The Chicago Handbook for Teachers, Second Edition: A Practical Guide to the College Classroom

I couldn't decide whether to give this guide three or four stars. The book is written by a team of authors with chapters on preparing a course, getting through the first weeks, discussions and lectures, student writing and research, tests, evaluations, etc. The handbook would be most valuable to beginning teachers who may know the course material but have no experience in developing or teaching a course. Some reviewers point out that with its emphasis on class discussions, student papers, test essays, and multicultural discussions/issues, the handbook is more geared towards arts and humanities rather than the sciences, which rely on less of these activities. While this is certainly true, I find that the books biggest drawback is its bland feel. The book tries to speak to the new professor at Big University, U.S.A., but in trying to speak in general to everyone, it instead speaks to nobody. The book is easy to read and is not too technical, and the price is fantastic. I did not find as many specific tips on teaching as I had hoped, and some of the tips seemed obvious.If you are a new college teacher (especially in the humanities area), this book can help you figure out some of the basics.

This book has a lot of common sense information that we all like to hear. It starts with information about how to plan for your class and prepare a complete syllabus that spells out your expectations and decreases the chances of arguments with students later. There are also some great tips for writing good test questions to demonstrate what the students know rather than what they don't know. Most of the information is geared towards classes that do a lot of literature reading and include lots of class discussions and essay writing. Class discussions are often hard to sustain and this book advises how to keep people from dominating the discussion and how to involve everyone and lessen students' fears of being wrong. This book did not include many concrete ideas for how to improve teaching or new things to try in the classroom rather it gave advice for how to make the old, common ways of teaching, such as lecturing and discussion, work. Although this book has six authors, I still felt like I was only getting one point of view. I think this would be a more inclusive general guide to college teaching if there were viewpoints from people working in different disciplines.

Every college professor, and would-be college professor, will want to add this important book to his or her professional library. It is brimming with practical advice for achieving success in the classroom. The co-authors, themselves affiliated with a range of institutions (from liberal arts college to university research center), bring their own practical experiences to the fore. Moreover, they provide superb advice about key issues related to teaching (e.g., office hours, construction of exams, and professional conduct.) Whether one is at the beginning of his or her career or a veteran professor, this book will prove itself most beneficial.

I'm in involved in several organizations in which I need to present my ideas clearly and convincingly. THE CHICAGO HANDBOOK helped to systematically organize my presentations even though some of the actual teaching situations were not applicable. Very readable and informative for a variety of situations.