Reproduction Service
report.
- "Reaching
the Second Tier: Learning and Teaching Styles in College Science
Education," (1993). Defines the Felder-Silverman learning style
model and identifies teaching practices that should meet the needs of
students with the full spectrum of styles.
- Beyond
Teaching: Twelve Pillars for Managing Learning, H. Guy Bensusan.
Suggestions about course redesign by Dr. H. Guy Bensusan about course
redesign, alternative procedures and learner-centered methods.
- Teaching
Tips. An online collection of tips on lecturing and large classes
by Ann Mihkelson at University of Tasmania.
- Best practice
in college teaching. Compiled by Tom Drummond, North Seattle
Community College. An online collection of best practices for college
level teaching.
- Teaching
tips, A collection of papers that address typical issues in the
college classroom.
-
Teaching Within the Rhythms of the Semester, Donna Killian Duffy
and Janet Wright Jones, 259 pages. Cloth. $27.00 "... unique and
far-reaching guide to teaching and learning that is organized around
the ebbs and flows of energy that occur within the time frame of a
course. It combines a lively and innovative balance of theory and
application with practical techniques for creative successful learning
experiences at each stage of the semester."
-
Quick Hits: Successful Strategies by Award Winning Teachers,
Eileen Bender and Millard Dunn (Eds), 89 pages. Paperback. $13.95
"The first Quick Hits were collected in 1991 at a colloquium of
Indiana University faculty who had gathered to exchange tips about
successful teaching. Each participant described a particular challenge
and explained how he or she had handled it. The book covers four main
areas: general teaching tips, student motivation and involvement,
Philosophies of Teaching and Learning, and Discipline-Specific
Ideas.
- Acting
Lessons for Teachers: Using Performance Skills in the Classroom,
Robert T. Tauber & Cathy Sargent Mester, 174 pages. Paperback. $16.95
"With sections on role playing, humor, using props and the art of
animation, this is a must read for teachers who want to improve their
classroom presentation skills. The book also includes testimonials
from award-winning teachers, as well as a comprehensive list of
Educational Resource Information Centers. Acting Lessons is more than
just theoretical analysis, it is an engaging, in-depth resource guide
for those who are interested in learning how to better engage their
students."
-
Constructing a Syllabus, Michael J.V. Woolcock, Brown. A short
on-line article giving practical steps in building an effective
syllabus.
Assessing your teaching
-
The Teaching Portfolio, Hannelore B. Rodriguez-Farrar, Brown. An
on-line article which discusses how to assemble a portfoilio to
document your teaching (needed for contract renewal, tenure and
promotion).
Managing and mentoring TAs, RAs and Postdocs
- Becoming a Manager: Mastery of a New Identity.
Linda A. Hill. Harvard Business School Press, 1992.
0-87584-302-6. Traces the experiences of 19 new managers over the
course of their first year in a managerial capacity. She reveals the
complexity of the transition and analyzes the expectations of the
managers, their subordinates, and their superiors.
- Choosing
a Graduate Advisor (from Indiana).
- Choosing
an Advisor by Marshall Lev Dermer, UW-Milwaukee.
- How to
be a Good Graduate Student by Marie desJardins.
-
Networking on the Network by Phil Agre
- How to be
terrible graduate student (by Graeme Hirst, University of
Toronto).
- How to cope
with "burnout", by Andreas Gehmeyr.
- The How
to be a terrible thesis advisor, Nigel Ward.
- How to
Write a PhD Thesis, Joe Wolfe, School of Physics, The University
of New South Wales.
Teaching your students to do research and to write
- A
Letter to Research Students, by Duane A. Bailey
- Research Methods
in Computer Science (Tom Dietterich's course at Oregon State).
-
How to do Research in the MIT AI Lab, ed. David Chapman
- How to
be a Good Graduate Student by Marie desJardins.
-
How to Have a Bad Career in Research/Academia by David Patterson
-
Study, Research, and Writing Skills web page from the American
Communication Association.
- Dissertation
News, Thesis News
published by The Association for
Support of Graduate Students.
- An Evaluation of the Ninth SOSP
Submissions, or, How (and How Not) to Write a Good Systems Paper,
Roy Levin and David D. Redell
- Hints on good mathematical writing,
David Goss
- A primer on mathematical writing,
Steven L. Kleiman
- How to Give a Good Research
Talk, by Simon Peyton Jones et al. (comments)
- How to Present a Paper in Theoretical
Computer Science, Ian Parberry.
- A Guide for New Referees in
Theoretical Computer Science, Ian Parberry.
- Advice to Authors of Extended
Abstracts, William Pugh.
-
How To Have Your Abstract Rejected, by van Leunen and Lipton.
-
Advice for 1996 POPL submissions
Women in Academia and in Computer Science
CS/CE Education and curriculum
-
Strategic Directions in Computer Science Education, Allen
B. Tucker (Ed), ACM Computing Surveys 28(4), December 1996.
- Harold Abelson, Kim Bruce, Andy van Dam, Brian Harvey, Allen
Tucker, and Peter Wegner, with response by Susan Horwitz, Kenneth
Appel, Theresa Cuprak, David Kay, Christopher Nevison, Leon Schram,
Mark Stehlik, and Owen Astrachan.
The first-course conundrum. Communications of the ACM, June 1995.
- Edsger W. Dijkstra, with responses by David L. Parnas, William
L. Scherlis, M. H. van Emden, Jacques Cohen, Richard W. Hamming,
Richard W. Karp, and Terry Winograd. On the cruelty of really teaching
computer science. Communications of the ACM, December 1989.
- Viera K. Proulx, Richard Rasala, and Harriet Fell.
Foundations of Computer Science: What Are They and How Do We Teach
Them?, Proceedings of the SIGCSE/SIGCUE Joint Conference on
Integrating Technology in Computer Science Education, Barcelona,
Spain, June 1996.
- Steven Rudich. CS1:
How to Think Like a Computer Scientist.
- Lynn A. Stein.
Rethinking CS101: Innovations in introductory computer
programming.
- World
Lecture Hall section on computer science -- contains links to
pages created by faculty worldwide who are using the Web to deliver
class materials.
Technology for teaching
- WebCT WebCT
is a tool develped at UCB that facilitates the creation of
sophisticated World Wide Web-based educational environments by
non-technical users. It can be used to create entire on-line courses,
or to simply publish materials that supplement existing courses.
- Rada, R., 1996. Calling
for a Virtual Computing College, Computing Surveys, 28A(4),
December,
- Colin McCormack, David Jones, Building a Web-Based
Education System, John Wiley and Sons, ISBN 0471191620. Web pages
have links to a variety of resources related to Web-based education.
-
Web-Based Instruction, Badrul H. Khan (Editor), Hardcover ISBN:
0877782962. Educational Technology Publications
- Managing
Course Email, A collection of tips from Terri Heath, University of
Oregon.
Administrative issues
-
The Tenure Journey, Richard M. Reis, ASEE. For some the route
to tenure is a fast track, for others a long and winding one. For a
few, it leads to another destination.
-
Getting Tenure, Marcia Whicker, Jennie Kronenfeld, and Ruth
Strickland, Sage Publications, 1993
- The
Myth of the Superhuman Professor, Richard M. Felder,
J. Engr. Education, 82(2), 105-110 (1994). Problems resulting from
the common requirement that all faculty members at research
universities must excel at both teaching and disciplinary research,
and a suggested alternative model for faculty hiring and advancement.
Other Resources
-
Resource List on TA Training, Instructional Development Centre,
Queen's University.
SIGCSE -- the ACM Special
Interest Group on Computer Science Education.
- Computer
Science Education links (maintained by Renee McCauley)
- Computer
Science Education Resources (maintained by Lewis Barnett)
- list of links to
Teaching and Learning Centers at various universities
- Deliberations,
A magazine on teaching and learning in higher education.
- The Teaching
Professor newsletter, ISSN 0892-2209, $41.00 per year, 10 issues
per year.
- Teaching
Concerns -- a publication of the University of Virginia Teaching
Resource Center, includes an online archive of articles
- Journal on
Excellence in College Teaching -- forum for discussion by faculty
about all areas affecting teaching and learning. Published by Miami
University in Oxford, Ohio.
- Effective Teaching -- The Carolina Colloquy's
Electronic Journal of University Teaching and Learning.
- Journal of
Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching (JCMST) -- a
scholarly journal which offers an in-depth forum for the interchange
of information in the fields of science, mathematics, and computer
science.
- The Chronicle of Higher Education -- weekly
publication for college and university faculty members and
administrators with extensive on-line material.
Keeping your Perspective
-
Lucky Jim. Kingsley Amis. Penguin, 1954. (251 pages). Acid
satire of postwar British academic life.
-
Moo. Jane Smiley. Hardcover - 414 pages (April 1995) Random House
(T); ASIN: 0679420231. The hallowed halls of Moo University, a
midwestern agricultural institution (aka "cow college"), are rife with
devious plots, mischievous intrigue, lusty liaisons, and academic
one-upsmanship.
- The Top Ten Lies
Told by Graduate Students
- The Top Five Lies
Told by TAs