The Chicago Guide to College Science Teaching (Chicago Guides to Academic Life)

This is an excellent, highly accessible guide to teaching undergraduate science courses. I and a group of academic instructors (Post-Docs and Graduate students) spent a semester reading and discussing the book and it was extraordinarily helpful. Despite our meandering pace, a quick reader could grasp everything covered over the course of a weekend without an issue.Some folks in our reading group felt like much of what was covered they already knew and were implementing in their teaching. That said, those readers were already excellent and well experienced instructors. Regardless, the book serves as a concise guide, that could either help new instructors become better teachers, or remind seasoned instructors of what works in building a functioning undergraduate classroom.

The author tries to be thoughtful, but the language is so equivocal, and the author tries so hard to be fair to all perspectives, that the book ends up giving no actionable advice. The suggestions often contradict (in the interest of being , and, if I were a new faculty member, I would find this book frustrating and somewhat terrifying. The book overwhelms with adding worry upon worry for a new faculty member. I have a new colleague, and I would not pass this book on.

Of course college instructors should study the subject matter of their disciplines, but they should also study effective pedagogy. It's helpful to have a practical resource for good college teaching.

Book covers many aspects of undergraduate science education and includes lots of helpful tips and ideas to building a classroom in which students are engaged and feel respected. I can't wait to employ its techniques in my future teaching endeavors.