College Teaching at Its Best - by Chris Palmer (Paperback)

About the Book

This book is a practical guide for professors who are interested in being more effective teachers.

Book Synopsis

This book is a practical guide for professors who are interested in being more effective teachers. It encompasses all the things a professor must do to prepare to teach; to stimulate learning and love of learning; to understand and engage all students; and to help them find direction, purpose, and mission in their lives. The book recognizes the importance of instructors, and how the best teachers focus on inspiring lifelong learning, both in themselves and in their students. Good teaching is rooted in good values, not the mastery of content alone. Caring, empathy, and compassion are important. The highest value of a teacher may often lie in the mentorship she can provide to her students. Discover how to convey passion and enthusiasm to students, and how to motivate your students to want to learn and participate. The book describes active learning approaches and how to make lectures more effective. It also recognizes the moral responsibility professors have to help the less talkative members of their class.

The book deals with how to overcome the challenges of fostering learning in large classes where it is almost impossible for the instructor to get to know all the students. How to keep students alert and energized by adding variety to your classes through games, role-playing, humor, guest speakers, field trips, videos, and other devices. How to maintain enthusiasm and compassion all semester, and keep fatigue and negative thoughts at bay. How to handle email and office hours, how to provide feedback on work, and how to consider the whole student as you evaluate performance and foster success. This book is a useful guide as you chart your course through the challenges and rewards of college teaching.

Review Quotes

Chris Palmer's book is one of the most unexpected, intelligent and compassionate guides I have ever read, and that includes guides I have read to just about anything--cooking, golfing, gardening, you name it. One of our nation's greatest and least acknowledged problems is the lousy teaching that goes on in even our best universities. Palmer became a professor late in life, which may be why his book is so good. He had no long-term career ambitions to distract him. He just wanted to help students. He started asking students and other professors how to do that best. The result is a joy to read.

Chris Palmer's College Teaching at its Best is a wonderful new book. Wisdom pours out of it like a river. Its brisk and lively chapters urge teachers to keep working to improve themselves in the classroom as they demonstrate concern for their students and demand steadiness and hard work in return. As Palmer says, you're not teaching if the students aren't learning. Teachers have to accept responsibility when classes aren't performing up to their expectations; they have to model the vitality and conscientiousness they expect from their charges. He also dares to take on the question of reforming tenure, a system that in too many cases has become a shelter for classroom mediocrity. I can't recommend this book too highly and I hope it will catch on widely among faculty members everywhere.

In this accessible and personal book you will find insight and utility in equal measure. Chris Palmer writes from varied and well-mined experience about the relational basis to teaching and the importance of connecting to all students with passion and caring. Wise and practical, this is a helpful resource to professors at any stage of their teaching career.

About the Author

Chris Palmer, retired professor, is a speaker, author, and wildlife film producer, who gives speeches and workshops on a variety of topics, including how to motivate and engage students. He is the author of four other books: Shooting in the Wild (2010), Confessions of a Wildlife Filmmaker (2015), Now What, Grad? Your Path to Success After College (2015), and Raise Your Kids to Succeed (2017). He has won awards for his teaching at American University.