Resources for New Teachers

This page provides links and resources of special interest for people new to university teaching.

• Teaching Activities
• Vanderbilt Resources
• International Faculty
• Web Resources
• Books
• CFT Services

Teaching Activities

For new teachers, it is very important to gather feedback from your students throughout the semester. For advice on how to do so, please see our guide on Gathering Feedback from Students.

In addition, the Center for Teaching's web site includes many relevant resources on teaching strategies and practices, including:

• Course Design

• Effective Discussion-Leading

• Lecturing

• Cooperative Learning

• Online Writing

• Course Management Systems

• Tips for Supervising Teaching Assistants

• Multi-media Presentations

Vanderbilt Resources

Other helpful guides on the CFT web site include:

• Vanderbilt Resources:the logistics of teaching at Vanderbilt.

• Teaching Vanderbilt Undergraduates: information and advice on teaching Vanderbilt undergraduates

• Faculty New to Vanderbilt: another guide to Vanderbilt resources.

International Faculty & TAs

International Faculty & TAs: guidance for those new to teaching in the United States.

Web Resources

• The Teaching Effectiveness Program (TEP) at the University of Oregon has a variety of helpful resources for new teachers.

• Barbara Gross Davis has put online portions of her classic book Tools for Teaching.

• Tom Drummond also has a useful summary of best practices in college teaching .

Books

Two excellent introductions to university teaching are:

• McKeachie, W. (2002). Teaching Tips 11th ed. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.
• Davis, B.G. (1993). Tools for Teaching . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

New faculty also might want to read one of the many books on faculty life, including:

• Boice, R. (2000). Advice for New Faculty Members . Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
• Caplan, P. (1993). Lifting a Ton of Feathers: A Woman's Guide for Surviving in the Academic World . Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
• Menges, R.J. (1999). Faculty in New Jobs : A Guide to Settling In, Becoming Established, and Building Institutional Support . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Vargas, L. ed. (2002). Women Faculty of Color in the White Classroom . New York: Peter Lang.

All of those books, and many others, are available in the CFT Library at 1114 19th Avenue South, 3rd Floor. Our library can be searched on Acorn, Vanderbilt's library catalog.

CFT Services

Center for Teaching consultants work individually with faculty and teaching assistants on any issue related to teaching - from preparing to teach your first course to applying recent research on learning to your classroom. Contact us, call (615) 322-7290, or visit us at 1114 19th Avenue South, 3rd Floor.

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