Teaching Manual - Columbia U

TEACHING MANUAL – Columbia University, NY, USA.
1. Introduction
The purpose of this manual is to provide an overview of the issues that inevitably arise as you begin the
transition from graduate student to instructor. While teaching roles for graduate students at Columbia are
diverse there are common elements that apply to teaching in general and to the specific roles assigned at
Columbia.
This manual is organized around these roles and assumes that effective teaching combines a good
relationship with your students, a solid grasp of the subject matter and clarity and organization in
presenting it.
Common Teaching Roles describes the different teaching roles assigned to graduate students at Columbia
as accurately as possible and refers you to the manual's sections that apply to them.
Working with Faculty offers advice on how to effectively coordinate your teaching efforts with those of
the faculty member in charge.
Working with Students: Teaching discusses the range of classroom management and interpersonal skills
you will call upon when teaching.
Working with Students: Mentoring discusses the ways in which you can provide valuable mentoring to
your students.
Developing Specific Teaching Skills: Preparation provides a checklist of the details that go into planning
to teach a course such as preparing the syllabus, class plans, assignments and tests.
Developing Specific Teaching Skills: Performance offers practical advice on carrying out different
classroom activities such as conducting class, asking and answering questions, presenting and lecturing,
leading discussion, teaching laboratories, teaching quantitative skills, teaching language, using
technology and administering tests.
Responding to and Grading Student Work provides guidelines for evaluating and grading student work
and includes tips as to how to handle grade disputes.
Evaluating and Improving Your Teaching lists activities that are useful for maintaining self-awareness as
an instructor and using it to improve your teaching.
Teaching and Your Graduate Program discusses the various synergies between your teaching and
research competencies and suggests ways to capitalize on them.
Teaching and the Job Market offers advice on how to document and present your teaching skills to
potential employers.
Useful Administrative Information refers you to information about university policies and support
services, and additional resources on teaching.
Processing of Teaching Fellowships

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2. Common Teaching Roles
2.1 Reading and Grading
Some Teaching Fellows are responsible for grading and commenting on student work. As a Teaching
Fellow with this responsibility, you will grade and comment on home-works, papers and exams for
courses in which you do not have an active teaching role. You may also participate in constructing
assignments and tests, keeping records of students' grades, meeting with students who have questions,
calculating final grades or to taking on other responsibilities related to grading or evaluating students'
work. This requires a thorough knowledge of course content and objectives, evaluation techniques and
grading criteria. It also requires effective interpersonal skills to coordinate with your course head, to
communicate with your students and, since grades can trigger a range of emotions, to resolve conflicts
over grades. Sections of the manual that may help you prepare for this role include:
• Working with Faculty

• Working with Students
• Developing Specific Teaching Skills
• Responding to and Grading Students' Work
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2.2 Assisting in Teaching
Some Teaching Fellows have greater responsibility in teaching courses. As such a Teaching Fellow, you
may assist the course instructor with any or all of the responsibilities associated with teaching the course.
These responsibilities may include but are not limited to: duplicating course materials, assisting in
constructing assignments and tests, grading and commenting on home-works, papers and exams, keeping
records of students' grades, meeting with students who have questions, calculating final grades, giving an
occasional lecture or class, organizing review sessions, helping maintain the course web-site or taking on
other responsibilities associated with the course. To prepare yourself for this most varied teaching role,
you should be familiar with all aspects of teaching as you may become involved with any or all of them.
The following sections of the manual will help to prepare you for this role:

• Developing Specific Teaching Skills
• Responding to and Grading Students' Work
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2.3 Leading Discussion Sections
Some Teaching Fellows are assigned to lead the discussion sections of large lecture courses. As a
discussion leader, your chief responsibility will be to provide students with an opportunity to actively
engage in course subject matter through discussion. You will probably also grade papers and meet with
students who have questions. Ideally, you should attend all lectures and closely read all materials. It is
particularly important to communicate well with the course head to clarify course objectives and to
effectively calibrate discussion sessions to the lecture. In general, your role is to encourage students to
read and think critically about the material, and to arrive at and express their own ideas.
A common pitfall associated with discussion leading is resorting to lecturing or questioning students
about their knowledge of facts if the discussion dies down. Thus, your major challenges are to make sure
that the discussion stays alive, that aggressive students do not dominate the class and that reticent students
are encouraged to participate. Your success will depend on your ability to prepare a strategy for each
session so you can get a discussion off the ground and to get to know your students as individuals so that
you can more productively draw them into the discussion. Sections of the manual that may be of interest
to discussion leaders include:

• Developing Specific Teaching Skills (especially the sections on Discussion Leading and Grading
and Commenting on Students' Work)
• Evaluating and Improving Your Teaching
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2.4 Leading Laboratory Sections
Most Teaching Fellows in the Natural Sciences departments serve as lab assistants under the supervision
of an undergraduate program director or a teaching assistant coordinator. As a lab assistant, your main
task will be to introduce students to the standard practices and instrumental techniques basic to scientific
laboratory work in your field, guide them as they perform experiments and show them how to derive
results from scientific data. Other tasks include helping them understand the theoretical and historical
bases of the experiment, grading lab reports, ensuring the observance of safety codes, meeting with them
to answer questions and calculating a final grade for your section.
In some departments, you may also be responsible for leading a recitation section and/or grading
homework other than lab reports. You should know the material well so that you can give clear
presentations of the principles and procedures for each experiment and perform each experiment in
advance to prepare yourself for any problems your students may encounter. You should also
communicate well with the course instructor to clarify course objectives and the relationship between
laboratory experiments and weekly lectures. One of the challenges in leading laboratories is to ensure that
lab partners work as a team and that one does not perform the experiment while the other passively
observes. Thus, it is important to interact with your students while they perform the experiment, get to
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know them as individuals and coach them rather than do the experiment for them. The following sections
of the manual may be of interest to lab assistants:
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2.5 Leading Recitation Sections
Some Teaching Fellows in the Natural Sciences may be assigned to lead recitation sections, a role like
that of the discussion leader in the Humanities and Social Sciences. As a recitation leader your main task
will be to help students understand and learn how to apply the material introduced in the lectures. On
occasion, you may also present material not included in the lectures or discuss assigned questions,
problems or articles. In addition, some recitation leaders grade homework and exams, meet individually
with students to answer questions and/or hold review sessions. Ideally, you should attend all lectures and
closely read all materials. It is particularly important to communicate with the course head to clarify the
key topics that you will emphasize in your section. In general, your contribution to the course is to find
out where the difficulties in your students' comprehension and application of the material lie and to guide
them in solving problems by providing insight into the reasoning used.
A common pitfall associated with leading recitation sections is to do the work for your students by
solving the problems or answering the questions. You should therefore remember that your students must
be able to solve the problems on their own and coach them and offer suggestions, but do not do their work
for them. It is also important for students to be actively involved in the recitation. So, prepare a strategy
for each session so you can get a discussion off the ground. Get to know your students as individuals so
that you can more productively draw them into the discussion. Thus, your greatest challenges are to
encourage all of your students to think about and solve problems for themselves and to bring all of them
into the discussion so that you gain insight into their understanding of the material. You can prepare
yourself for this in advance by doing all the problems and by developing questions that will engage your
students. While you may assemble questions yourself by looking at past assignments and tests, it is
helpful to solicit questions from students at the beginning of class, or through email or a question box in
the classroom. Sections of the manual that may be of interest to recitation leaders include:

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2.6 Teaching Your Own Class

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Some Teaching Fellows teach courses on their own. In this role, your duties are closest to those of a
faculty member: you are solely responsible for all aspects of teaching a course. However, you will teach
under the supervision of a program director and within clearly defined parameters, as most departments
and core programs provide you with a syllabus, guidelines and ongoing support in the form of
orientations, weekly meetings addressing course content and/or teaching skill workshops. Most of the
sections of this book will apply to you, as you will need to make most of the preparations for the course,
mesh it with the missions of the undergraduate programs and bear sole responsibility for conducting the
class.

• Developing Specific Teaching Skills (especially the sections on the activities that you will use to
help your students learn)
3. Working with Faculty
Your job as a teaching assistant will be more productive and enjoyable if you have a good working
relationship with the faculty member supervising the course you teach (or assist in teaching). The key to
making this relationship work is to clearly define both roles and maintain effective communication
throughout the term. If your faculty supervisor has not given you a written outline of your responsibilities,
it will be necessary to find out exactly what he or she perceives them to be. Some faculty will assume that
you are familiar with your duties if you do not ask about them. The following checklist is intended to help
you begin and maintain this dialogue:
Before the Semester
• Try to meet with the faculty member and review the course and the nature of your
responsibilities: the schedule, the syllabus, procedures for handling student complaints, how to
mesh your duties with the overall course goals and objectives, and the University policies for
which you may be responsible. Also, if you are teaching outside your area, ask what materials
you might use to help prepare yourself.
• Try to talk to graduate students who have previously taught or assisted in teaching the course.
• If grading is a responsibility, review evaluation methods and grading policies.
• If class plan and syllabus, selection of course material, test and assignment are responsibilities,
ask the faculty member to review your preparations.
During the Semester
• Try to communicate regularly to coordinate and address issues as they arise, i.e., the instructional
goals of each meeting, successful teaching strategies, typical problems students encounter with
the material, ways to prepare students for these difficulties and how individual students are
handling the course.
• Arrange to be observed during the semester to obtain feedback on your teaching.
Source
Departmental Training and Development Programs for UNC-Chapel Hill: A Resource Packet. (Center for
Teaching and Learning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1996)
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4. Working with Students
Your primary role as a teaching assistant or preceptor will be to take on the teaching responsibilities
associated with your appointment. The literature on teaching and learning emphasizes two aspects of
good teaching: clarity of presentation and quality of interpersonal relations. In other words, the type of
relationship that you have with your students can have a positive or negative effect on their learning.
Thus, you should be aware of what you can do to develop a good relationship with your students in order
to create a positive learning environment.
It is also likely that students may ask you to take on additional roles such as adviser, counselor, mentor or
reference. This section discusses the range of interpersonal skills that you will call upon both as a teacher
and in other dealings with students. It also offers practical advice on how approach the different roles that
students may ask you to fill.
4.1 Developing Your Teaching Style
As you prepare to take on your teaching responsibilities, you should keep in mind that your effectiveness
as a teacher will depend on established personality traits and the extent to which they correspond to the
characteristics deemed essential to effective teaching. In addition to a solid command of the course
material, effective teaching requires organization, clarity in presentation, enthusiasm for the subject and
good interpersonal skills. The following list of such characteristics is intended to guide you as you
develop a teaching style that both agrees with your personality and is effective in the classroom.
Command of Course Content
• Have a solid command of your field.

• Give students a sense of your field from its foundation to its future direction.
• Include facts and concepts from fields related to your own.
• Discuss viewpoints other than your own.
Organization and Clarity
• Explain clearly.
• Be well prepared.
• Make difficult topics understandable.
• Use examples and explanations that make material understandable and memorable.
• Make the objectives of the course and each class meeting clear and introduce the material in a
logical manner.
Enthusiasm
• Be energetic and dynamic.

• Give the impression that you enjoy teaching.
• Convey enthusiasm for your field and self-confidence.
Interpersonal Skills
• Stimulate and guide interaction in your class.

• Encourage independent thought and be receptive to criticism.
• Use wit and humor effectively.
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• Be a good public speaker.
• Be sensitive to your students' understanding of the material and to their varying levels of
motivation.
• Continuously cultivate the quality of your teaching.
• Be fair, especially in your methods of evaluation.
• Be approachable and a valuable source of advice.
Source
R.C. Wilson and E.R. Dienst, Evaluating University Teaching. Berkeley: U of C Center for Research and
Development in Higher Education, 1971.
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4.2 Fostering a Positive Classroom Environment
Different courses will have different criteria for environments that are supportive of learning. In general,
students are more enthusiastic about classes that provoke their intellectual curiosity and encourage
participation, especially if they believe that the instructor appreciates them as individuals. Beginning from
the first day of class use the following strategies to create a classroom environment that is supportive of
student learning:
• Let your students get to know you. Explain how you first became interested in the subject, how it
has been important to you and why you are teaching it. Also, convey your enthusiasm for the
field and course.
• Get to know your students and treat them with respect. This lets them know you are interested in
them as individuals and encourages them to participate.
• Learn your students' names and how to pronounce them. Make an effort to get to know them and
express interest in them and their work. Ask about prerequisites they have completed, related
courses they are taking or have taken, their reasons for enrolling in your course, what they hope
to learn, tentative career plans, and outside interests.
• Show your students your respect by greeting them as they enter the classroom, starting and
finishing class on time, encouraging questions, giving them the opportunity to talk, being
available after class and during office hours and addressing their concerns.
• Use language and humor appropriately. Avoid using language and humor such as sarcasm and
ridicule that may be offensive or demeaning to some students. Be particularly careful about using
language that may considered a form of sexual harassment or otherwise may contribute to an
intimidating, hostile or offensive classroom environment.
• Build a sense of community in the classroom by providing students with opportunities to get to
know each other.
Sources
Davis, B.G. Tools for Teaching. Jossey-Bass, 1993.
Hilsen, L. "A Helpful Handout: Establishing and Maintaining a Positive Classroom Climate." In E.C.
Wadsworth, L. Hilsen, and M.A. Shea (eds.), A Handbook for New Practitioners from the Professional
and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education. Stillwater, Okla.: New Forums Press,
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1988
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4.3 Establishing Good Student-Teacher Relationships
Your relationship to your students has the potential of becoming complicated by your closeness in age to
some of them, by the ambiguity of your role as both student and teacher and by the difficulties inherent to
a relationship where you show personal interest yet must remain a detached professional. The following
advice is intended to help you maintain a balance between the interest you have in your students and your
role as a teacher:
Closeness in age and status can be both beneficial and harmful to the student-teacher relationship. As a
contemporary and student, you may relate better to your students but you also may find it more difficult
to set boundaries. Students may feel that, because of your closeness in age, you are a potential friend or
that you have no greater command of course material than they do. Turn your ability to relate to students
into an advantage by using it to show that you care about their success in the course. Capitalize on being a
student by being honest about what you do and do not know. If you don't know something, tell your
students that you will find out and report back. You should not feel humbled because these situations can
be used to model the learning process for your students.
Focus on facilitating learning, not on developing social ties. Try to develop only those social ties that
have a clear-cut role in the learning process. In other words, it is reasonable to expand your role beyond
the classroom and get to know your students better over coffee or lunch but be careful to confine yourself
to your role as teacher. If you find that a student is becoming too familiar or informal with you limit your
availability for such meetings. Evaluation and grading are hard enough without the ethical dilemmas
introduced by a close relationship.
In walking this tightrope, it is important not to become too rigid or flexible, authoritarian or collegial.
Either of these extremes is harmful to the learning process. You will alienate students and discourage
involvement if you seem condescending or if you seem to have difficulty setting limits on students'
behavior and demands by being too collegial.
In some cases, a student may misinterpret a teaching assistant's interest in him or her as romantic or
sexual interest or vice versa. In other cases, a student and teaching assistant may allow the student-teacher
relationship to develop into a romantic or sexual one. Either situation is inadvisable because it interferes
with the student's ability to learn and the teaching assistant's ability to perform his or her job.
Furthermore, it may constitute a form of sexual harassment. For these and other reasons, individual
departments have policies to prevent such conflicts of interest, and the University prohibits sexual
harassment and subjects it to disciplinary action.
Source
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4.4 Motivating Students
Some students are intrinsically motivated, but others need or expect their instructors to inspire them.
Furthermore, whatever level of motivation they bring to the classroom is affected, for better or worse, by
what happens in the classroom. Fortunately, good everyday teaching practices do more to encourage
motivation and counter apathy than any special measures directed at enhancing motivation. Most students
are motivated by a well-organized course taught by an enthusiastic instructor who has a genuine interest
in them and what they learn. Thus, activities undertaken to promote learning also tend to enhance
students' motivation. The following list of behaviors and activities may help you to motivate your
students to do well in your course:
• Be enthusiastic about your subject.

• Focus on students' existing needs and build on their strengths and interests.
• Encourage students to be active participants in their learning and, whenever possible, let them
make their own choices about what they will study.
• Help students set realistic goals for themselves and help them find personal meaning and value in
course material.
• Let your students know precisely what they need to do to succeed in your course.
• Increase the difficulty of the material as the semester progresses.
• Vary your teaching methods.
• Have high but reasonable expectations of your students.
• Emphasize learning course material rather than grades.
• Avoid using grades as threats and creating intense competition among students.
• Design tests that encourage the type of learning you want students to engage in.
• Give students feedback as quickly as possible.
• Be specific when giving negative feedback and avoid comments that may be considered
demeaning.
• Show students good work done by their peers.
• Assign readings at least two classes before they will be discussed.
• Assign study questions.
• Ask non-threatening questions about the readings.
• Prepare an exam question on readings not discussed in class.
• Give a written assignment to students who have not done the reading.
• Acknowledge student success.
Source
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4.5 Diversity
The undergraduate population of Columbia University is truly diverse. On average, its students come
from more than thirty countries and all fifty states. Males and females are about equally represented, and
well over 30 percent of the students are Asian, African-American, Hispanic or Native American.
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Furthermore, undergraduates differ in religion, age, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status, and
students with visible and invisible disabilities have become a growing and important population.
In teaching, you can capitalize on these differences by holding discussions that are inclusive of different
perspectives and by using your classroom as a model of how people can come together in diversity. At the
same time, you should be aware that students from historically underrepresented groups may experience
alienation and sense subtle forms of bias in the classroom. Be sensitive to how, through certain classroom
behaviors, you may inadvertently reinforce these feelings and hinder certain students' personal, academic
and professional development. You should always be ready to explore what you can do to respond
appropriately to different kinds of diversity in the classroom.
Not surprisingly, there are no sure-fire solutions or any specific rules. Perhaps the best advice is to be
thoughtful and sensitive. Do what you think is best. To prepare yourself, you should increase your
awareness of matters that faculty and students have indicated are particularly sensitive. The following
suggestions are intended to help you increase this awareness.
Recognizing and Overcoming Stereotypes and Biases
• Be aware of any biases or stereotypes you may hold whether consciously or unconsciously.
• Respect your students as individuals and avoid projecting your feelings about an entire group
onto any one student. At the same time, remember that group identity may play an important role
in a student's individuality.
• Eliminate language patterns or examples that exclude or demean any groups. Be aware that part
of this process includes sensitivity to terminology, which changes over time as groups continue to
shape their identity and relationship to dominant culture.
• Take measures to avoid offending out of ignorance by becoming more informed about the history
and culture of groups other than your own. Recognize the complexity of diversity by being aware
that what you learn about different groups will vary over time and space. Avoid making
generalizations about a particular group.
• Convey equal respect and confidence in the abilities of all your students. Studies have indicated
that instructors unconsciously base their expectations of students on factors such as gender, race,
and ethnicity and that such expectations can become self-fulfilling prophecies.
• Don't be overprotective of any group of students. If you attempt to do so by demanding less of
them, you are likely to undermine their self-esteem and view of their abilities and competence.
• Be impartial when you acknowledge students' good work and be sure to recognize the
achievements of all students.
• Be sensitive to students whose first language is not English.
Course Content and Material
• In general, assign texts and readings whose language is free of stereotype. If this is impossible,
mention these shortcomings and give your students an opportunity to discuss them.
• Try to include texts and readings that reflect scholarship about previously underrepresented
groups and discuss how this work informs your field of study.
• Do not assume that all students will recognize cultural, literary or historical references familiar to
you.
Discussion
• Emphasize the value of weighing different approaches and viewpoints.
• Let students know that you appreciate all comments. Intervene if students ignore or discount the
comments of others.
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• Encourage all students to participate in class discussion. Make sure that one group of students
doesn't dominate the discussion by soliciting alternative viewpoints.
• Reflect on your teaching methods. The literature on teaching notes that professors tend to give
better evaluations to students who question assumptions, challenge points of view, speak out and
participate actively. Remember that students often have good reasons for being reticent or
avoiding active participation and that in order to be an effective teacher you must be able to
engage both verbally assertive students and those with other styles of learning.
• Don't let disparaging comments pass unnoticed. Explain why a comment is offensive or
insensitive and let your students know that discriminatory remarks are unacceptable in class.
• Don't ask students to serve as spokespersons for their groups.
Assignments
• Suggest that students study together outside of class or assign group work.
• Give assignments and exams that recognize students' diverse backgrounds and special interests.
As appropriate to your field, you can assign paper topics or projects that encourage students to
explore the roles, status, contributions, and experiences of historically underrepresented groups.
• Provide opportunities to get to know your students and for them to get to know you and each
other by having a class outing or by inviting groups of students for coffee, lunch, or to your office
hours.
Sources
Border, N.L.B., Chism, N.V.N , Teaching for Diversity. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, no.
49, Jossey-Bass, 1992.
Chism, N.V.N., Cano, J., and Pruitt, A.S. "Teaching in a Diverse Environment: Knowledge and Skills
Needed by TAs." In J.D. Nyquist, R.D. Abbott, and D.H. Wulff (eds.), Teaching Assistant Training in the
1990s. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, no. 39, Jossey-Bass, 1989.
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4.6 Holding Office Hours
Office hours are an important component of your teaching and can be central to your effectiveness. They
give you the opportunity to get to know your students as individuals, to find out how effective your
classroom teaching is and to tailor your teaching to students' individual needs. By talking to your students
one-on-one, you can learn more about their individual study habits and skills, motivation and
comprehension. These insights can help you to ascertain where there may be problems and how to
address them. Likewise, office hours give your students the opportunity to get to know you better and to
work with you one-on-one. They also provide a forum wherein students can raise concerns or ask
questions they might be reluctant to bring up in class.
The key to holding effective office hours is to schedule them at times that are convenient to your students
and to conduct them in a pleasant setting. The following checklists are intended to guide you as you
encourage your students to take advantage of and make good use of office hours:
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Encouraging Students to Use Your Office Hours
• If you share an office with other graduate students, try to arrange to use the office at different
times so that you have more privacy and not disturb one another.
• Try to coordinate with your students' schedules as much as possible. Change your office hours if
you notice that they are not working out.
• Be available "by appointment" so that students who cannot make it to your office hours can see
you another time.
• Set your office hours according to departmental policies (usually 2 times a week).
• List your office hours on the syllabus and post them in your department. Explain their purpose on
the first day of class and remind students about them at key times during the semester.
• Keep your office hours.
• Even if you make every effort to accommodate your students don't be surprised if they do not
visit regularly. They are more likely to visit before or after an exam, before an assignment is due,
after a paper is returned or the week before finals. Thus, you may need to schedule additional
hours during these peak times.
• In general, you can encourage students to attend office hours by being friendly and accessible,
staying after class to answer questions, making an office visit a course requirement, returning
assignments with a note telling them to see you during office hours and contacting students who
fail to show up for scheduled appointments.
Making Effective Use of Office Hours
• Help students feel comfortable by creating a relaxed setting in which it is easy to communicate.
Ask students how their semester is going, encourage them to tell you the reason for their visits
and be attentive, thoughtful, responsive and respectful in your responses.
• Advise students to come prepared with questions or group students with similar concerns or
problems.
• If it is unclear why a student is there, try to identify the source of his or her difficulties by
reviewing the material covered in class, trying to assess his or her understanding and explaining
concepts in a variety of ways.
• Be prepared for the different reasons students might visit you and suggest different courses of
action depending on whether the problem is motivational or a matter of improving study skills.
For example, if you see that a student is really motivated but needs to work on study skills, you
can advise him or her on how to improve them. Alternatively, if you see that a student lacks
motivation but has the necessary skills, you can show him or her how the course can be relevant
to his or her interests or goals.
• Focus on problem-solving strategies rather than on providing the answer to a question or problem.
Whether or not you have the answers, try to help students find their own solutions by being
patient and by offering encouragement.
• Don't allow students to use office hours as a substitute for a missed class. Take care not to make
promises about future grades. If a student asks what he or she will need on an assignment or test
to get a particular grade, respond by reviewing your grading policies and by discussing his or her
performance.
• Don't try to take on too much by yourself. Be aware of tutoring and counseling resources
available to students and know when to refer students for outside help.
Sources

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5. Working with Students: Mentoring
On occasion, you may notice that a student is beginning to view you as a mentor, someone who is more
experienced and can offer guidance not only in the course they are taking with you, but also in their
academic programs or personal lives. There are three major aspects to the mentoring relationship:
assistance with academic and career development, emotional and psychological support, and role
modeling. The following sections are intended to guide you should your role expand from teacher to
mentor.
5.1 Advising Students
When students seek your advice about their academic programs, remember that you can play a pivotal
role in their academic success by helping them establish their educational goals, choose courses
appropriate to their goals and abilities and, when necessary, seek the aid of appropriate campus support
services. The following outline may be of assistance in the event that you are asked for advice about
academic matters and accept this role:
• Familiarize yourself with degree requirements, policies about leaves of absence and withdrawals,
academic warning, probation and suspension, procedures for adding and dropping courses,
prerequisites for graduate and professional school and special programs such as undergraduate
research opportunities.
• Listen and offer feedback, but make it clear that you are not an academic adviser. By listening,
you may help your students clarify their ideas before speaking their own advisers.
• Know about the academic advisement and career counseling services available to students and
encourage them to use these services.
Sources Davis, B.G. Tools for Teaching. Jossey-Bass, 1993. McKeachie, W.J. Teaching Tips. Houghton
Mifflin, 1999.
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5.2 Counseling Students
Occasionally, a student may seek your help in serious matters best handled by a counselor or mental
health professional. Your support and encouragement may influence them to take action. The following
suggestions are intended to guide you should you be asked for advice about matters that are not strictly
academic and accept the challenging role of counseling a student:
• Make it clear to the student that you are not a trained professional but are concerned and
understanding enough to listen and offer support.
• You can best listen by refraining from giving your own opinion until the student has fully
expressed his or her thoughts and feelings.
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• You can best offer support by sympathizing with or by expressing your respect for the student.
• Should the student desire feedback, provide it so long as you do so with sensitivity and judgment.
• Useful forms of feedback include helping the student to clarify his or her concerns and to identify
personal and other resources for solving his or her problems.
• It is best to leave it to the student to clarify his or her concerns and to identify possible courses of
action. If asked, you may offer suggestions. However, do so only if the student has exhausted his
or her ability to generate ideas and solutions.
• Be wary of presenting yourself as an authority figure or friend. You run the risk of undermining
your potential to help as a counselor and you may compromise capacity to remain objective when
you return to your role as teacher.
• Whether or not you think you can help, you should let the student know that a professional can.
• Be familiar with the counseling resources available at Columbia, such as Ask Alice! - Columbia's
Health Education Program and Columbia's Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS).
• If you do refer the student for professional help, do so only after listening and demonstrating your
understanding and sympathy. Make it clear that you are not passing the buck but simply do not
have the expertise to handle his or her concerns. Be sensitive to different attitudes towards
professional help and demystify the process by allaying his or her fears.
• (Follow up the outcome. The student will be encouraged by your continued support and you will
be gratified if your help has been useful, and if it hasn't you can gain insight as to why not.
Source
GSAS Workshop, Spring 1999, with Ask Alice! and CPS
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5.3 Writing Letters of Recommendation
From time to time students may ask you to write a letter recommending them for graduate school, a
fellowship, a summer job, or full-time employment. First, you should ask yourself whether you know the
student well enough and have a good enough impression of them to write an effective and honest
recommendation. If you have reservations, be honest and explain your position. If you don't, the
following checklist provides an overview of the steps involved in writing letters of recommendation.
• Review your old grade books or records.

• Meet with the student to find out what the letter will entail.
• Ask the student if the recommendation requires a specific form or format. Ask for information
about the job or school that he or she is applying to. request that he or she provide you with
examples of work submitted during your course.
• Find out about the student's goals or aspirations.
• Inform the student of the general tone of the letter you intend to write.
• Obtain the student's consent before you write the letter.
• Limit the letter to one or two pages.
• Remember that the student has a right to see a copy of your recommendation (unless he or she
signs a waiver).
14
• Explain how you know the applicant, for how long and the extent of your relationship.
• Make the letter personal and tailor it to the specific job opening or academic program.
• Give the reader a sense of whether the student has the potential to succeed at the particular job or
school. Emphasize details about the student that offer evidence for his or her potential to succeed:
intellectual ability, capacity for independent and original thought, academic and analytic skills,
knowledge of the field of study, attitude toward academic work, performance in applied settings,
communication skills, initiative, motivation and persistence, personal characteristics, personal
achievements or activities and special circumstances.
• Provide specific details about the applicant's skills, past work for you, strengths or weaknesses,
aspects that might contribute to or hinder his or her performance, energy level and motivation. In
order to showcase the student to the extent he or she deserves and to preserve your credibility as a
reference, you should write vividly and concretely but without exaggeration.
• Underline how the details mentioned relate to the student's choice of graduate program or job
opening. If the student is applying for a job and your relationship has solely been as an instructor,
it is best to try to translate academic skills into business skills (e.g., a student's ability to use
library facilities for independent research demonstrates curiosity, initiative, and the capacity to
work alone).
• Present a balanced picture, providing evidence for less than positive comments, offering possible
interpretations and trying to put weaknesses in context.
• Avoid making personal remarks and ambiguous statements that could be misinterpreted. Do not
mention age, marital status, national origin, children, physical characteristics, or other personal
attributes.
• Conclude with an overall recommendation.
• Add that you welcome requests for more information.
• Proofread with care.
• Save copies.
• Follow up on the results.
Source
GSAS Workshop, Spring 1999, with Ask Alice! and CPS
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5.4 Problems with Students and Conflict Resolution
Sometimes serious conflicts may arise with a student that may be course related or personal. For example,
charges of poor instruction, unfair grading, changes in announced procedures about course requirements,
and personal desires such as wanting to be closer to the teacher may create challenges for you to resolve.
When confronted with such a conflict, remember that both you and your student will bring your own
conflict management styles into the disagreement:
• A very competitive person may pursue his or her own concerns at the expense of others.
• Someone who likes to avoid conflicts at any cost may engage in passive non-assertive behavior at
the expense of others.
15
• An overly accommodating person may give into the other party at the expense of his or her own
concerns.
• Those who have a tendency to compromise may give into each other at the expense of both
parties.
• A person accustomed to collaboration will work with the other party to produce a solution that is
acceptable and shows concern for both parties and their relationship.
None of these styles, except for collaboration, is likely to produce a genuine resolution. For example,
avoidance tactics such as giving vague or ambivalent answers, or avoiding a student altogether send the
conflict underground instead of dealing with it openly. Competitive tactics, such as finding fault with
your student, making hostile jokes at his or her expense or issuing threats are equally useless. The
following examples of different types of collaborative tactics are intended to help you seek a genuine
resolution should you find yourself in conflict with a student:
Description. "I noticed that your grades have declined over the past few weeks," rather than "You haven't
been trying."
Disclosure. "I've noticed that students don't do as well when they take incompletes so let's try to think of
another solution," rather than "The road to hell is paved with incompletes."
Negative inquiry. "You seem disappointed with the class. Can you explain why?" rather than "You
obviously didn't read the syllabus."
Emphasizing common interests. "We are both interested in your doing well in the course. How do you
prepare for the exams?" rather than "I can't help you if you don't work."
Fractionating Conflicts. Fractionating conflicts refers to the process of breaking one disagreement into
several smaller, more manageable conflicts. For example, if an angry student demands that you explain
your grading policy, ask "What exactly do you want to know?" This type of response reduces the scope of
the disagreement, rather than laying the groundwork for a potentially explosive situation in which you
must defend yourself and your grading policy in general. The following phrases help with fractionation:
"What part of that problem is most important?" "What is your most pressing concern?"
Use of Third Party. If the conflict remains at an impasse, the services of a third party should be sought.
However, the chair of your department, a dean or an ombudsman should be used only when two-party
negotiations have failed. The same kinds of tactics previously discussed may also lead to a genuine
resolution in third-party negotiations.
Source
Hocker, J. "Teacher-Student Confrontations." In J.M. Civikly (ed.), Communicating in College

Classrooms. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, no. 26, Jossey-Bass, 1986 (pp. 71-82).
Back to Top
16
6. Developing Specific Teaching Skills: Preparation
6.1 Preparing Your Course and Syllabus
Before the semester starts, you should spend some time planning the course you will teach or assist in
teaching. Even if it is not your responsibility to plan the course, going over the following details will be
useful preparation for teaching it or planning others in the future. The following outline is intended to
guide you as you consider whom, what and how you will teach.
Planning and Preparation

• Meet with others who have taught the course, review books on the subject, and gather syllabi,
textbooks, readings, handouts, exams, notes and past evaluations you or others have used. Find
out what books and other materials are currently available and what equipment exists in the room
where you will be teaching.
• Consider what kinds of students will take the course. How many students will be enrolled? What
qualities do you expect them to have upon entering your class? Are they majors or non-majors?
At what level are they? What can you assume that they will know? What skills can you assume
they have (e.g. basic math, language, reading and writing skills)?
• Consider how your course relates to other courses in your department and the requirements of
different academic programs (e.g. Barnard College, Columbia College, General Studies, SEAS,
or SIPA). What courses have students already completed? What courses might they be taking
while enrolled in your course? Does the course serve as an introduction for more advanced
classes? Is it a general education course that may be the only exposure non-majors have to the
subject? Is it an advanced course for majors?
Setting Course Goals
• What knowledge, skills and attitudes do you expect your students to bring to the class (e.g.
prerequisite content, prerequisite skills, appreciation for the subject or field)?
• What content will you ask your students to master (e.g. facts, applications, theories)?
• What skills do you want students to acquire or strengthen (e.g. writing skills, computer skills,
research skills, critical-thinking, problem solving)?
• What attitudes will you foster (e.g. appreciation for the subject or field)?
• At what level will you expect students to perform? Knowledge (ability to recall facts)?
Comprehension (ability to understand and restate ideas and facts)? Application (ability to use
ideas in specific, concrete situations)? Analysis (ability to break ideas into parts and explain their
underlying organization)? Synthesis (ability to integrate parts into a whole)? Evaluation (ability
to judge the quality of an idea, procedure, etc. using appropriate criteria)?
• Choose the most important skills, material, concepts or issues and provide students with a
conceptual framework for them.
Choosing Teaching Methods
• Taking currency, content, cost and workload into consideration, select readings and other
materials that will help students meet the course goals.
• Decide what instructional methods will help students meet course goals (e.g. lecture,
demonstrations, group discussion, problem-solving, laboratory experiments, library or field
research, debate or some combination of the above)
• Consider what kind of class-room participation will help students meet course goals (e.g. lecture
with some question and answer, a lecture with some group discussion, participation in group
discussion, hands-on problem solving, oral presentation or some combination of the above.
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• Set a pace that is realistic for helping students meet course goals.
• Design assignments that will help students meet course goals and can be used to evaluate whether
or not they have achieved them (e.g. exams, quizzes, papers, projects, oral presentations,
performance of skills or some combination of the above).
• Include other methods to help students achieve course goals (e.g. a syllabus, content handouts,
individual conferences, practice and review sessions).
Establishing Administrative Procedures and Course Policies
• Consider what classroom policies will help students meet course goals. Will class attendance be
mandatory and graded or somewhere in between? Will you expect your students to participate in
class activities or not? Will participation be mandatory and graded or voluntary?
• Consider your policies on handing in assignments and taking tests. Will you expect your students
to be prompt and consistent in completion of assignments? What will you do if a student turns in
an assignment late or misses an exam? Will you allow them to hand in work late, take makeup
exams or give them the "extra" credit assignments they request?
• How will you encourage academic honesty?
Preparing the Syllabus
Put the results of your planning and preparation into the format of a syllabus. Your syllabus should
include the following:
• Contact Information: Indicate your name, title, office location, phone number, e-mail address,
office hours, and where to leave messages.
• Course Information: The number, section and title of the course, the meeting days and times, and
the room number and building.
• Pre-requisites: The pre-requisites for the class, if any.
• Course Description: Provide an introduction to the subject and describe how the course fits into
the college or department curriculum. Explain what the course is about and why students would
want to learn the material. Clarify the conceptual framework for the course and its format or
activities (Why have you arranged the topics in the order chosen? Does the course involve
research papers, lectures and/or discussions with active participation?).
• Course Objectives: List the major objectives of the course, describe the skills and knowledge the
students will have after completing this course.
• Course Materials: List required texts, purchases and supplies. Specify the textbook and readings
by authors and editions and any additional materials needed for the course.
• Course Calendar and Schedule: List topics and reading assignments, due dates for major
assignments such as homework, papers and exams and any other course requirements in
chronological order.
• Course Policies: List your grading standards and criteria, policies on P/F, I and Ws, academic
dishonesty, attendance and late assignments. Invite students with special needs to contact you
during office hours to request accommodation for any type of physical or learning disability.
• Other Course Information: You can also include important drop dates such as the last day
students can withdraw from the course, an estimate of how much work the course will involve
and supplementary materials to help students succeed. For example, tips on how to study, take
notes or do well in class, a glossary of terms used in the course, a bibliography of supplementary
readings, copies of past exams, campus resources for tutoring and academic support or a calendar
of campus events relevant to the course.
Taking Care of Administrative Matters
• Order books early.
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• Place materials on reserve or arrange for them to be packaged for purchase before the term
begins.
• Make other arrangements in advance: reserve electronic classrooms, order audiovisual equipment,
videos or films, contact guest speakers, and arrange for field trips.
Sources
Brinko, K.T. "Visioning Your Course: Questions to Ask as You Design Your Course." The Teaching
Professor. February, 1991.
McKeachie, W.J. Teaching Tips. Houghton Mifflin, 1999.
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6.2 Preparing Assignments and Tests
Some students can write good papers and perform well on tests no matter how the assignment is
presented. However, most students need and all students benefit from clear and specific instructions
regarding paper topics and testing formats. Your primary goal in giving assignments and tests is to find
ways to help students meet major course objectives and to motivate them to organize their academic
efforts and reinforce their learning. Thus, you should avoid placing undue emphasis on assignments that
have little to do with these objectives. Keep in mind what you want your students to learn from
assignments. How do they relate to your course? Assignments and tests are also important tools for
evaluating students' progress. They help you and your students determine whether or not they are learning
the material assigned and they highlight the topics or skills that need work. In proportion to their
influence on the final grade, they will be more or less emotionally charged and anxiety-producing. The
following lists are intended to help you to prepare assignments that meet course objectives and to explain
them to students in such a way as to prevent misunderstanding or heighten anxiety.
Homework
• Assign quantities of homework that are appropriate to a given topic's importance in relation to
course objectives and avoid asking students to spend excessive time on material that will not be
emphasized later.
• Coordinate assignments with course topics, distribute the workload evenly throughout the term,
and give regular assignments so that you have continuous opportunities to see how students are
doing and so that students become accustomed to regular and systematic study.
Gather assignments from different sources.
• Choose homework questions carefully. Include a mix of typical exercises and more challenging
questions, avoiding inordinately tricky ones and covering each topic in at least two assignments
to reinforce students' learning.
• Be imaginative in creating assignments, tying them to real-life situations or areas of particular
interest to your students.
• Do the homework yourself before you assign it so that you understand what is required to
complete it and can anticipate any difficulties students might encounter. This will help you catch
any errors in the instructions, questions, problems or data.
19
• Establish a routine for announcing and giving out homework assignments. Give a detailed
description, telling students what you expect them to accomplish and how you expect that they
will benefit from the assignment. Include tips on how to approach it.
• Consider separating homework into hand-in and also-do questions. Grade the hand-in questions,
but tell students that the also-do questions are fair game for quizzes, midterms and finals.
• Ask students to describe how they answered one of their homework questions to get a sense of
their thought processes and problem-solving strategies.
• Ask students how long they spend on the homework.
• Collect homework at the beginning of class to prevent students from coming to class late or
working on it during class.
• Spend class time reviewing homework only when there are difficulties shared by a majority of
students.
Paper Assignments
When assigning paper topics, it is helpful to discuss the requirements in class and, if desired, provide a
handout to avoid any misunderstandings over matters such as the length, task and due date. What follows
are some details that might be addressed:
• A description of the type of paper you are assigning, e.g. will it be based on primary sources or be
a research paper?
• An explanation of the task or goal of the paper, e.g. are you asking your students to compare and
contrast or to use evidence to support a thesis?
• A list of what the paper must include in order to complete the task.
• Specifications for the desired length and format of the paper (number of words or pages, line-
spacing and margin width) .
• If you are asking for a research paper, include guidelines as to the types and number of sources
and as to the format for citations, footnotes or bibliography.
• A reminder to keep a copy of the paper.
• An explanation of how the paper will be graded and what criteria will be used.
• The due date and a reminder of your policies regarding late papers.
• The title of a style manual that you recommend.
Constructing Exams
The following suggestions are intended to guide you as you construct tests to evaluate student learning
and help students organize their academic efforts.
• Prepare new exams each time you teach a course and resist any temptation to recycle a test from a
previous class.
• Since different testing formats have different strengths and weaknesses, pay close attention to the
format of the test and your teaching objectives. For example, multiple choice can be used to
assess students' mastery of many topics in a one-hour test and can be easily and reliably graded.
However, they are time-consuming to compose and can encourage cheating. Conversely, essay
tests can be used to assess students' abilities to organize, integrate and interpret material and
encourage them to express their own ideas and study more efficiently. However, their content
validity and grading reliability can be problematic.
• Decide what skills you want to test and choose the appropriate test type and format. Do you want
to measure knowledge, comprehension, and/or application and problem solving? What are the
best formats for measuring this knowledge or these skills? Short answer, essay, multiple choice,
matching column etc.?
• Cull items from colleague's exams
20
• Make your tests cumulative
• Give some thought to the layout of the exam. Include some easy items first but be sure to
challenge your best students by placing very difficult questions at or near the end of the exam.
• Prepare clear instructions and ask a colleague to check them.
• Include words of encouragement.
• Take the test yourself to assess the timing: it should take your students 4 to 10 times as long as
you.
Preparing Students for Exams
You can minimize your students' anxiety about tests by offering them advice on how to take them and
ample opportunity to prepare. Strategies for preparing your students to do well on tests include:
• Attach sample exam questions to the course syllabus and distribute practice exams during the
term.
• Give a lightly-weighted test early in the term to alert students to the prerequisite skills and
knowledge they must attain to succeed in your class. Give more than one exam during the
semester.
• Avoid "pop" quizzes.
• Before an exam, explain the format to your students, letting them know the number of questions
and the type of test. Give them tips on how to allocate their study time in proportion to the
relative importance of various topics.
• Schedule extra office hours before a test.
• Schedule review sessions before major exams
Sources
McKeachie, W.J. Teaching Tips. Houghton Mifflin, 1999.
7. Developing Specific Teaching Skills: Performance
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7.1 The First Day of Class
The first day of class sets the tone for the rest of the term but is often a time of uncertainty or anxiety for
both you and your students. The following list, intended to help you get your class off to a good start,
offers suggested preparations and tasks for the first day.
Preparation
• Visit the classroom before the first meeting. Figure out how everything works and get
comfortable speaking in the room, writing on the blackboard and using audiovisual equipment.
• Plan activities for the first day that will reflect the rest of the semester.
21
Suggested Activities for the First Day of Class
• Arrive early and chat informally with the students.
• Write your name and the course name and number on the board.
• Greet students as they enter the classroom.
• On this day and in general you should start and finish class on time.
Administrative Matters
• Take attendance.
• Distribute and go over the course syllabus.
• Explain where and when you will hold office hours and invite your students to come whenever
they have any questions or course-related problems.
• Tell students who need accommodation for physical or learning disabilities that they should see
you to make proper arrangements.
• Describe the prerequisites for the course. Tell students what knowledge and skills they are
expected to bring to the course and where they can get help if they do not meet all of these
prerequisites.
• Give a brief overview of the course content and objectives, explaining why you organized the
course the way you did.
• Show students copies of the required texts and tell them where to buy them and whether they are
also on reserve.
• Indicate how you will structure each class and how you will handle questions. Describe how you
plan to spend class time.
• Give students ideas as to how to study and prepare for class and as to how much time this will
take.
• Let them know what you expect of them by telling them the degree of class participation that you
will expect. Describe the types of assignments you will give and explain your policies on
deadlines, absences and academic honesty. Tell them where they can get help should they need it,
that is, when it is appropriate to get help from you during office hours and when it is appropriate
to get help from academic support services.
• Let them know what they can expect from you. Give them an idea of your teaching and grading
philosophies. Convey your interest in working with them and your commitment to helping them
learn. Encourage questions and show that you are willing to answer them.
Introductions
• Introduce yourself to the class, letting them know how you wish to be addressed and telling them
a little about your background, your interest in the subject, its importance to you and why you are
teaching it. Remember that your enthusiasm for the course will be an important factor in many
students' motivation to learn.
• Ask students to fill out an introduction card with their name, address, telephone number, email
address, year in school and major or interests. You may also ask them to list related courses,
completed prerequisites, other courses they are taking, their reasons for taking your course, what
they hope to learn, their career plans and their outside interests.
• Begin to learn students' names. You can jog your memory by addressing them by name when you
take attendance, return assignments or call on them during class.
• Give students an opportunity to get to know one another. Break them into small groups to discuss
something and report back to the class or ask them each to respond to a question such as "What
most interests you about this course?"
• Give a brief introduction to the course content that reflects what each class session will be like.
Work through a problem or piece of material that illustrates the course content. Begin to teach
students how to participate in your class. Engaging students in the first class gives them an idea
22
of what your class will be like. You might make a brief presentation of an important issue, lead a
discussion about a typical problem or ask students to form groups in order to solve a
representative problem or to generate ideas related to a key topic.
Sources
McKeachie, W.J. Teaching Tips. D.C. Heath and Company, 1999. School-Buckwald, S. "The First
Meeting of Class," In J. Katz (Ed.) Assessing Students' Learning. New Directions for Teaching and
Learning, no. 34. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 13-21.
Back to Top
7.2 Preparing and Holding Class
The time you put into preparing your class is always well spent. If you arrive to teach having thought
through your goals and procedures, you won't have to worry whether or not the class is going to fall apart.
At the same time, it is important not to spend so much time preparing that your own schoolwork suffers.
The following steps should help you to prepare an effective class plan without going overboard:
• Consider the specific goals of the day in view of overall course goals.
• Review previous day's work and discussion.
• Review the day's assignment.
• Consider what is coming up and future assignments.
• Read background materials related to the day's class.
• Choose the teaching methods or techniques that you will use in view of your goals and vary the
activities you select.
• Estimate the time needed for each classroom activity.
• Allocate time for a summary and an introduction to the next day's work.
Source
W.J. McKeachie. Teaching Tips. D.C. Heath and Company, 1969.
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7.3 Asking and Answering Questions
In any teaching position you hold, you will discover that ability to ask and answer questions effectively is
a prerequisite for successful teaching. Your questions and how you pose them will help you capture
students' attention, arouse their curiosity and emphasize key issues. At the same time, when students
respond to your questions, you will gain valuable insight into how well they are learning the material. The
23
following list is intended to help you develop good questioning skills.
• Consider possible student answers when you frame your questions.

• Put your list of questions in a logical order, e.g., from simple to complex or from questions with a
single answer to questions with many valid answers.
• Add to your list questions that occur to you during class.
• Consider the types of questions you will ask. For example, do you want to explore facts and
knowledge, challenge an assumption or interpretation, or compare themes or issues? Are you
interested in examining motives or causes, arriving at a conclusion, or establishing a relationship
between ideas? Would you like to expand a discussion, identify an important issue, or elicit
syntheses?
• Remember that different types of questions require different levels of thinking. For example,
lower-level questions can be used to assess preparation and comprehension while higher-level
questions encourage students to think critically and to solve problems. Are you asking y our
students to recall material studied, understand the meaning of the material, use information to
solve a problem, separate a concept into its parts and explain their interrelationship, put ideas
together to form a conclusion, or use criteria to judge something's value.
• Think about the different ways you will use your questions. Will you address them to the entire
class, small groups or individual students? Do you intend them to lead to consensus or stimulate
debate?
• Be conscious of the manner in which you ask questions and listen to responses. Try not to
interrogate your students.
• Prepare a strategy for asking questions. Good questioning strategies include: posing one question
at a time, asking focused questions, avoiding yes/no questions and leading questions, asking
questions that lack a single right answer, waiting quietly for responses, looking for consensus on
correct answers, asking questions that make students demonstrate their understanding instead of
asking them if they understand or have questions, structuring questions that encourage student
interaction, posing your question as a musing "I wonder if...", using questions to change the pace
and direction of the discussion and using follow up questions that focus students' attention on
ideas or assumptions implicit in their first answer and moving around the room to include
students in the discussion.
• Consider how you will handle student responses. Good strategies include: listening to the student,
waiting to respond until they are done, using nonverbal gestures to show your attention, praising
right answers and tactfully correcting wrong answers.
• Vary your reactions to students' responses by restating what they have said to reinforce their
point, asking for clarification or elaboration, elaborating yourself on their response,
acknowledging a response but asking for another view, emphasizing the originality of a response,
or looking interested, but remaining silent.
• Be prepared to field questions. Useful strategies include eliciting questions by giving prompts
(e.g. What do you want to know about...?), being aware of how your behavior and responses
influence students' questions, thanking students when they ask questions, calling on questioners
in order, making sure that everyone has heard the question (e.g. repeat it or briefly summarize it),
clarifying students' questions (Are you saying ....?), answering questions directly, prodding
students to answer their own questions by paraphrasing them so as to point to the answer or offer
a clue, talking to the whole class when responding and not turning the question/answer into a
private conversation, asking students to stop by after class if they raise complex or tangential
questions, delaying answers to questions about things that will be covered later and making sure
that you have answered questions to students' satisfaction.
24
• Be prepared for difficult questions and questioners. Be diplomatic and admit when you don't
know the answer. You can respond to difficult questions by asking whether someone in the class
can answer it, by suggesting ways to find out the answer, by modeling how to think about the
question out loud, or by volunteering to look up the answer and report back. Try to be patient
with students who ask questions that have already been answered. When answering a question for
the second time, try to answer it differently. You can pre-empt long-winded questioners by
interrupting them and answering what appears to be the main point and then recognizing another
student. You can also interrupt students who want to turn the question/answer into an extended
dialogue by complimenting them on their enthusiasm and inviting them to come to your office
and continue the dialogue.
Sources
Barnes, C.P. "Questioning in College Classrooms," in C.L. Ellner and C.P. Barnes (eds.) Studies of
College Teaching. Lexington, Mass, 1983.
Christensen, C.R. "The Discussion Leader in Action: Questioning, Listening and Response," in C.R.
Christensen, D.A. Garvin, and A. Sweet, (eds.) Education for Judgment: The Artistry of Discussion
Leadership. Boston: Harvard Business School, 1991.
Kasulis, T.P. "Questioning," In M.M. Gullette (ed.), The Art and Craft of Teaching. Cambridge, Mass.,
1984.
McKeachie, W.J. Teaching Tips. D.C. Heath and Company, 1999.
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7.4 Presenting and Lecturing
In any teaching role you encounter, good presentation skills, that is, the ability to organize and
communicate your material, are vital to your effectiveness. Graduate students responsible for leading
discussion, laboratory or recitation sections or teaching core courses must become skilled at giving
presentations when introducing material or explaining concepts or procedures. Those assisting in teaching
lecture courses are occasionally asked to give one or two lectures a semester.
In discussions of lecturing for beginning teachers, manuals tend to emphasize how lecturing encourages
passivity in students, can be draining for the instructor and poses many difficulties for beginning
instructors. Less frequently they mention how a good lecture can motivate students and help them to learn
what they need to know. A more positive view of lectures is that they provide an opportunity to closely
tailor course material to teaching objectives and motivate students by conveying enthusiasm. Giving a
lecture or presentation is enjoyable provided that you are prepared to engage your students and well
organized enough so as to avoid nervousness. This section provides an overview of what to consider
when preparing and delivering presentations and lectures and suggests strategies for maintaining students'
attention and encouraging their participation.
25
Preparing Lectures or Presentations
Before you begin to outline your lecture, you should first gather and read all the materials that you need,
including primary and secondary sources such as the textbook. Next you should try to establish what the
goals of your lecture will be. For example, you might want to convey large quantities of material to your
students while modeling how to use the methods of your field or you might want to adapt material to your
students' academic backgrounds while establishing a structure to help them learn the material. In general,
your goals will change from one lecture to the next depending on each talk's relationship to overall course
objectives and the material to be covered in a particular session. The following examples are intended to
help you isolate the goals of your presentation or lecture:
• Emphasize course objectives.

• Impart large quantities of information.
• Supplement readings.
• Put forward a structure to help students learn course material.
• Summarize and synthesize material from different sources.
• Show students how to think about the material or use the methods of your field.
• Adapt material to your students' academic backgrounds and interests.
• Model ways of approaching problems or questions that arise in your subject.
• Show how to perform experiments or solve problems.
Since the format of each lecture will depend on its goals and topics, there is no simple plan for organizing
your material. Instead, your lecture will take its form from what you wish to emphasize. For example, you
might organize it as an expository lecture or as a suspenseful lecture that raises a provocative question
about the material to be addressed that is only answered at the conclusion. Once your have isolated your
goals and conceived of a format for the lecture, take notes from your sources, organizing your material
and making an outline so that you will be able to retrieve and deliver your insights during class. If you
have time, you might be tempted to write out the lecture verbatim or, if you don't have time, you might be
tempted to deliver it extemporaneously. Either option is sure to detract from your effectiveness as a
lecturer. While writing a lecture out may be helpful in clarifying and organizing your thoughts, reading it
will bore your students or put them to sleep. If you try to deliver your lecture extemporaneously, you may
omit important material or fail to make logical connections and confuse your students or encourage them
to "wing" assignments. Your lecture plan should consist of a series of word cues, phrases and examples
arranged to engage your students and help them understand the material. The typical lecture generally
includes the following:
• An opening that introduces your topic and piques your students' curiosity.
• An outline listing examples that elaborate on your main points.
• A conclusion to remind students of what you have covered.
It is helpful to include a preview of the parts of the lecture in the introduction. By informing students in
advance about the major subheadings of the lecture, you will help them follow your argument.
Illustrate your main points using a simple outline and many examples. In your outline, stress the
relationship between your topic, its main points and examples by using transitions and periodic
summaries so that your students can organize the material in their notes and minds. Pause from time to
time and review the material so that your students can compare their perspectives to yours.
In concluding, provide a summary reminding students of the main points that were covered and offering a
sense of closure. By repeating these points and asking questions about them, you can help students learn
and remember what you have covered. By posing questions to be treated in future readings or lectures,
you can prepare students to learn what you will cover in the future.
26
Giving Lectures or Presentations
How you transform your outline into a living lecture will determine how effectively you present your
ideas. Perhaps the two most important things to remember is that you must be accurate but not dull. What
follows are some suggestions intended to help you deliver an informative and spirited lecture.
• Before the lecture, prepare yourself intellectually and psychologically. You must not only study
its structure and supporting examples but you must get ready to liven up your ideas so that they
captivate your audience. Thus, you should set aside a brief period of time before the lecture to
think about what you will say, gather your thoughts and calm your nerves.
• When you arrive in the classroom, establish a rapport with your audience. Your lecture will
change as you and your outline confront the dynamics of the classroom. Don't talk into the
blackboard or audio-visual aids. Instead, maintain eye contact with students in different parts of
the room, be alert to their feedback and respond to it by acknowledging their reactions and by
inventing new examples when prepared examples fail.
• Try to access your notes with ease, appearing to speak extemporaneously and spontaneously even
though you are well prepared.
• Pace yourself so that students don't have trouble taking notes.
• Express your ideas clearly, vividly and tangibly, avoiding big words when small ones will make
your point. For example, your ideas will be more vivid and tangible if you relate them to your
students' lives and express them with strong figures of speech such as simile, metaphor,
personification, hyperbole and irony.
• Communicate your enthusiasm for the subject and teaching by using facial expressions, gestures
and movement to and from the blackboard. Vary and energize your delivery.
• Use good verbal and audiovisual examples to elaborate your outline and explain and to reinforce
your ideas. You can explain concepts and help students to understand and remember them by
providing examples or illustrations, citing statistics, offering comparisons, providing contrasts,
citing quotations, defining or enumerating related elements. You can illustrate important points
with audiovisual aids such as objects and models, photographs and slides, maps, charts, graphs,
chalkboard illuminations, transparencies, audio and video recordings, and live demonstrations.
• Attract students' attention by using words or phrases that indicate that a point is worth
remembering, by adapting your lectures to their interests, by building suspense into the lecture
and by using vivid and fascinating examples. Comments such as "this will be on the test," and
explanations that involve students never fail to attract attention.
• Encourage students to think about rather than merely record your lecture by welcoming questions,
asking specific questions and having them talk to their neighbors.
• Show that you are willing answer questions by treating them as contributions to the lecture rather
than as interruptions. Make yourself available to answer questions before class, after class, or
during office hours.
• Call on students in a friendly way to check on their comprehension. Ask them to define a concept
or to give an example so that they get into the habit of thinking critically about lecture content.
• Suggest that students talk to their neighbors when erasing the blackboard, looking at your notes or
setting up audiovisual equipment so that you can get feedback on their understanding and so that
they can experience other perspectives.
Sources
Brown, G. "Lecturing and Explaining. New York, 1978.
27
Dubrow, H., and Wilkinson, J. "The Theory and Practice of Lectures," in M.M. Gullette (ed.), The Art
and Craft of Teaching. Cambridge, Mass., 1984
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7.5 Leading Discussion
In many teaching roles, leading discussion is a primary responsibility. Whether you are leading a
laboratory or a discussion section or teaching Logic and Rhetoric, Literature Humanities or Contemporary
Civilization, you can use similar discussion leading strategies to meet different course goals. For example,
as the leader of a discussion section in the Social Sciences, you will plan your discussion around helping
students understand the readings and lectures, or, as a Logic and Rhetoric instructor, you will plan
discussions to help students focus on improving their writing skills. In each of these cases, your
discussion will run more smoothly if you focus on engaging your students and on responding to their
questions and contributions.
Much of the literature on discussion-leading focuses on how to prevent discussions from lapsing into
silence or from being disrupted by an overly talkative student or stymied by shy students. This gives the
impression that, in order for an effective discussion to take place, students must somehow be coerced into
the mold of an ideal discussant who neither monopolizes the discussion nor avoids it. In reality, you have
limited control over what will happen during a discussion and you should instead focus on how you can
engage your students and be flexible in your response to their contributions.
This section provides an overview of what to consider when preparing for a discussion class and suggests
strategies for interacting with your students. Key to successful discussions are careful preparation and
planning as well as good interpersonal skills, particularly the ability to adapt these plans to the dynamics
of a given class on a given day.
Preparation
• Consider the goal of the discussion class.
• Think and read, taking notes that will help you keep details straight and focus on important
issues.
• Make an outline of the important ideas.
• Prepare a question and answer outline that corresponds to the idea outline. (For more information
on preparing a question and answer outline, see 7.3 Asking and Answering Questions.)
• Include general questions that cover the whole assignment, specific questions about particular
points. Underline really important questions.
• Prepare a board outline and use it during class to organize the important points of the discussion
for your students.
• Post key questions on an on-line discussion board to help students prepare for discussion or
continue it after class.
Encouraging Student Participation
28
• Get to know your students. You can better draw them into the discussion if you familiarize
yourself with how they learn and respond in a discussion. Become aware of their interests,
strengths and weaknesses.
• Try to do whatever you can to ensure that the physical setting of the classroom is conducive to
discussion. Ideally, the classroom will have chairs that can be arranged in a semi-circle so that the
participants can see one another. There should be enough room for you to move from student to
student and get to the blackboard. If your classroom doesn't meet these conditions, try to
rearrange it as best as you can or try to get a better classroom.
• Use the blackboard to frame the discussion.
• Avoid turning the discussion into a question and answer session between you and individual
students by asking students to react to each others' responses and by encouraging them to talk to
one other about the course.
• Give students a chance to prepare their responses by giving them time to think.
• Don't require that students raise their hands in order to participate in the discussion or they may
be hesitant to respond.
• Be supportive of students who participate in the discussion. Make it clear that you will not make
light of their questions or responses.
• Don't lapse into private conversations with students who wish to pursue certain issues at length or
your other students may lose interest in the discussion. Instead, invite him or her to stay after
class or come to your office hours to continue the discussion.
• Avoid lapsing into a lecture. This most often happens when you go on too long in response to
students' questions.
• Don't pretend to know what you don't. From time to time, everyone encounters questions that
they can't answer on the spot. If this happens to you, you should admit that you don't have an
answer but will have one at the next class meeting. If you find that you are constantly being asked
questions you can't answer, consider spending more time reviewing course materials.
• Some instructors find it helpful to students to consider questions in small groups before leading a
whole-class discussion. They find that it warms students up and yields a more spirited discussion.
Others find that posting key questions on a discussion board and asking students to contribute
before class serves the same purpose.
Sources
Billingsley, R. "Facilitating Discussion," in M.A. Shea (Ed.) On Teaching. Boulder, CO: Faculty
Teaching Excellence Program, pp. 23-34.
Frederick, P. "The Dreaded Discussion: Ten Ways to Start." Improving College and University Teaching,
30 (Summer), pp. 109-114.
McKeachie, W.J. Teaching Tips. D.C. Heath and Company, 1999. Welty, W.M.. "Discussion Method
Teaching: A Practical Guide." In S. Kahn (Ed.) To Improve the Academy, 8. Stillwater, OK: New Forums
Press, pp. 197-216.
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7.6 Leading Laboratory

29
Many students in the Natural Sciences serve as laboratory leaders. As a laboratory leader, you must
become adept at giving presentations, leading discussions, evaluating student learning and facilitating
student interaction and hands-on learning. To be an effective teacher you must not only know the material
well enough to explain it clearly, but you must become skilled at working individually and in small
groups with students.
One of the most important features of the laboratory is scientific inquiry. During the laboratory, students
gain an appreciation of how knowledge is generated and validated in experimental sciences and develop
the skills to contribute to them. To help them achieve these objectives, you must guide them in hands-on
learning in the laboratory by explaining the lecture material, helping them learn basic practical skills and
by clarifying the relationship between the theories of the lecture and the practice of the laboratory. The
following sections are intended to help you prepare for these varied responsibilities.
Preparing to Lead a Laboratory Section
• Discuss laboratory section expectations with the course director before your first laboratory
meeting.
• If your laboratory section is attached to a lecture course, familiarize yourself with the textbook
used.
• Get to know the manual and other materials to be used in the laboratory section.
• Accustom yourself to the laboratory in which your section will be held. Experiment with the
major equipment. Find out where supplies are stored, who responsible for ordering them and
what the procedures are for dealing with equipment breakdowns.
• Learn the safety rules and procedures for student injury established by your department.
The First Laboratory Meeting
Although you probably won't have an entire meeting to dedicate to introducing your students to the
section, try to set aside some time during the first lab to set the tone for subsequent meetings:
• Introduce yourself to your students and help them get acquainted with one another. Because labs
are characterized by group work and hands-on learning, students must become well acquainted so
that they may develop a good rapport with one another.
• Clarify your expectations for the laboratory section by introducing its procedures and policies. To
make these things clear, consider giving students a syllabus that lists the topics for each session,
the required materials, the reading assignments, guidelines concerning the format of lab reports
and your policies about grading, attendance, makeup labs, and tests.
Preparing to Lead a Given Laboratory Period
• Prepare for the lab by performing the experiment you will ask your students to perform.
• Make sure that you understand the larger theory to which the experiment is related. This will
prepare you to answer questions that may arise and help you to make the laboratory period more
interesting. For example, if you tell your students how the first scientist performed the experiment
they are reproducing, they better appreciate the importance and relevance of the experiment.
• Prepare for the laboratory meeting as carefully as you would plan for a discussion section or an
autonomous class. Think through the experiment and prepare notes and/or handouts to help your
students through.
Conducting Laboratory Meetings
30
Begin each lab by taking attendance and giving a preview of the lab meeting. If applicable, briefly review
the last lecture and examine your students' understanding of the assigned readings and their relationship to
the experiment of the day.
To ensure that your students are secure and have a good understanding of the material, first lead a
discussion or give a presentation pointing out the essential concepts involved in the experiment,
introducing new concepts, and pointing out pitfalls. Clearly define the task or tasks to be completed, go
over procedures and try to provide estimates of the time required for each activity. You many outline it on
the blackboard, go over it orally and/or give a demonstration with previously prepared samples.
During the presentation or discussion, try to draw a link between the theory behind the experiment by
discussing the event being observed, what records might be taken and what concepts will be used to guide
observation of the event. This will encourage your students to think as scientists before they enter the
laboratory rather than behave as recipe followers who do what is instructed without realizing its
implications.
• Distribute the materials to be used in the lab.

• As students work on their experiment, go around the room and interact with them. When you
encounter a group experiencing difficulty, ask questions such as: "How did you begin? Where did
you first experience difficulty? What options are available to you?" Don't complete the task for
the students or interrupt their work by making whole-class observations or by providing
information that you omitted earlier.
• Give a sense of closure to the lab by asking students to put materials away and join one another to
discuss their work. Check to see if they have drawn appropriate conclusions.
• After the laboratory meeting, you may find it helpful to evaluate what happened and make
suggestions for improving the experiment in the future.
• Usually, students prepare and submit a written report that you return with a grade and some
written comments. While the report gives the student an opportunity to demonstrate various
skills, it is not always representative of a student's practical ability or fundamental understanding
of the experiment. To assess student's strengths and weaknesses and to decide if remedial action
is necessary, you may consider scheduling lab report conferences with individual students from
time to time. Such conferences can be helpful not only in giving students another chance to
express their ideas and to justify their procedures, but also in giving you a chance to more closely
evaluate student learning. For more information on grading and commenting on students' work
see Section 8 Responding to and Grading Students' Work.
Sources
Davidson, C.I. and Ambrose, S.A. The New Professor's Handbook: A Guide to Teaching and Research in
Engineering and Science. Bolton, MA..
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31
7.7 Teaching Quantitative Skills
As a teaching assistant responsible for teaching quantitative skills you will find that your teaching
techniques will be informed by the fact that you must transmit as much knowledge as you can to as many
students as you can. In doing so, you will have the advantage of giving presentations and answering
questions about entirely factual material but have the disadvantage of teaching some students who are
convinced that they are not capable of understanding it. Thus, to be an effective teacher, you must not
only know the material thoroughly enough to present and explain it well, but you must also be prepared to
persuade students that they can in fact learn it. This is critical because you can only convey the material to
your students if they actively participate in learning it. Try to be encouraging and create a pleasant
atmosphere by reminding them that everyone needs to be able to understand math and related fields and
that, with time and effort, everyone can make some progress towards this end. Also, make it clear that
you want them to learn, and that it matters to you whether they can do the homework and understand the
material. The following sections are intended to guide you as you prepare to meet these goals.
Preparation
Prepare your material assuming that students learn quantitative skills through different media, each suited
to different types of learning: the textbook, the lecture, homework, exams and out-of-class work with
other students.
The text is best viewed as a reference. The lecture is the time and place to interact with your students, by
presenting examples that demonstrate how things work and by answering appropriate questions. Since the
lecture is most effective when students have studied the material, advise them to read the relevant sections
of the textbook both before and after the lecture. Homework should be assigned for the assimilation of
skills and should only be assigned after similar problems have been presented in class. Exams are
important because they encourage your students to focus on the most important aspects of the syllabus.
How students interact outside of class is beyond your control, but you should encourage them to
collaborate because it is often the way they learn best. Also, if you notice that there are students who have
no one to work with outside of class, you can try to match them up with one another.
• Spend some time before the term familiarizing yourself with the entire course and textbook. Be
prepared to use the same notations as those of the text, whether or not you are used to them. Even
a consistent set of notations is confusing for most students.
• Find other textbooks to use as resources for examples and test questions so that you aren't
tempted to write your lectures or tests from the course textbook or any one textbook. This way
you can more easily find lecture examples to supplement those given in the textbook and avoid
basing your tests on one textbook. This will help prevent your students from looking for shortcuts
rather than learning the material.
• Organize your lectures before you give them and write out what you plan to put on the board.
• Prepare your examples with a view to demonstrating your thought processes. Make sure that you
work out every step of your calculations and that you know the correct definitions before you go
into class.
• So that you don't get sidetracked in class, prepare to involve your students in the lecture
beforehand. For example, note when during your lecture it would be appropriate to ask students
for the next step in a problem or a definition.
32
• Always have an idea of what you will be doing during the next class or week and announce each
topic in advance so that students have time to prepare. When you are finished with a topic, let
students know that they are now expected to understand it and are now responsible for it.
Holding Class
• Use class time to interact with your students by offering examples that demonstrate how things
work. Go over homework, answer relevant questions and provide useful tips.
• Get to class a bit early and use this time to distribute corrected homework and get to know your
students.
• Begin class with administrative matters, announcing homework assignments and test dates,
reviewing the last class and inviting questions. Only answer questions that are relevant and can be
answered quickly. Encourage students with more complicated questions to come to your office
hours.
• If you go over homework, do it in the same way as you ask your students to do it so that you don't
confuse them.
• Follow the syllabus, trying not to go too slowly or too quickly.
• Try not to raise the level of rigor of the text.
• When lecturing, write legibly and speak clearly and slowly. Make sure that you address your class
and not the blackboard. Use multiple sources for examples and avoid copying material from the
book and changing the numbers around. Your students will need an ample supply of worked
problems in order to understand the material. Look for opportunities to pursue student questions
if they are heading in the same direction as the lecture. For more ideas about lecturing, see 7.4
Presenting and Lecturing.
• Questions are difficult to field in a mathematics course, as your answer to one student's question
might confuse others and students' questions run the risk of using up valuable class time and
sidetracking you. Knowing which questions to answer and which to refer to your office hours is
important. If you feel that answering the question will be more helpful than not, answer it. If
upcoming material will address a question, defer the answer until later in the class or week. If the
question might sidetrack you, move on and offer to address the question in your office hours or, if
it is of interest to many students, in the next class. For more ideas about fielding , see 7.3 Asking
and Answering Questions.
• Never be afraid to repeat yourself. Some students understand concepts only after they've heard
them over and over again and others are reassured when they hear something they understand.
• Never write anything on the board that is incorrect, even if you say it is wrong, as students will
copy from the board without discretion. Also, if you use examples from the textbook, list the page
number so that students know where to find them.
• The most important part of a college education is learning how to think independently. Thus, your
goal should be to teach your students how to read a problem and determine themselves what
constitutes an acceptable solution.
• Stop the class on time or one or two minutes early.
• If at all possible, stay a few minutes after class to answer questions, as it is an efficient alternative
to an office visit.
Grading in a Quantitative Skills Course
Since you will probably be teaching a section of a multi-section course, it is important that your grading
schemes be consistent with other instructors. In general, students' grades are based on homework, quizzes,
hour-long exams or a mid-term, and a final.
Homework
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Frequent homework (two to three times a week), collected, graded and returned promptly is an important
part of learning mathematics. It gives the students a chance to test their skills, encourages them to work
steadily throughout the semester and lets you know what they understand and what they don't.
• To reduce your grading load, distribute a solution set on the day homework is due. This way you
can respond to assignments without having to repeatedly write down the correct solution, forbid
late homework, or provide your students with a steady supply of worked problems.
• Another time saver is to divide homework into "hand in" and "also do" problems. Write up the
solutions to both and advertise the "also do" problems as candidates for tests.
• When commenting on problem sets, focus on both the method and on the answer. Be alert to right
answers arrived by the wrong methods and to wrong answers arrived at by the right methods.
Make sure that correct answers do not hide conceptual or logical errors and that wrong answers
don't conceal correct use of method. Even if a student's method is acceptable, suggest simpler or
more effective methods. Don't use handouts of solutions as a substitute for commenting on
students' work.
• Always return homework by the next class so that your students get prompt feedback and so that
you know what they need help with.
• Grade homework on a simple scale so you don't waste time considering whether to give partial
credit or re-grading. (For more general advice on homework, see 8. Responding to and Grading
Students' Work)
Quizzes, Tests and Finals
Students will study the material they believe they will be tested on. You can use this to your advantage by
testing the most important aspects of the course. Let your students know what skills you consider most
important, and base the bulk of the homework, quizzes and tests on them. When composing a test, you
should identify the skills you want to test and then find or invent problems to fit them.
• Use a range of problems.

• Make the first questions relatively easy.
• Include at least one complex problem to challenge the best students.
• Indicate the point value of each problem and try to balance your point allocation so that no
question is weighted too heavily.
• Be generous in granting partial credit towards those who know how to do a problem, but make
silly errors or miss a minor point.
• Grade the exam problem by problem to standardize partial credit. It is best to grade a few papers
without assigning points to them in order to get a sense of how you want to award the partial
credit.
• You should make it clear where the student went wrong, but avoid giving solutions in full detail
so that students can try to work out their own errors. For more ideas on constructing and grading
quizzes and tests, see 6.2 Preparing Assignments and Tests and 8. Responding to and Grading
Students' Work.
Source
Case, Betty Anne (Ed.) Keys to Improved Instruction by Teaching Assistants and Part-Time Instructors.
MAA Notes, No. 11. The Mathematical Association of America, 1989.
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34
7.8 Teaching Language by Richard A. Korb, Assistant Professor, Department of Germanic Languages
The Golden Rule
The primary goal of today's language learner is to become as functional in the new language as possible
as quickly as possible. This is the reason that, as a rule, foreign language instruction at Columbia takes
place in the target language. Indeed, "the golden rule" which all new Teaching Assistants quickly learn is
to talk in the language and not about the language.
Goals of Columbia's Language Requirement
The foreign language requirement forms part of Columbia College's (and General Studies') mission to
prepare students to be tomorrow's conscientious and informed citizens. Knowledge of another's language
and literature is the most important way to begin to know a country and people. The study of a foreign
language:
1. sensitizes students to world cultures and citizens while at the same time making them aware of
their own culture within the perspective of world cultures;
2. introduces students to the differences in structure, grammar, and syntax that distinguish two
languages, and to the intimate links between language and cultural meaning.
3. contributes to the development of students' critical, analytical, and writing skills.
See Columbia College Foreign Language Requirements , for a list of the languages offered in the College
toward satisfaction of the requirement.
Responsibilities of the Foreign Language Teaching Assistant
Teaching Assistants in many of the foreign language departments are expected to assume the most
important responsibility of regular faculty members: meeting and teaching your assigned class without
fail.
While book selection and course outline preparation are largely the responsibility of your language
program director, you are responsible for your own classroom. Duties fall roughly into three categories:
classroom teaching, departmental interactions, and feedback to students.
As a classroom teacher, you are expected to:
• Follow the course plan and to monitor the pace and progress of the class daily.
• Create appropriate supplemental class materials based on each group of students' needs (activities,
quizzes, etc.)
• Stimulate interactive language production to keep the language class exciting.
As a member of the department who is learning to teach, you are expected to:
• Attend departmental and section teaching meetings;
• To participate in university-wide training events required by your department such as the Fall
Language TA Orientation, the ALP pedagogy seminar, and workshops pertinent to foreign
language issues;
• Work closely with other language instructors and Teaching Assistants.
• Report to the language course coordinator, should there be questions, problems and/or ideas you
wish to share.
• As your students' primary source of feedback in the learning process, you are expected to:
35
• Evaluate student performance on an ongoing basis via class participation, graded assignments,
quizzes and exams.
• Keep regular office hours at times convenient to students.
• Provide students with ample time and opportunity to evaluate the Teaching Assistant's
performance.
Team Work with a Goal
As a Teaching Assistant, you need to work closely with the department's language coordinator to clarify
specific duties and responsibilities set by the department. Do not hesitate to ask questions as they arise
and to seek guidance and instruction as you learn to teach. The Fall Language TA Orientation provides
you with the opportunity to meet your class of new foreign language Teaching Assistants. Keep active
contact with these colleagues; compare notes about classes, departmental policies, and the evaluation
process; visit each other's classrooms!
Experienced language instructors - in your own department as well as in others - represent your greatest
resource: meet with these instructors, share your ideas with them, and visit their classes. The really good
foreign language instructors have learned to follow demanding guidelines with regard to planning,
expectations, and standards.
In planning each class, the successful instructor
• Plans lessons that flow within an identified context made up of integrated grammatical concepts,
functions, vocabulary and cultural information.
• Plans student-centered activities including small group work, board work, dictation, paired
interviews, and games designed to help all students accomplish functional objectives.
• Works from a detailed outline of the class period made up of a variety of briskly paced activities
in listening, writing, reading, and speaking in the target language.
With regard to expectations, the successful instructor
• Creates a comfortable learning environment characterized by respect, humor, and supportive

interaction
• Never expects students to carry out tasks for which they don't have the knowledge or skill
• Communicates with students in the target language at the appropriate level, one that recognizes
their needs and challenges them to get new skills and practice the skills they have.
In order to maintain standards, the successful instructor
• Recognizes that not all learners are alike and that they do not all learn the same way.
• Doesn't assume student performance will be error-free, but rather provides a variety of chances
for inductive improvement such as holistic grading, portfolios, etc.
• Takes an active interest in self-improvement; continues his or her own language studies and, if
possible, regularly goes abroad so as to constantly refresh fluency and remain up-to-date as to the
evolution of the target language.
• Is available to students outside of class, attends departmental extra-curricular activities with
students, and always engages students in their new language.
• Don't be surprised if you discover students hanging around before or after class wanting to talk to
a really good language instructor. And don't be surprised if the same wonderful experience
happens to you, if you are following these guidelines.
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7.9 Teaching and Technology
The use of instructional technology has the advantage of extending your teaching beyond the limitations
of class time and the classroom. However, there is no reason to use it unless it improves the quality of
learning. What follows are some suggestions for effectively incorporating technology into your teaching:
• Use e-mail to communicate with your students by posting assignments, commenting on their
work and conveying other course information.
• Create a course web-page gathering material such as course syllabi, reading lists, past exams,
lecture notes, solutions to problem sets, answers to commonly asked questions and other course
information.
• Set up a discussion group so that your studentscan continue to interact and express themselves in
the target language beyond the confines of the classroom.
• Ask students to complete assignments using computer-based tools such as power-point
presentations, spreadsheets, or statistical analysis that will serve them professionally.
• Make searching, evaluating and selecting information from a CD-ROM or the Web part of an
assignment to teach them how to manage large amounts of information.
• Ask students to seek out additional drills on the Internet so as to further develop their mastery of
the material. For example, some textbooks are now accompanied by web-sites with drills for each
lesson. Although these "drill-sites" seem dull, students seem to love them.
• Encourage students to engage in discussion and debate/argument through email or a discussion
group. This helps them build up confidence for face-to-face discussion in class. It also develops
their skills in articulating ideas.
• Be sure to explain how the technology that you have integrated is supposed to enhance the
learning process. Let your students know how they are expected to use it, making objectives
clear, demonstrating it, telling them how much time to spend on it, and explaining how you will
assess their work in it.
• Observe your students using the assigned technology to evaluate its usefulness.
• Before using technology in assignments, it is important to consider whether you and your students
have the necessary support. Do your students have access to equipment, software and technical
support at appropriate times and places for study? Depending on what schools your students
attend, they may have greater or lesser access to these necessities. Do you have the time and
resources necessary to develop your own skills in using technology?
• Since researching and learning available technologies can be time-consuming, it is important to
budget your time appropriately: begin with what you know. For example, if you are comfortable
using email, set up a list-serve for your students to use as a discussion group or, if you are
comfortable with a particular software package, assign it to students as part of a task.
• When and if you wish to expand on your base of knowledge, consult AcIS and CCNMTL to see
what types of workshops and services are available to you.
Sources
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7.10 Administering Tests
• Bring extra copies of the test.

• Administer the test yourself so that you are available to announce any corrections or changes in
the exam, to motivate and reassure students and to convey the importance of the test.
• Arrive early and stay late to talk to students and answer their questions.
• Read the instructions aloud at the beginning of class.
• Plan for unforeseen wrinkles such as the test being too long or having errors in it.
• Don't hover over the class but be alert to discourage cheating.
• If there is no clock in the room, keep students apprised of the time.
Source
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7.11 The Last Day of Class
By the last class students are wrapped up in finals and are less likely to be receptive to new information.
Besides using the last class to finish up the syllabus, consider using part of this class as a review session.
You might consider scheduling a separate review session to help prepare students for the final and give
them a sense of closure. This will encourage your students to focus on course content, reduce their
anxiety about the final exam and grade, practice the skills they will need on the final, find out what is
expected of them on the final, and assess the knowledge and skills they have accumulated during the
semester. What follows are some suggestions for planning and conducting a useful review session.
• Try to create a relaxed, informal atmosphere by reassuring students that they can succeed on the
final and encouraging them to be confident.
• Begin by going over strategies for taking the final. Consider providing students with a handout
listing the date, time and location of the final, what they will need to bring, any assignments due
before the final, the readings or topics to be covered in the final, and the number and format of
the questions.
• Give a practice final composed of representative problems and questions. You can set aside some
time for students to take the final and some time to discuss the answers as a group or in
subgroups.
• Ask students to brainstorm about the most important topics, themes, or points from the course.
Record their responses on the board and discuss points of contact and confusion.
• Organize the main themes or topics into a short lecture, focusing your review on the relationships
between them. For example, you might list the major topics in the sequence in which you taught
them, then briefly discuss each topic and how they are related to one another or ask questions to
help students to identify these relationships.
• Devote the entire session to a question and answer period, giving students the option of asking
specific questions, describing the types of problems they need to be able to solve or naming the
topics they wish to review. In case their questions don't fill the session, prepare an alternative
38
activity such as a practice final, brief lecture or discussion outline to help them focus their efforts.
Be careful not to allow the session to degenerate into repeatedly being asked: "Will X be on the
test?"
• Whatever your format, be sure to leave some time for final questions.
• Conclude by offering advice on how to prepare for the final and take it.
Sources
8. Responding to and Grading Students' Work
The final grade is a composite of the grades of quizzes, tests, homework, papers and finals. How you
respond to and grade assignments is instrumental in helping students prepare to do well on subsequent
assignments, including the final exam or paper. In establishing your grading criteria, remember that your
comments and grades have multiple functions:
• Your comments and grades on students' assignments help them learn how to identify good work,
understand what they have and have not learned, and motivate them to improve their work in the
future.
• Your final grade assigns a value to your students' accomplishments and communicates a final
judgment of their work that will be used to select them for awards or continued education.
8.1 Establishing and Explaining Your Grading Criteria
If you set clear guidelines for assessing student performance, you will evaluate students' levels of skill
and knowledge more easily, assign grades more efficiently and reduce the likelihood of grade disputes.
The following suggestions are intended to help you develop such guidelines, explain them to your class,
offer meaningful feedback to your students and assign consistent grades:
• Decide what goals students are to reach at the end of the course. Identify the criteria by which you
will judge success. The effectiveness of your assessment depends on how appropriate it is in
relation to course objectives, how clearly you define the tasks, how well you identify and convey
the criteria for success and how uniformly you test your students. Avoid obscuring the primary
meaning of the grade as a measure of what students have learned and of how they demonstrate
that learning. Base you evaluation on quantifiable academic performance. Eliminate from
consideration hard-to-measure factors such as behavior, effort, participation, attendance,
punctuality, attitude, personality or interest in the course.
• Decide how many and what kinds of evaluation methods will be used, e.g. homework, quizzes,
tests, papers and the final exam. Determine what proportion of the final mark each assignment,
quiz, etc. will comprise.
• Set a policy for missed, failed or late assignments and tests.
• Convey these policies to your students by listing them on your syllabus, announcing them during
the first class and reminding students of them whenever you give a new assignment. Make sure
students are aware of what they should know or be able to demonstrate by the end of the class and
how you plan to assess this. Explain how your comments, grading procedures and policies will
help them achieve these goals and help you to evaluate their progress fairly. Remember that
careful planning and clear explanations prevent student misunderstanding and unhappiness later
on.
39
• Avoid emphasizing grades rather than mastery of material. Don't limit the number of high grades
you are willing to give or you will decrease students' motivation to learn, increase their anxiety
about grades and cause poor social relationships among them.
• Always measure and evaluate your students' performance according to the goals and criteria that
were originally selected. Keep your students informed of their progress throughout the semester.
Remember that students' anxiety about grades will be higher if your procedures are indefinite and
unstructured, leaving them uncertain about what they must do to get a good grade. At the same
time, your students will be more inclined to be motivated if they feel they can achieve success
with a reasonable amount of effort. Always keep them informed about the specific measures they
can take to improve their grades.
• Whatever your grading strategy, greater generosity in the final distribution of grades than in
assigning grades to individual homework and tests limits the number of grade disputes.
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8.2 Responding to Students' Work
When you introduce an assignment, revisit your grading criteria and, when responding to students' work,
couch your comments in terms of these criteria. A good assignment, test or paper helps students meet
course goals. Your responses to your students' work should let them know how successful they have been
in meeting these goals.
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8.3 Assigning Grades to Students' Work
Be fair and consistent in how you grade. Decide how you will translate your comments on strengths and
weaknesses into grade values and how you will credit answers that are partially correct. Reward students
who have made genuine progress toward the right answer by giving them credit for good ideas, even if
they have erred in formulating them or vice versa.
Homework
A simple grading plan is the most efficient and least time-consuming way to grade homework that is
handed in regularly. Here are some suggestions:
1. Check plus, Check , Check minus corresponding to A, B or C.

2. A point system from 7-10 corresponding to A, A-, B, or C.
• Use these grades to alert your students to strong work, work without major
weaknesses and work with major weaknesses.
• Separate homework into three groups and make sure that homework in each of
the groups is comparable.
• You can easily convert the grade average of these grading plans into a number as
part of final grade. For example, if homework is 10% of the final grade, students get the
average of their homework grades from 7-10 points and excessive missed homework can
lower this average.
40
Tests
• Your test should already have a point system to follow - you need only decide when to give full
credit and how to uniformly assign partial credit.
• Write out the correct answer yourself.
• Decide on guidelines for full or partial credit, e.g., decide which facts or ideas a student must
mention to earn full credit and how you will award partial credit.
• Skim all of the exams quickly, marking and commenting on them but not assigning grades.
• Choose examples of exams to serve as standards identifying those that are excellent, good,
adequate and poor.
• Grade each exam question by question rather than grading all questions for a single student.
• Avoid judging exams on extraneous factors such as handwriting.
• If you can, read some papers twice to increase your reliability.
• Separate the tests into piles according to the grades you assigned and make sure that those in each
pile are comparable.
Short answer and essay questions are more difficult to assign grades to. Here are some suggestions:
1. Full credit (%100): The essay clearly states a position, supports it, provides persuasive and
original evidence and contains no irrelevant information.
2. Partial Credit (80% of Full Credit): The essay states a position, supports it and provides evidence
but contains one of more of the following defects: evidence is not uniformly persuasive and some
ideas seem out of place.
3. Partial Credit (70% of Full Credit): The essay states a position and supports it but is not well
developed or seems disorganized.
4. Partial Credit (60% of Full Credit): The essay states a position but provides little support because
the evidence is scanty, trivial or general and is repetitive or includes irrelevant information.
5. Partial Credit (50% of Full Credit): The essay does not state the student's position but restates the
question and summarizes evidence from class or the readings. When you have assigned numerical
values to each answer, compare the grades and answers to ensure that you have graded
consistently across tests and then add them up and place the total grade on the last page of the
exam.
Papers
When assigning a grade to a paper, you should use the criteria that are reflected in your comments so that
they can be used to justify the grade should you be questioned. For example:
• A: Excellent in all or most aspects.

• B: Good in most aspects, except for occasional lapses.
• C: Competent in some aspects. In some cases, excellent ideas are marred by presentation,
development, organization or widespread technical errors. In others, the presentation is good, but
the ideas need improvement.
• D: Demonstrates some effort on the part of the student, but is so flawed by bad writing and poor
idea development that it is incompetent.
• F: Demonstrates minimal effort and flawed writing and thinking, either misinterpreting the
assignment or containing half as many pages as assigned.
41
After you have assigned grades to all papers, separate them into piles according to the grades you
assigned and make sure that those in each pile are of the same caliber.
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8.4 Returning Assignments
• Return papers, homework and tests promptly.

• Use some class time to discuss the overall results and reinforce your expectations of good work.
• Ask students how long they spend on assignments.
• Schedule extra office hours after returning major assignments and tests.
Back to Top
8.5 Recording Grades
Keep an accurate, up-to-date record of grades, missed assignments, lateness and absences and retain them
at least through the following term. These records become especially important in cases of grade disputes
and failures.
Back to Top
8.6 Handling Grade Disputes
No matter how conscientious you are about establishing and explaining your grading criteria, and
evaluating and grading students' work during the semester, from time to time, students will ask you to
change the grade of an individual assignment or even their final grade.
• Let students know that if they request a review of a grade, you reserve the right to change the
grade positively or negatively and ask them schedule an appointment at least one day later so that
they have time to read the assignment and formulate specific questions.
• Be direct with students who are angry or upset. Request that they take a day or more to cool off
and think about it. Consider asking them to prepare a written complaint or justification for a grade
change.
• Don't allow yourself to become antagonized, and don't antagonize the student.
• Tell them to come to your office prepared with specific questions or brief written statement
outlining their differences and justifying the correctness of their work.
• When you meet, have relevant materials available: the test questions, answer key or criteria, and
examples of good answers
• Listen to the student's concerns without interrupting or read the statement with an open mind.
• Respond calmly, describing the elements of a good answer, asking the student if they are present
in the answer or pointing out how the answer was incomplete or incorrect. Make every effort to
help the student understand your reasons for assigning the grade that you did.
• Don't feel pressured to make a decision on the spot. If you are unsure, ask them for time to think
about their request or to reread the test or paper. Try to shift the focus of the discussion from
42
grades to problem solving, e.g. "What can we do so that you do better next time?" to encourage
the student to stop blaming you and become motivated to work more effectively.
• Don't change a grade out sympathy or compassion (or to end the dispute) or because of a student's
personal needs (to get into graduate school or maintain status on the dean's list). Only change a
grade if you have made a clerical error or mistakenly evaluated a response.
• If appropriate, for final grades, offer to write a letter to the student's adviser or to others,
describing the student's work in detail and indicating any extenuating circumstances that may
have affected their grade.
Sources
Davis, B.G. Tools for Teaching. Jossey-Bass, 1993. McKeachie, W.J. Teaching Tips. Houghton Mifflin,
1999.
Jedrey, C. "Grading and Evaluation," in J.J. Gullette (Ed.) The Art and Craft of Teaching. Cambridge,
Mass, 1984.
McKeachie, W.J. Teaching Tips. Lexington, Mass.: Heath, 1986.
Pollio, H.R. and Humphreys, W.L. "Grading Students," in J.H. McMillan (Ed.) Assessing Students'
Learning. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, no. 34. SanFrancisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 13-21.
9. Evaluating and Improving Your Teaching
You should consider documenting your progress as an instructor by using a teaching portfolio. The
portfolio is not only extremely useful for evaluating and improving your teaching during graduate school
but is also invaluable for bolstering your credentials on the job market. The portfolio usually consists of
eight to ten pages of narrative plus supporting material contained in appendices. What follows is a general
outline of what is usually found in the teaching portfolio intended to give you some ideas about how to
build up your own.
• Description of Teaching Responsibilities - Usually this section is a two to three paragraph

description of courses taught, including course titles, numbers, enrollments and whether they are
required or elective, graduate or undergraduate.
• Statement of Teaching Philosophy, Methods, Strategies, Objectives - How you carried out your
teaching responsibilities from the perspective of why you do what you do in the classroom.
Reveal your knowledge of pedagogy and your subject area's specialties by communicating your
beliefs about teaching, your goals for students and why you consider these goals important.
Provide detailed examples of your classroom practices that show how your teaching methods fit
your goals and the context of different courses. Consider including a list of the methods used in
specific courses and a personal statement describing your teaching goals over the next few years.
• Description of Course Materials - A description of representative course syllabi detailing course
content and objectives, teaching methods, readings, handouts and assignments.
• Products of Teaching or Evidence of Student Learning - This section might include materials
such as
• examples of graded student work along with your comments
• successive drafts of student papers with your comments on how each draft might
be improved
• a record of students who chose to pursue your field
43
• information about the effect of your courses on students' career and academic
choices
• Student Ratings - A description of student course or teaching evaluation data that provides an
overall rating of effectiveness.
• Evaluations - This section might include statements from
• colleagues who have observed you in the classroom
• colleagues who have reviewed your teaching materials, such as course syllabi,
assignments, testing and grading practices
• alumni on the quality of your instruction
• your dissertation advisor that assess your contribution to teaching
• Efforts to Improve Teaching - This section might include a description of
• your participation in programs, conferences or workshops to sharpen your
teaching skills
• documentation of teaching development activity through pedagogy courses you
have taken
• any curricular revisions, including new courses, materials and assignments you
are developing
• any innovations you made in your teaching and an assessment of their
effectiveness
• steps you have taken to evaluate and improve your teaching, including changes
resulting from self-evaluation and reading literature on improving teaching
• Teaching Awards and Recognition
• Appendices - The items in your appendices should be chosen to support the narrative section of
your portfolio. Weave references to your appendices into the narrative to present a coherent
picture of your teaching. Some examples of such supporting evidence might include:
• sample syllabi, exams and projects
• student evaluations
• faculty evaluations
• letters from peers and alumni
• graded student work
• a paper presented on teaching in your discipline
• For further ideas please consult our list of teaching porfolios web resources. teaching porfolios
web resources.
Source
Seldin, P. The Teaching Portfolio. Bolton, MA, 1997.
10. Teaching and Your Graduate Program
Teaching is an important part of your graduate program. Your teaching experience will serve not only as
a foundation for a career in teaching but will also prepare for a range of non-academic jobs where
pesentation and interpersonal skills are required. The following advice is intended to help you use your
teaching opportunities as a complement your research and as preparation for other career avenues.
• Use your teaching as an opportunity to master the content of a course. Even if you think you
know it all, repeated presentations, discussion, asking and answering questions and grading can
44
help you finely tune this knowledge and may even raise new issues or questions to tackle.
• Use your teaching as an opportunity to broaden your knowledge of your field or to hone your
teaching skills.
• Focus on developing your presentation skills in teaching so that you can benefit when giving a
presentation in classes you are taking or at professional conferences.
• Learning to give clear explanations and to effectively answer questions in introductory classes.
Perfecting this skill will contribute significantly to your understanding of the fundamental
concepts in your field. Use your course preparation time as way of strengthening your command
of your field.
• Practice balancing your research and teaching. If you have difficulty making progress on your
research while you are teaching, you should determine whether you are dwelling on your teaching
responsibilities to avoid your academic work or are far enough along in your program to be
teaching. You may need to limit your preparation time or ask for a less challenging teaching
assignment. Be aware that one teaching assignment and your graduate work are significantly less
than you will be asked to juggle in any academic or non-academic job.
• Your teaching experience is an important means of building up your credentials for different jobs.
When you apply for an academic position, you will be asked to submit a curriculum vitae and a
minimum of three letters of recommendation. Your vitae should list the courses that you taught or
assisted in teaching in graduate school and at least one of your letters of recommendation should
attest to your teaching ability. Make sure that you have a "teaching letter" in your dossier by
arranging for a faculty member, preferably your dissertation adviser, to visit your class. When
you apply for a nonacademic job, you will want to emphasize the presentation and interpersonal
skills you developed when teaching.
• Make sure that you arrange for student evaluations of your teaching, whether you are teaching
your own course or assisting a faculty member. While you are teaching you can use them to
improve your teaching. When you are applying for a job, you can use them as evidence of
successful teaching.
• Save copies of your class outlines, assignments, graded student work, handouts, student
evaluations etc. You can make these available to the faculty member when he/she is writing a
letter of recommendation or use them if you choose to compile a Teaching Portfolio.
• Take advantage of the teaching workshops available in your department or through GSAS.
Gaining experience talking about teaching is as important as gaining experience teaching. This
experience will make you appear more confident when questioned about your teaching during a
job interview.
• If you make it to the "short list" during the academic job application process, you may be asked to
teach a seminar or a large lecture course, or to present a talk on your research or on an aspect of
pedagogy. If you have taken advantage of opportunities to learn how to teach, you will be better
prepared to teach a range of courses in unfamiliar surroundings.
45
11. Teaching and the Job Market
By Ludmilla A. Trigos, Ph.D.
In this exceedingly tight academic job market, the expectation from the majority of hiring institutions-
Research I or II, liberal arts colleges, public or private institutions, and/or community colleges-is that the
top candidates for any position will have some teaching experience.
As a graduate student, you should seek out a variety of teaching opportunities (as a teaching assistant, an
instructor, a TA supervisor, and/or a guest lecturer) as a means of:
• Gaining valuable experience in your future profession
• Determining whether you like teaching or not
• Diversifying experience and enhancing your marketability because of the range of courses you
have taught.
For example, if you are a doctoral candidate in English literature, teach both writing/composition courses
and literature courses. Whatever your discipline, look for an opportunity to teach something directly
related to your field of expertise (i.e., Latin American Politics) as well as a broad, general course (i.e.,
Introduction to Political Theory). Also, if you have the chance to teach in the core curriculum at
Columbia or elsewhere you will greatly enhance your credentials. The ability to teach a rigorous,
discussion-oriented course - such as Logic and Rhetoric, Literature Humanities, Contemporary
Civilization, Art Humanities, or Music Humanities - will serve you well in your future endeavors as a
teacher-scholar. Also take advantage of any professional development or training courses that are offered.
Iinstitutions that place a high value on teaching will focus on your pedagogical training and frequently
advertise that a candidate's knowledge of instructional technologies is a plus.
Make sure to emphasize your teaching experience appropriately in the materials you submit to hiring
institutions. You should highlight your teaching experience in your curriculum vitae by devoting a
separate section to it, rather than including it under a more generic heading such as "Teaching and
Research Experience." Provide your job title as well as a concise description of your tasks; in many
institutions, titles can mean different things. If you developed a new course and had sole responsibility for
all lecturing, discussions, and grading, document this on your vitae; most institutions will be greatly
attracted to a candidate who shows evidence of innovative teaching. If you were responsible for a
curriculum re-design for a team-taught course or attended propadeutic seminars or other teacher training
related to a particular course, you should include this information as well. If you receive any teaching
awards as a graduate instructor, you should indicate this on your vitae in the "Honors and Fellowships"
section as a demonstration of your abilities.
Your cover letter should devote at least one paragraph to your teaching experience and may also include
information on your future teaching interests. You should customize this paragraph according to the types
of institutions and the types of jobs you are applying to.
Since most of the jobs that are available are not at doctorate-granting institutions, you should determine
how you want to market your teaching experience so that it appeals to the institutions you are targeting
46
for employment. The more information you have about the way that a particular institution values
teaching and research, the better equipped you will be to write a compelling cover letter.
In many cases, the most successful, well-written cover letters illustrate the connection between your
scholarship and your teaching and demonstrate the way that one enriches the other. More and more
frequently, hiring institutions ask for a demonstration of excellence in teaching even before inviting
candidates for an interview. They may request a statement of teaching philosophy or of teaching interests,
teaching evaluations, or a full-fledged teaching portfolio.
Take the time to develop a teaching portfolio as a record of your accomplishments as you go along, rather
than attempting to collect the information after the fact. You should structure your teaching portfolio so
that it is a selection of representative documents that highlight your strengths. Most portfolios include: a
statement of teaching philosophy; a list of courses taught; sample syllabi, writing assignments and
examinations; faculty/supervisor teaching evaluations; and a summary of student teaching evaluations. If
you have already begun to accumulate this information, you will be one step ahead in your academic job
search. If you have already been teaching for some time and have not kept track of your evaluations or
other documents, start now by inquiring in your department if they have kept copies of your evaluations
and if you may have access to them. If you cannot do so, ask a faculty advisor to gain access and to write
a letter for your reference file that discusses your teaching competencies. For more information on
developing teaching portfolios, see Section 9.1 The Teaching Portfolio.
12. Useful Administrative Information
The following information has been assembled to help you familiarize yourself with the benefits
associated with being a Teaching Fellow and the various undergraduate programs, university policies and
university support services of importance to you and your students.
• Benefits for Teaching Fellows
Stipend Payment
Teaching Fellows receive their stipends through a combination of four stipend checks, which are
picked up in 210 Kent Hall, and monthly checks delivered to their deparments. See full details of
Processing of Teaching Fellowships.
Library Privileges
Teaching Fellows are eligible for library privileges similar to those of an Officer. Details
concerning these privileges and how to obtain a "Student Officer Card" may be found on the
Student Officer Borrowing page on the Library Web homepage.
Computing Privileges
Teaching Fellows are eligible for a free TA account with same privileges as an Instructor
Account . See directions for creating a TA account on AcIS Computer Accounts for Students
Page under heading "TAs and Student Instructors."
Discounts at Columbia University Bookstore and Labyrinth Bookstore
47
Teaching Fellows are eligible for a 10% discount on most books if they show a "Student Officer
Card"
• The Undergraduate Programs
Barnard College
http://www.barnard.columbia.edu/academics/
Columbia College
http://www.college.columbia.edu/students/academics/
School of Engineering
http://www.engineering.columbia.edu/students/academics/index.php
School of General Studies

http://www.gs.columbia.edu/studentservices/index.asp
• The Graduate Programs
School of International and Public Affairs

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/sipa/conc.html
• University Policies
For details concerning University policies such as cheating & plagiarism, disability, non-
discrimination and sexual harrassment, see the appropriate sections of FACETS,
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/facets/ . Teaching Fellows in need of advice in these areas should
contact the Assistant Dean of Graduate Teaching at me2@columbia.edu .
• University Support Services
AcIS
• Electronic Classrooms
Audiovisual Department
Book Orders
• Columbia University Bookstore
• Labyrinth Books
CCNMTL
CC/SEAS Undergraduate Deans and Class Centers
Center for Career Services
Chaplain
GS Advisors and Dean of Student's Office
Erro! A referência de hyperlink não é válida.
• Primary Care
• CPS
• Go Ask Alice!
• Disability
Humanities Media Center
International Students and Scholars Office
48
Learning Center
Library
• Butler Reserves
Ombuds Office
Registrar
• Academic Calendar
• Exam Schedule
• Room Reservation Information
Tutoring Service
13. Processing of Teaching Fellowships
Teaching Fellowships and Core Preceptorships are processed as follows:
• Following approval of their department's proposed teaching assignments, continuing students

receive written confirmation of their fellowship from the Office of the Dean.
• Payments for tuition and health fees are credited directly to the students' accounts by the GSAS
Office of Financial Aid.
• Teaching Fellows receive a combination of four stipend checks plus monthly checks processed
through the Payroll system.
Four Stipend Checks - 2/3 of the stipend, or $10,700, is processed through the GSAS Office of Financial
Aid. The four checks of $2,675 are produced at the start of registration in September and January, and at
the start of the month in November and March. CC and LitHum preceptors receive four stipend checks
that total $11,420. Stipend checks must be picked up at the Cashiering area in 210 Kent Hall. Students
must be registered and will need to show a valid CUID card. International students must have a Social
Security number or need to show a receipt of application in order to receive their stipend checks.
Monthly Checks - 1/3 of the stipend, or $5350, is processed through the Payroll system. CC and Lithum
preceptors receive a total salary of $5700. Appointment dates are from 9/1/2002 to 5/31/2003. These
monthly checks are delivered to departments at the end of each month via campus mail
• Teaching Fellows who have questions about their awards should contact their Financial Aid
Directors or the Assistant Dean for Ph.D. Programs at me2@columbia.edu.
Guidelines for Teaching Fellowships
The experience of teaching is viewed as an integral part of graduate student training for the M.Phil. and
Ph.D. degrees. Thus, all graduate students are expected to gain appropriate teaching experience as part of
their scholarly apprenticeship. Teaching Fellows receive the same financial aid support as Graduate and
Dissertation Fellows.
Graduate students may also apply to teach in the Core Programs to broaden their teaching experience.
Students who teach in the Composition Program, Music Humanities Program and Art Humanities
Program receive the same financial support as Teaching Fellows. Those who teach in the Literature
Humanities Programs and Contemporary Civilization Programs receive slightly higher stipends than
Teaching Fellows and a summer fellowship.
49
A. Guidelines for Selection and Assignment
The Graduate School asks each department to appoint a faculty member as a Director of Graduate
Student Teaching (DGST) to oversee teaching appointments and training in each department. The
DGST and Chair of each department and the Directors and Chairs of the Core Programs are
responsible for ensuring that equitable appointments are made and adequate training is provided.
These faculty members should conform to the following guidelines for administering teaching
programs and selecting Teaching Fellows to prevent misunderstandings about and inequities in
the allocation of financial aid to graduate students:
1. Teaching Fellows are in good academic standing.
2. Teaching Fellows have completed the first year of their graduate programs or their MAs.
3. Teaching Fellows are within the seven-year limit for completion of the PhD, unless the
department or Core program has obtained permission from the Graduate School after
demonstrating that the student is in good academic standing and no other qualified
student is available for the position.
4. Teaching Fellows have demonstrated oral and written proficiency in English.
5. Teaching Fellows have demonstrated competency in the subject to be taught and

evidence of good potential or prior teaching.
6. Teaching Fellows register for Residence or Extended Residence and their tuition and
mandatory health fees are paid by the financial aid budget.
7. The maximum requirement for teaching does not exceed two semester courses per year.
8. Insofar as it is possible, Teaching Fellows are offered a range of teaching responsibilities

with increasing independence and student contact to gradually prepare them for full
teaching responsibilities.
9. Care is taken that Teaching Fellows receive appropriate and equitable assignments in
relation to where they are in their academic programs. Workloads for Teaching Fellows
vary due to difficulty of assignment or students' academic backgrounds. Therefore, these
factors are taken into consideration when making assignments to ensure that the
workloads of peers are equitable.
10. Care is taken that Teaching Fellows receive appropriate and equitable tasks. For example,
in a course supported by more than one teaching assistant, all tasks are shared equally.
11. All Teaching Fellows are compensated according to the standards set by the Graduate
School.
12. If a student is awarded a Dissertation Fellowship, he or she is not asked to give it up to

teach unless the fellowship can be deferred.
50
13. If an outside funding agency does not allow students to teach, students are not asked to
give up those funds in order to teach.
14. Departments and Core programs provide students with written guidelines of procedures
for assigning and selecting Teaching Fellows which include:
• an outline of the types of positions available and deadlines for stating

preferences for assignments
• a description of eligibility and selection criteria
• an explanation of how and when applicants will be notified
• details concerning how and when applicants should accept or decline a
position
15. Departments and Core programs provide Teaching Fellows with appointment letters
indicating:
• the type and length of the teaching assignment

• the responsibilities expected of the assignment
• the training requirements
• the supervision and evaluation procedures
• details about compensation
16. Teaching Fellows undergo training that adequately prepares them for their teaching
responsibilities and facilitates their professional development. If a department or program
is dissatisfied with a Teaching Fellow's work, a review of his or her performance is
undertaken in a timely fashion. The DGST or faculty member in charge must inform the
student in writing of his or her concerns, offer specific recommendations for improving
performance and give the student time to respond. If the student fails to meet these
requirements, he or she may not be re-appointed.
17. Despite efforts to ensure that procedures for making teaching appointments are fair and
training for teaching responsibilities is adequate, disagreements and misunderstandings
may arise. Graduate students and faculty should make every effort to resolve these
differences by working together towards an agreeable solution. If these measures fail,
they may make take them up with the Assistant Dean for Graduate Teaching.
B. Policy on Graduate Students Teaching as Adjuncts at Columbia University and its Affiliates
Departments and programs may not hire GSAS students on the Arts & Sciences adjunct budget.
Guidelines for Training and Supervision of Graduate Students Teachers
Following are general guidelines for training and supervision of Graduate-Student Teachers. Teaching
duties vary quite a bit, both within a department and from department to department and discipline to
discipline, so it would be difficult to account for all variations in appointments; each department will
therefore need to adapt these recommendations accordingly.
For the sake of clarity we've divided our recommendations: first, according to timing--before and during
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the appointment; and second, according to rank and duties-- those for graduate students serving in various
teaching assistant capacities, such as graders, lab assistants, recitation leaders, and those for graduate
students teaching their own courses, with full responsibility for their own sections/courses.
A. Before the Appointment/Duties begin:
1. Teaching Fellows who Assist Faculty Members should be given a preparatory session or
two in which the faculty member[s] review with the Teaching Fellows the course--its
syllabus, its goals and methodology--and the TA's specific duties within that course.
Teaching Fellows who will assist in grading should be told what the assignments will be,
as well as the standards by which the student work will be judged.
Discussion leaders should be given precise instructions, ideally with practice, for leading
class discussions.
A written set of general guidelines-both in print and on-line-is helpful for reference and
initial training, but it's best for these guidelines to be tailored to individual situations and
accompanied by in-person meetings, whether one-on-one or in group workshops
2. Teaching Fellows who teach their own courses/sections:
Those graduate students who will be given their own sections of introductory or upper-
level courses should receive substantial preparatory training, preferably including both
practical advice and exposure to relevant pedagogical theories and methodologies.
Whenever possible, this training should be designed as a course. Such a course should
use a combination of formal meetings, workshops/discussion groups, and at-home
assignments, including readings and written assignments of various kinds. Examples of
written assignments could include (depending upon the course and the Teaching Fellow's
duties), practice in creating lecture notes, questions for discussion, assignments, and
exam questions for the students.
Note that currently many programs/departments provide all/most of this kind of training
during the teaching term-a practice that often proves particularly useful, since it
accompanies the actual teaching. However, even when most of the training accompanies
the teaching, departments should try to provide some preliminary training or some way of
starting the pedagogy course before the teaching begins.
B. During the term[s] of teaching:
Teaching Fellows who assist in grading should meet with the faculty member a few times, at least
once before they receive the first assignment to be graded. They should receive detailed
guidelines for grading and evaluating each assignment during the term.
Ideally some/all of the grades should be reviewed by the faculty member teaching the course,
both in fairness to the undergraduates in the course and also to help train the graduate students to
improve the quality and efficiency of their grading.
Teaching Fellows reading sets of papers, that is student essays, should receive additional
guidance in how to respond to student writing--that is, not just how to "correct" and grade the
papers, but how to respond to the thinking of the student writers.
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Discussion leaders and lab assistants should be observed at least once, and samples of their class
plans/notes and questions for discussion should be reviewed.
Teaching Fellows who teach their own course should receive on-going mentoring on all aspects
of their teaching, including preparing class plans/notes, designing a syllabus [where relevant], as
well as creating assignments and exams, leading discussions, and responding to and grading
written work.
A faculty mentor should observe at least one of the Teaching Fellow's classes in the first year of
teaching-this observation should be considered part of the training, not simply as evaluation.
Depending upon a department's resources and teaching needs, this mentoring can be provided by
one faculty member for all Teaching Fellows (as is the case for Music Hum, for example) or
individually by different faculty members, ideally working with graduate students whose
scholarly work they know. In the latter case, the department should provide guidelines as to what
aspects of teaching the mentor should cover.
Evaluation
Each department should develop procedures for evaluating both the training the department provides and
also the work of the Teaching Fellows. In addition, there should be a clear understanding of what
constitutes unacceptable performance-failure to meet classes, hand back papers and assignments, etc.
Since more and more academic jobs require the submission of student evaluations, departments need to
have in place a system for distributing and collecting student evaluation forms for Teaching Fellows.
What is a Teaching Portfolio?
The Teaching Portfolio is a means for collecting, organizing and presenting information that reflects on
teaching activities, accomplishments and effectiveness. It is a valuable information base for facilitating
critical reflection on teaching and for building a case for appointment, tenure, promotion and awards. The
Teaching Portfolio has become increasingly important as pressure has mounted on universities to improve
the quality of teaching. Smaller colleges that have traditionally emphasized teaching are also calling for
more concrete documentation of job candidate's commitment to teaching.
It is important to keep in mind that although the Teaching Portfolio is a prevalent trend, there are many
departments that will not want to see your portfolio. Don't send it unless asked. Rather, make reference to
it in your cover letter and CV, so that your prospective department will know it is available. It might also
be a good idea to bring a copy or two of your portfolio to any on-campus interviews you have just in case
the opportunity arises to present it. Be careful, however, not to push it on people who don't show an
interest in reading it.
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What's in it for you?
While the need to create a Teaching Portfolio might at first glance seem a burdensome task, if approached
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in the right manner, it can serve as an enriching exercise that will enhance your teaching experience.
Following are some of the ways in which the process will probably benefit you:
Improved teaching
Paying closer attention to the methods that you use in your teaching and analyzing their efficacy will help
you to improve as a teacher. You will become more attuned to what works and what doesn't in your
classroom and make the necessary adjustments, which will in turn make your teaching a more rewarding
experience for you and your students.
Individuation as a teacher
As newer teachers, we often tend to emulate what our professors did. Spending the time to articulate for
yourself what your own teaching objectives are may reveal that what you are doing in the classroom
doesn't really mesh with your attitudes towards course content and the ways of delivering that content.
The process of developing a teaching portfolio will help you to define yourself as a teacher in your own
rite and to gain a sense of purpose and self-confidence.
Professional development
The reflective work involved in preparing your portfolio will also pay off in other areas of your
professional development:
• It will prepare you for the teaching discussion during interviews. Some universities like Stanford
even incorporate a teaching symposium into the on-campus visit wherein the job candidate
organizes a discussion about teaching with the faculty.
• It will generate content that will prove useful when you refer to teaching in your job application
cover letter.
• It will inculcate habits and a way of thinking that will serve you later in your career as you come
up for tenure and awards.
• Materials that you develop for your portfolio, such as detailed lesson plans or syllabi, may come
in handy if you apply for postdoctoral grants, which often ask for sample course outlines.
• Developing a teaching philosophy will help you to formulate more meaningful syllabi.
Collection and organization of teaching materials
Even if many of the universities and colleges that you may apply to don't ask you for a Teaching Portfolio
because they already have so much to read, the process of collecting the materials relevant to your
teaching will serve you in the future. You will have those materials readily available when you are
eventually asked for "evidence of teaching effectiveness."
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What is in a Teaching Portfolio?
Following is a general outline of a Teaching Portfolio, to be customized according to your own teaching
strengths and ideas.
1. Description of Teaching Responsibilities (2-3 paragraphs)

You should begin your portfolio by summarizing your teaching responsibilities. Briefly describe the
courses you've taught and what level of students took the courses (undergraduate or graduate),
highlighting how each experience challenged your teaching abilities. If possible, sketch an evolution of
your teaching effectiveness with respect to the courses you have taught.
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2. Statement of Teaching Philosophy (1-2 pages)
Your statement of philosophy is a concise description of the core ideas that motivate how you teach.
Begin by defining your overarching teaching objectives. What core skills and what type of knowledge do
you strive to impart to your students? How does your teaching methodology reflect and promote your
objectives? What pedagogical strategies do you tend to favor and why have you found them to be
effective? Describe some of the thought processes that inform your decisions concerning lesson plans,
reading assignments or group projects. How do you measure student learning to verify that your approach
works?
• We've all sat through really bad classes, and had to explain really poor lectures to sections. Think
about how you would attempt to solve some of the difficulties and frustrations you've
encountered as a TA.
• Analyze your own pedagogical decisions. Why do you run class the way you do? What is the
rationale behind the assignments you develop?
• Think about how you have been successful in increasing the extent and quality of student
participation.
• Be aware of current pedagogical trends and assess your own philosophy in light of them,
depending on your particular interests and the nature of the expectations at your target schools.
(See list)
3. Description of Course Structure and Content (2-4 pages)
In this section, detail the general progression of a typical session of the course(s) that you teach from
beginning to end, rationalizing the way that you chose to structure it and the materials and methodologies
that you exploit in the classroom. Explain the types of assignments you give and their relevance to student
learning. Make reference to syllabi, justifying their contents and evolution. Supplement all references to
teaching materials with examples of them in your Appendix. Some aspects of your teaching that you
might discuss:
• How do you start class?

• What activities do you use?
• To what extent do you solicit student participation and how?
• How do you generate class discussion?
• How do you maintain student attention/interest?
• Have you integrated technology into your teaching and what have you found works well?
• How has your use of technology enhanced student learning?
• What is a typical essay question you might assign?
• How do you structure your lectures?
• How do you integrate writing into your course? Why is it important?
• What is your attitude towards being available to your students? Do you encourage email contact?
Extra help? What are your beliefs as to the role of one-on-one interaction with the professor in
student learning?
4. Reflection upon Changes / Commitment to Improvement (1 to several paragraphs)
If you have taught a course more than once, you will want to show how the content and presentation
changed each time you taught it. This shows that you are constantly striving to improve the courses you
offer. It also demonstrates that you are sensitive enough to know what is not working and resourceful
enough to think of new content and new strategies to make it work better. For this, you will simply want
to document the course separately each time, and then prepare a chart or a brief statement explaining the
changes you made and why.
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More generally, you want to demonstrate how your teaching has changed independently of course
content. Did you move from a lecture to a discussion-based format? Did you begin to use more audio,
video or computer technology? Why? Keep your teaching philosophy in mind here. Based on that
philosophy, how did the changes you made in your teaching improve your performance? Finally, how has
your philosophy of teaching itself developed?
To demonstrate your commitment to improving your teaching, you may want to include the following
evidence:
• Participation in workshops to improve teaching

• Attendance of conferences focusing on the teaching methods associated with your field
• Pedagogy courses taken
• Participation in teaching practica
• Presentations at conferences
• Membership to teaching associations
• Courses on teaching
• Participation in course development or departmental website development
• Exchange with other TAs of course materials
• Publication in professional journals devoted to teaching your subject
5. References and Evaluation Letters
In this section, which you could entitle something like "Evaluating My Teaching," include the following:
• A selection of student evaluations. Don't include all of them, unless you've only taught one or two
courses with small enrollments. In such a case, an overview of the general response to the course
could be interesting.
• In order to cull more detailed comments from your students, you may want to supplement the
student evaluation form provided by your university with another more open-ended
questionnaire.
• Letters from students, colleagues and faculty that specifically address your style. Letters and
emails from students thanking you for the class at the end of the semester provide nice
testimonials.
• Include at least one formal classroom observation. If you haven't already been observed, arrange
to have a faculty member from your department, either your advisor or the director/coordinator of
teaching, come to one of your classes.
• If you are no longer teaching, give a presentation in a forum where a faculty member can observe
and comment upon your lecturing skills.
6. Evidence of Student Learning
Given the fact that there has been a paradigm shift in the general attitude towards teaching from teaching
to learning, that is, from a focus on how teachers deliver content to how that content is assimilated by
learners, it is important to include indices of how your teaching has been absorbed by your students.
Following are some products of student learning you could consider putting into your portfolio:
• Examples of high-quality student work, such as a copy of a student's essay with your comments
on it.
• Fieldwork reports
• Laboratory reports
• Successful practica
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• A print-out of a threaded discussion that you generated if you used an electronic bulletin-board
discussion format
7. Appendices
You should supplement your portfolio with supporting documents that attest to your teaching
effectiveness. Make reference to your appendices in your teaching statement, where you've explained
their use and pedagogical value. Be selective, choosing the materials that speak to your particular
strengths. The following is a list of possible appendices with which to corroborate your portrayal of
yourself as a teacher.
• Course syllabi
• Bibliographies
• Sample lesson plans
• Samples of pedagogical materials you have developed, such as worksheets, study guides, review
sheets, tables and charts
• Sample homework assignments (indicate their aim)
• Sample essay questions (include a short note specifying what you were trying to achieve by
assigning the questions you cite)
• Sample discussion questions
• A sample lecture
• Examples of high-quality student work (if not already integrated elsewhere)
• Reference to a web site you may have developed
• Any articles or presentations on teaching that you may have written
• A videotape of yourself teaching (if this is your strong suit)
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How to get started
Organize your materials:

• Start assembling and organizing the teaching materials that you use.
• Save all of your student evaluations.
Reflect on your class materials and in-class experiences:
• Write summaries of in-class activities and assess their success.
• Describe your presentation method and assess its efficacy
• Reflect upon how and why you use the materials that you use and keep a journal of such thoughts.
• Reflect upon why you chose the readings that you did and assess student response to the readings
and to your presentation of them.
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Tip sheet for creating a good portfolio
• Make your portfolio user-friendly. Organize it well and make it easy to navigate.
• Write in an engaging narrative style.
• Be selective in your choice of supporting documentation. Annotate all materials so that their
objectives and effectiveness are clear.
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• Play to your strengths. Use your portfolio to highlight what you do best. o If you have a dynamic
classroom presence, use a videotape to convey this.
• If you are a witty writer and use that talent to keep your students interested in
problem sets or exercises, include examples of those exercises.
• If you are a good discussion leader, demonstrate this with evidence such as
discussion board transcripts.
• Are you good with technology? Refer to your web site.
• Have you integrated interesting non-traditional materials into your work?
• Limit your portfolio's length to about 20 pages: 6-8 pages of narrative content followed by 8-15
appendices.
• Customize your portfolio to your audience. If a department is just looking for a brief overview of
your teaching effectiveness, extract convincing sections from the general document. Synthesize in
one page your teaching philosophy accompanied by a thumbnail sketch of your classroom
techniques.
• Date the portfolio and keep it current.
• Use specifics for everything.

• Limit the number of student comments.
• Every assertion made in the portfolio should be supported by hard evidence.
• Get help. The compiling of a teaching portfolio can be an amusing process, especially if you are
comfortable with a little self-examination and have a peer with whom you can share it. More
importantly, a peer will assist in building cohesion among portfolio components.
• Spend no more than 14-20 hours on compiling your portfolio the first time around. This is not a
process that should involve vast volumes of detailed information. In order for a portfolio to be
useful (whether for teaching or promotion purposes), it must be accessible to an audience of your
peers. They get bored just as easily as you do, if not more.
• Try to avoid hackneyed comments like "The first mark of a good teacher is the love of teaching"
etc.
TEACHING TIPS
Teaching Tips
Attire
When deciding how to dress for the first day of class, consider both your comfort and the message that
your style of dress will communicate to your students.
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• Differentiate yourself from your students. Although you may feel most at ease in casual clothing,
this type of attire may not convey the message you desire. If you are not much older than the
students you will be teaching, you want to be careful not to dress in a way that too closely mirrors
their mode of dress.
• Dressing more formally can help you to make the transition from being a student in the classroom
to running the classroom.
• Dressing more formally can help to mitigate first day jitters because you'll feel more professional.
• Dress simply. Don't wear anything too fussy that will be distracting.
• Even if you will end up wearing more casual clothing when you teach, you may want to start out
by dressing more formally and adopt a more casual style as the semester progresses.
• Don't forget to wear a watch.
Strategies for Combating Nervousness
• Do classroom reconnaissance. Being familiar with the layout of the classroom and with how to
operate the available audiovisual equipment will go a long way in helping you to feel at ease in
this environment on the first day of class. You want to avoid walking into your classroom blind
and having to assess or adjust to it instead of immediately focusing on establishing a rapport with
your students. You also don't want to make your grand entrance after having spent the preceding
minutes frantically trying to locate the classroom.
• Try to get a class list ahead of time. Looking over your class list in advance will give you an idea
of the class composition and enable you to familiarize yourself with your students' names. It will
be much easier to process their names on the first day class if you have already seen them.
Having the list ahead of time will also allow you to better assess how many copies of handouts
you will need (but always make extra in anticipation of unregistered students).
• Prepare your lesson plan as thoroughly as possible. Arrive with a fully developed syllabus and
with an outline detailing how you will sequence the class time. Err on the side of preparing too
much material so as to avoid coming up short before the end of the period. Do a dry run through
any content you plan to deliver.
• Talk to others who have already taught the course. Find out about problems and successes others
have encountered and about strategies they've devised to overcome or encourage them
respectively.
• Make any copies you may need well in advance of the first day of class. You don't want to be
surprised (and flustered) by long lines at the copy machines or inoperative machinery before
entering the classroom.
• Bring your own chalk and eraser just in case these items haven't been adequately supplied to your
classroom. You should always have these items with you as many a lesson plan is contingent
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upon their availability.
• Realize that some nervousness may be inevitable . Accepting it may help to calm you down.
Nervous energy can often come across to students as enthusiasm. Keep in mind that your student
want to see you succeed. Seize upon that good will to bolster your confidence.
Establishing Classroom Climate and Format
• Whether you get to your classroom exactly on time or a few minutes early is a personal decision,
but you should think your choice through in advance of the first day. Arriving early can allow
you to organize your materials, straighten out or rearrange chairs, erase the board and chat with
students. However, your students will most probably not be very outgoing on that first day and
you won't know their names or anything about them, so arriving early could lead to an
uncomfortable silence that will set the wrong tone for the class session to follow. Especially on
the first day, you may not want to get to the classroom too early.
• Different teachers prefer different classroom climates: intense, relaxed, formal, personal,
humorous, serious, etc. Whatever climate you want, you should try to establish this early and set
the tone for the rest of the semester.
• Use the first day of class to model how you will structure the course and class time. If you will
emphasize group work, have your students work in groups on that first day. If you will emphasize
active discussion, start discussion right away. If journal-keeping will play a role, end the class
with a short writing exercise.
• Let students know that active participation will be central to your class by getting them involved
immediately. Don't let the first day pass by without getting your students to participate both
through introducing themselves and through performing some sort of in-class exercise, such as
taking part in a discussion group or writing a minute paper of some kind.
Strategies for Getting to Know Students
• Questionnaire sheets
Hand out a questionnaire that asks for contact information and university-related data (major,
year, etc.) but that also asks about personal preferences, such as favorite movies, heroes, reasons
for taking the course. Ask students to list the goals they hope to achieve by taking the course. The
inclusion of more personal data will help you to remember students and distinguish between them
more immediately.
• Short Essays
If well conceived, short essays can reveal several important student characteristics, including
perception, knowledge and attitudes about the subject, analytical and conceptual skills and
general writing ability.
• If you are teaching a course in the sciences, ask students to write about the
questions and problems that science seeks to answer.
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• If you are teaching a course in art history, show a slide of a lesser-known work
and ask students to identify and describe the style, symbolism and period of the work.
• If you are teaching about a foreign country, ask students to write about their
perceptions and beliefs about that country.
• If you are teaching a literature course, distribute and read aloud a short text or
poem and ask the students to imagine a title for the pience, justifying their choice.
Where applicable, on the last day of class, repeat the essay exactly. When they have finished,
return the first essay and ask your students to compare their two answers. This will give them
concrete evidence of how their thinking may or may not have changed as a result of the
semester's work. You can collect the papers and compare them yourself to discover how much
your course contributed to your students' intellectual development.
• Photos
Ask students to bring in a small photo (they could bring in a photocopy of their ID card) attach to
an index card with their name and contact information on it.
• Opinion poll
Go around the classroom having students introduce themselves and explain why they are taking
the course, what they find interesting about the subject and what they hope to learn/be able to do
at the end of the course. This type of question is more interesting than having them state their
major and year.
Ice Breakers
Following is a list of links to ideas for breaking the ice on the first day of class:
Ice Breakers
The Name Game
The Pig Personality Profile
Provide Administrative Information and Set Expectations
This often takes the form of going through the syllabus, which you should have prepared for the first day.
Be very clear as to your expectations. Emphasizing them on the first day will go a long way in bringing
about the behavior and attitude you desire. When outlining your policies and procedures, explain the
rationale behind them. Why have you chosen to run the class in the way that you do? How you do your
class structure and assignments facilitate student learning?
Specifically discuss:
• Required class materials
• Office hours and location
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• Email address and use of email as an extension of class (distribution of assignments,
announcements, discussions, student questions)
• How much study time is appropriate
• Homework for the class and its timely submission
• Policies regarding late assignments
• Policies regarding missed quizzes and exams
• Expectations and policies concerning attendance
• Expectations about class participation
• Grading criteria
• Your goals concerning what the students should learn and why they should learn it
Address Students' Concerns
Students enter a new class with several questions: Is this the right course for me? Does the teacher seem
competent and fair? How much work will be required? How will I be evaluated? Use the first day of class
to help your students understand how the class will serve their needs and demonstrate your commitment
to help them learn. Make it clear that you have expertise to offer by briefly discussing your own
credentials, work in the field and research interests (if they relate).
Introduce the Subject Matter
Make the time worthwhile. For your students who have had to travel to get to campus (and find a parking
spot), it can be extremely frustrating to have made the effort only to be dismissed with a syllabus a few
minutes into the class time. Once administrative tasks are completed, plunge into substantive material.
This signals to students that you are serious about making their time worthwhile and that you expect
progress to be made at each session.
• Develop several sessions' worth of lesson plans . Make sure that you have prepared lesson plans
and content for the first few class sessions so that your introductory presentation will be girded by
a sense of direction. Knowing where you are headed from the outset will help you to deliver your
material with self-assurance.
• Write yourself an outline specifying key concepts and objectives. Any insecurity on your part will
undermine your students' confidence in your mastery of the material. You need to demonstrate
your competency from the outset. Having a clear outline of all the points you wish to cover will
provide you with a crutch lest you find yourself beset by nervousness.
• Identify the value and importance of the subject . Not all students come to all classes with a clear
idea of why this subject is important. The teacher may need to help them understand the
significance of the course. The sooner this is done, the sooner the students will be ready to invest
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time and energy in the task of learning the subject matter.
• Start with an overview of the subject . What is it? What are the parts of the subject? How is it
connected to other kinds of knowledge? What are the typical problems in the field? What are
commonly held myths? Point out unanswered questions that are the objects of current research,
cutting-edge discoveries, and provocative insights and interpretations. Convey that your subject is
an exciting field alive with stimulating avenues of inquiry.
• Strategies for introducing subject matter while involving students Try to develop an interesting
and creative lesson plan that incorporates an activity that will require the students' active
participation and engagement with the subject. In this way, you can use the first class session to
teach students how to participate in your class. Engaging students in actual work during the first
class session gives them an idea of what your class will be like. You might make a brief
presentation of a core idea, pose a typical problem, or ask students to form working subgroups.
Following are a few suggestions that you might consider incorporating into your first day lesson
plan:
• Show a short film that introduces your subject and lead a discussion based on it.
If the film is motivational and exciting, your students will come to the second class eager
to begin learning more.
• Select a key word from the course title and have the students generate word
associations or related ideas. Put their responses on the board and use the list as a point of
departure for a thematic overview of the course.
• Ask students to think about the questions they want the course to answer for
them. Write their answers on the blackboard and discuss each of them in turn, pointing
out when in the semester the questions will be addressed--hint at the possible answers in
order to whet their curiosity. Or, have students break into groups to discuss the questions
evoked.
• In a political science class, ask students to compare their parent's political

preferences with their own.
• In literature classes, ask students to think about whom they would most like to be
if they could be any writer or fictional character in a book they have read.
• In a history class, ask in what time period one would chose to live, or what
historical figure one would like to meet.
• Another question for a literature class might be "What is the value of literature?"
or "What would the world be like without literature?"
• In an art or music class, you could ask, "What is the value of art?" or "What is the
function of art?"
• In a science class, ask students to work in groups to discuss an important

discovery, highlighting why it is significant.
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• In a foreign language class, you could ask students to brainstorm ideas
concerning the value of learning another language.
• An English professor divides the class into groups of six and gives each member
of the group one line of a six-line poem. Students are asked to reassemble the poem and
discuss what the poem means.
• In a sociology or history class, ask groups of students to come up with a list of the
ten most important events (or people) in history. After ten or fifteen minutes, place the
groups' responses on the board for discussion and interpretation.
• Give an assignment for the next class session

By assigning homework right away, you will invest the idea of covering the course content with a
sense of urgency and commincate that the course is worthwhile, well organized, and well paced.
Go over the assignment with special care and return it at the next class meeting. You will give
your students an immediate example of the level of work you expect and they way that you
evaluate it. Grade this assignment but be flexible as to how much it will count, for students may
be adding or dropping your course during the first week or so.
• Take and exit poll

Ask students to write their reactions to the first day. Take two minutes at the end of class to have
students jot down unsigned comments about what went well and what questions they have about
the course.
Save Time by Recording the Proceedings of the First Day
Try to create a distributable version of your first day of class, especially if it involved important course
content. You will save you and your students a lot of trouble by having this transcript handy. Prepare
extensive notes detailing the first day's content so that you can make them available to students who miss
the first day. Your syllabus, which should be very detailed concerning course requirements and
expectations, will take care of the administrative aspect.
Learning Names
Following are some suggested strategies for learning names:
Try to access a class list in advance through Courseworks before the course begins. Previewing students'
names will help you to better process and remember them when you hear them on the first day of class.
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Jot down comments next to student names when calling roll on the first day of class. Record memory-
triggering comments referring to the student's distinctive physical characteristics or seating location.
Remaining after class for a few minutes to review these comments is an effective memory-enhancement
practice because it capitalizes on the fact that you may still remember the students' facial features and
classroom seat.
Have students fill in a questionnaire that includes personal questions such as movie preferences or
favorite music. Including questions that extend beyond pure data collection (name, year, email address,
etc.) will help individualize your students for you. They will also appreciate your interest in them. Collect
their responses in the same order in which they are seated in class.
Use short ice-breaker activities designed to help students and the instructor to get to know each other. For
example, "paired interviews" may be used in which two students interview each other and then report the
other's autobiographical information to the whole class.
For very large classes, ask for photos. During the first week of class, have students submit to you a
photocopy of the picture on their student identification card or driver's license and use these pictures to
help you associate names with faces.
Rehearse student names during periods of "dead time" (e.g., as students enter class and take their seats, or
as you circulate among students during small-group discussions and exams). Early in the term, make an
attempt to come to class early and to remain after class while students file out. This will provide you with
opportunities to rehearse names, one by one, as students enter and leave the classroom.
Consider assigning some short reaction papers or minute papers at the end of class during the first weeks
of the term. This practice will enable you to learn the names of students as they come up (one by one) to
turn in their papers at the end of class, as well at the beginning of the following class session when
students come up individually to the front of class to pick up their papers.
Schedule brief, out-of-class conferences with individual students during the first few weeks of class so
you can meet them one at a time. Besides breaking down the name recall task, this policy will help you to
individualize your rapport with each student and in turn positively affect the classroom dynamic.
Continually refer to students by name after initially learning their names (e.g., always address them by
name when you respond to them in class of when you see them on campus). This practice serves not only
to reinforce your memory of the student's name, it also repeatedly signals to the student that you know
him as a person and are responding to him as a unique individual.
Discussion Leading
1.1 Advantages for Student Learning

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Incorporating discussion into your lesson structure can promote student learning in several ways.
It tends to be more inclusive, encouraging a much larger portion of your students to engage in the give
and take of the classroom environment.
It adds an interpersonal dimension to the learning process, enhancing it for those students who benefit
from intellectual interaction with their peers.
The interpersonal dimension invests the material with an additional layer of context, thereby enhancing its
retention. It conduces to a sense of class community.
It invests the timely completion of homework assignments with a greater sense of urgency.
It provides the instructor with prompt and continuous feedback regarding student understanding or
misunderstanding of material.
It stimulates students to more actively process and engage with assigned reading and study material.
It gives students practice thinking and develops their critical skills.
It develops teaching/explaining skills in students by requiring them to clearly present their ideas to an
audience of peers.
It develops presentation and impromptu speaking skills.
It attunes students to the multiplicity of viewpoints and perspectives and trains them to modify and/or
reaffirm their own ideas with respect to them.
Small group discussion encourages collaborative thinking and cooperation as well as the ability to
consensus-build, summarize a group viewpoint and represent it publicly.
Small group discussion provides students with a less threatening testing ground for their ideas, furnishing
them with a "trail run."
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1.2 Discussion Leading Methods for Whole-Class Discussion
Problem-solving discussions (Cf. McKeachie (1999): 46-47)

Developmental, or problem-solving discussions center on a particular problem, the solution of which
constitutes the discussion objective. The class is divided into small discussion groups, with the groups
reconvening for a whole-class formulation of a solution built upon the contributions of all the groups.
Following are some tips as to how to facilitate this type of discussion:
Write the discussion problem on the board. Clearly posting the question will provide a concrete point of
reference for the students, decreasing the possibility that discussion will digress from the assigned topic.
In addition, the time that you need to record the question will give students a chance to start thinking
about it.
Assign the same part of the problem to all groups so that when the class comes back together to share
their conclusions, they have relevance to everyone. A common mistake is to assign different parts of a
problem to different groups, but when the students come back together, they aren't interested in one
another's comments because they aren't directly related to what they have just been thinking about. When
everyone has been working on the same issue, the whole-class discussion builds upon everyone's
contributions and maintains the interest of all participants.
Break the problem down. The most effective way to lead a problem-solving exercise is to tackle a
problem piece by piece, progressing from one stage of analysis to another. Subdividing a discussion
problem into its constituent components not only serves to illustrate the phases of effective analytic
thought, but also provides a more specific framework for discussion. Open a given discussion by tackling
the lead-in tasks as a whole-class exercise before creating breakout groups. Following is one example of
how a question might be broken down:
Define the problem: Often groups are ineffective because different participants have different ideas as to
what the problem is. At the end of small group discussion, group members feel frustrated by never having
gotten to the real problem. Coming to consensus as to the exact terms of inquiry will lay the foundation
for a successful discussion.
Determine relevant data. Have the students brainstorm as to what facts they have, discerning which are
important and perhaps having them rank them in terms of their relevance.
Identify the characteristics of an acceptable solution. Determine what types of questions a good solution
would address and resolve. Pinpoint the precise aim of the problem-solving exercise.
Evaluate presented solutions and alternatives. This evaluation would be the goal of the whole-class
discussion following the breakout group discussion period.
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Circular response technique (Brookfield (1995): 149-151)
Choose discussion theme.
Form class into a circle and ask for a volunteer (or assign this role to someone in advance) to start the
discussion by speaking for 2 minutes about the topic at hand.
The next person starts by paraphrasing their successor's comments and then addressing them in his/her
two-minute time slot.
This pattern continues all the way around the circle, after which, the floor is opened to general discussion.
Benefits:
Trains people in listening and reacting spontaneously to the contributions of others.
Encourages cumulative and collaborative insights
Assigning conversational roles (Brookfield (1995): 151-153)
Problem, Dilemma or Theme Poser. Frames topic and outlines thematic lines of discussion.
Reflective Analyst. Records the development of the discussion, intervening every 20 minutes to
recapitulate what has been said and to point out emerging themes/concerns.
Devil's Advocate. Challenges points of consensus as they emerge.
Detective. Listens for unacknowledged and unchallenged biases (cultural biases, variables of power and
class, unsupported assumptions, etc.).
Theme Spotter. Identifies themes that surfaced but weren't addressed, thereby forming a focus for ensuing
discussion sessions.
Umpire. Listens for comments that offend the ground rules agreed to by group members.
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Small group discussion in large lecture classes (Cf. John Bean Engaging Ideas , 2001:149 ff.) Discussion
leading can also take the form of small group discussion. Breaking large classes into small discussion
groups facilitates discussion in large lectures where whole-class discussion is impossible.
Small group discussion as pre-writing activity
Brainstorming opportunity
Discovering and rehearsing arguments
Critiquing rough drafts
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1.3 Discussion Management Techniques: Facilitating
Pre-class preparation. Quite often, a class in which you will want to incorporate discussion will not be
restricted merely to the processing of information but to your delivery of specific material. Determine
beforehand what points you want to address during a given class session, making a list of these goals to
which you can refer during class. Many instructors allocate time at the beginning of discussion sessions to
present material via mini-lectures and at the end of class to tie up loose ends or address themes or
information not touched upon in the course of the conversation.
Question development and presentation
Always write discussion questions on the board, show them on an overhead projector, or distribute them
in a handout.
Formulate questions that are neither too broad nor too specific.
Gradually make questions more specific as the class period progresses. Go from general to specific and
from easy to difficult.
Create a sense of urgency. Give the impression that arriving at a solution or coming to an understanding
of the question at hand is of crucial importance.
Try to make the questions relevant and interesting to students. If possible, try to contextualize problems in
terms with which students can more easily identify. For example, if you were comparing the philosophies
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of Kant and Hume, you could formulate a problem such as "You and your best friend are on the job
market in the same field and you see a listing for the ideal job. Imagine the advice you'd receive from
Kant and Hume respectively as to whether you should share this information with your friend."
The teacher as coach
Construct goal-oriented questions
Observe process
Document discussion on blackboard
Critique solutions
Suggest thinking strategies
Convey that the goal of discussion work is not to find the "right" answer but to formulate viable
responses, effectively communicate them to the class and productively consider their validity as a group.
Eliciting good responses from students
Devise non-threatening questions.
Try to keep in mind that participating in discussion can seem threatening and coercive to your students.
Do everything in your power to dispel this impression. Be a good and encouraging listener.
If there is a lull in response time, try to open up the dialogue by considering with the class some of the
wrong ways one could address the question.
Another way to deal with non-responsiveness is to have students write down their opinions on index
cards, which you then collect and shuffle, redistributing to the class. Students then read and comment
upon the opinion they have been given.
Try to convey to your students that when you ask a question, you are not looking for one specific
response.
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When you divide students into smaller discussion groups, make sure that they are responsible for
emerging from the discussion with a product. Possible assignments could include:
A thesis statement
A list of pros and cons
An idea map
An outline of an argument
A list of questions the group would like to see the teacher address
Procedures for calling on people and involving students One of the most fundamental skills associated
with successful discussion leading is the ability to incorporate everyone into the conversation. It is very
easy to turn students off by privileging the more assertive and/or more articulate students, giving the
impression of favoritism and thereby intimidating the timid or less self-assured.
In order to set the stage for everyone's equal participation, lay down the ground rules of democratic
discussion at the beginning of the semester. Invite your students to help you develop the list via collective
brainstorming so as to secure their endorsement of and commitment to these guidelines. Treat them as a
class contract.
Dispel gender and racial hierarchies.
Be careful not to compromise the quality of analysis for the sake of total democracy. Learn to safeguard
the discussion from digressive or unproductive contributions, constructively re-configuring such
contributions.
Building community. The best learning environments foster a sense of community and collaboration. This
of course holds doubly true for discussion-based classes. Following are some suggestions for creating an
atmosphere condusive to the productive exchange of ideas:
Make it clear to your students that the class belongs to them.
Encourage students to address each other with respect. Formulate discussion guidelines as a group at the
outset of the semester.
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Let your students know that there are no wrong answers. Become adept at re-channeling contributions
that don't speak to the isue at hand.
Incorporate aspects of your autobiography, such as your own learning experiences concerning the
material at hand. Admit your fallibility.
Ask for student autobiographies in order to open communication and create a relaxed, collegial
environment. The interpersonal dimension will also help you and the students with name recall.
Use names frequently.
Refer to discussions and student comments from past classes.
Bring in articles and cartoons that relate to the course.
Create an electronic discussion board to enable the students to continue discussions or pursue digressive
threads.
Packaging discussion. Because of its intangible nature, students can tend to consider class discussion as a
more marginal aspect of their coursework. They may not accord to it the same importance that they do to
lectures, assigned readings and other homework assignments. It is important to concretize class discussion
and make of it a product to which students can refer outside of class.
Blackboard management. The blackboard offers the best tool with which to chart the progress of class
discussion and rationalize its structure. Write down the main points of the discussion on the board. This is
especially effective if you organize discussion thematically in advance.
Posting the thematic lines of discussion on the board will help orient your students and help you in
keeping discussion on-topic.
Use the board to supplement student comments with your own input. In this way, you can supply
important information without disrupting the development of the students' inquiry.
The blackboard also offers an effective way to bracket off-topic remarks. You can record them in a
marginalized space on the board, which reassures your students that you've taken note of their comments
and will address them at another point in time.
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Make discussions product-oriented. When using breakout groups to explore a question, make groups
responsible for creating a product. They should always be required to "go public." Collect any materials
they produce to demonstrate their importance. Possible assignments could include:
A thesis statement
A list of pros and cons
An idea map
An outline of an argument
A list of questions the group would like to se the teacher address
Post-discussion follow-up. Emphasize the importance of class discussion vis-à-vis the overall course
goals by following it up with an assignment that requires students to supplement in writing an aspect of
discussion. This can be done by assigning short essays or response papers or by requiring that they
contribute to an electronic discussion board associated with your course web site.
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1.4 Discussion Management Techniques: Troubleshooting
Getting quiet students to participate
Decide how crucial it is that everyone participates, realizing that verbal engagement does not cater to
every learning style equally.
Recognize that categorically forcing all students to participate could be counterproductive.
Recognize that even if a student doesn't verbally participate, their active listening and wakeful
engagement could be seen as another form of participation.
Email discussion questions to the class ahead of time so that everyone has some lead-time to prepare
responses.
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Reaffirm shy students by referring to insights they might have offered in their written work.
"Circle of voices" technique: (Brookfield (1995): 152): Some instructors build in a period of "catch-up"
time in the discussion, wherein a quick "opinion poll" is taken to solicit the input of those students who
haven't yet spoken. An advantage of this strategy is that it can inculcate in students the ability to more
spontaneously offer their opinions. A possible negative is that it can be distracting for very shy students
who may dread this interval and/or concentrate on formulating a response instead of following class
discussion.
Preventing discussion monopolization
If there are certain students who tend to monopolize class discussion, take the individuals aside and
appeal to their vanity and enlist their help in integrating the less assertive members of the class. For
example, you might reinforce to a talkative student that while their contributions are excellent, they may
intimidate shyer students from participating. Ask them to channel their energies into soliciting
contributions from the quieter students.
Don't always call on the student who monopolizes discussion. Give others a chance to think and raise
their hands.
Keeping discussion on track
Record off-topic remarks in a marginal place on the blackboard (many instructors refer to this space as
the "parking lot") with the provisional promise to try to address them later in the class period.
If a theme seems to be of interest to a good number of students, agree to address it formally in the next
class session.
Suggest that the students pursue discussion of an off-topic theme within the context of the class
discussion board, if you've instituted one.
Offer to discuss the comment further with the student during your office hours.
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1.5 Sources
74
Bean, John C. Engaging Ideas: The Professor's Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and
Active Learning in the Classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1996.
Brookfield, Stephen D. Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers,
1995.
Professor Judith Gibber. Discussion-Leading Workshop,

Columbia University, November 12, 2002.
Professor Terri Gordon. Discussion-Leading Workshop,

Columbia University, November 12, 2002.
McKeachie, Wilbert J. Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research and Theory for College and University
Teachers. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1999.
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2. Group Work
Following are some techniques for incorporating group work into your classroom:
Think-pair-share. The instructor poses a question and gives students a minute to think of a response.
Students then turn to their partners and share responses. They integrate them and present response to the
group.
Three step interview. Used often to discuss and compare reactions to material. Students interview each
other in pairs and then share their findings with another pair, working in a 4-member learning group.
Numbered heads together. Members of 4-member learning groups count off 1-4. The instructor then
poses a question (usually factual but requiring critical skills) and the students arrive at an answer together,
making sure that all group members understand it and how it was arrived at. The instructor then calls a
specific number (1-4) and those team members with that number explain the discussion result as group
spokes person. This method insures that less class time is wasted on inappropriate responses to questions.
In addition, students benefit from the peer coaching in assimilating the concepts. Since no one knows who
will be called upon, each group member takes a more vested interest in participating and understanding.
Co-op cards. Students prepare flashcards in order to test one another on the material covering a given
lesson/topic.
Structured controversy. Students are assigned roles in order to argue a polemical topic: Pro / con / devil's
advocate, etc. Or, class is divided into pro and con. Groups meet to brainstorm on argument before
debate.
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Thinkers' cards and mini-presentations. Assign a section of the reading that contains an essential concept
to each student and ask that they prepare to speak for the author in explaining that section. Each student is
given an index card on which they are to summarize the author's major points in three or four sentences.
On the other side of the card, in one sentence, they discuss an issue or aspect of the question the author
didn't address. On this same side, the student formulated a thought-provoking question for the class.
Students present their summaries and question for about two minutes when class reconvenes.
Simplified explanations. Ask students to orient an explanation of a given concept to different groups of
people such as experts, people not likely to agree with perspective, or people unfamiliar with the field.
Brainstorming
Roundtable - Students in a learning team take turns writing down ideas revolving around a given topic,
stating them aloud as they write them. As the table circulates, more and more information is added until
various aspects of the topic are explored.
Concept maps - Groups arrange relevant ideas in a hierarchical fashion with the most inclusive concept at
the top and the more specific ones at the bottom. Students provide linking words between concepts to
demonstrate relationships. Concept maps allow instructors to assess student understanding and incite
group collaboration as concepts are proposed and evaluated.
Cluster maps - Nucleus words are presented and students brainstorm around them, recording related ideas
without ordering. Then the ideas are visually connected via arrows and circles. This visual exercise could
be followed up by a short essay, which would serve to further structure the material.
Question formulation - Have students come up with a list of several possible essay questions. Another
version of this would be to frequently wrap up class with groups creating a question that would best
address the day's material. These questions would go into a "test bank" and selected questions would
appear on tests.
Discussion launchers - Film clip - Related current event - Relevant quotation (Bartlett's quotations) -
Hypothetical situation - Startling fact or statistic
Sources
Edington, Susan and Hunt, Cathy. Consultation Process Sourcebook. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press,
1996.
GIVING PRESENTATIONS
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Developing effective presentation skills is crucial not only to your success as a Teaching Fellow but also
to your overall professional development. The skills involved in giving classroom presentations will be
the same skills you will call upon when giving conference presentations, job talks, guest lectures, status
reports, proposals and media interviews. Hone your skills with a view to their role in your overall career
objectives. Consider the process of presentation-development as "reflection in action," thinking of the
activity from a more global vantage point. What are you doing, how are you doing it, and why are you
doing it? Identify your objecives and teaching philosophy and create a presentation that is their natural
outgrowth. After you give a presentation, step back from it to evaluate its success and efficacy. Discern
problem areas, implement solutions and reevaluate the next time. By taking a more analytical approach to
your teaching, you will gain insights into your professional development and be actively engaged in
furthering that development.
Following are some tips on how to prepare for and optimize classroom performance:
Preparing Your Presentation
Know your audience. When planning a presentation, it is essential to understand the knowledge and
interest levels of the students to whom it will be directed. What do your students already know? Why are
they taking your class? What do they need and hope to get out of it? Orient your presentation to best serve
your target audiende. You can use a first-day-of-class survey and/or speak to others who have taught the
class before you to obtain this qualifying data.
Identify your communicative objectives. What are you seeking to accomplish in the presentation at hand?
Are you trying to communicate specific data, and if so, to what degree of detail? Are you trying to
develop and illustrate a conceptual model? Are you trying to present an overview of a specific topic?
Your specific objectives should determine the structure and style of your lecture.
Prepare your lecture. Your confidence in your presentation's organization and coherence is crucial to its
smooth delivery. The success of your presentation will be determined in large part by your advance
preparation. You should organize the presentation in its entirety before giving it. Leave no lacunae; you
never know when you may be afflicted with "stage fright" or lose your train of thought. If such a mind-
paralyzing moment does beset you, only solidly grounded notes can help you to overcome it. Be aware
that it can take many hours to prepare a new one-hour presentation, especially if you will be incorporating
handouts and/or audiovisual materials. Give yourself the necessary lead-time.
Orient your audience - Introductory comments. Begin preparing your presentation by developing a clear
and concise introductory outline of your talk. The careful articulation of an introduction will help both
you and your students. It will announce to your audience the points to be covered in your talk and thereby
orient their listening. The process of distilling your ideas into simplified statements will provide a de facto
outline for the rest of your talk and will contribute to its clarity from the outset.
Identify the learning objectives of the day's presentation. Define the skills and or knowledge that the
students should expect to leave with.
Establish your focus: Elucidate a conclusion. You might want to develop your concluding comments at
this initial stage as well. Having established the points you wish to cover in your introduction, you will at
the same time have articulated for yourself the goals towards which you will be demonstrating and
arguing. A clear itinerary will be in place to order the structure of your presentation.
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Develop the body of your presentation. The way in which you develop the body of your presentation will
be determined by the material you are presenting and by your personality. Some people may prefer to
write an entire lecture out, whereas for others a detailed outline of the presentation will suffice. If you go
the route of writing the whole talk out, you should extrapolate from that exhaustive elaboration an outline
of talking points. Don't bring the full text with you to the presentation lest you fall into the trap of reading
it, a seductive crutch for you but a stultifying monologue for your audience.
Prepare examples. You will need to determine whether your talk is to be theory-driven or example-driven.
For the most part, example-driven presentations tend to be the most effective and to be better retained by
students, especially at the introductory level. In developing examples, you want to develop a minimal
model that succinctly embodies the more abstract concept. For each point that you are seeking to
illustrate, develop several different examples so as to offer a variety of perspectives and to appeal to a
multiplicity of learning styles.
Incorporate interesting or amusing anecdotes when possible. Students often remember anecdotes more
than the main points of the lecture, so try to enliven your presentation withamusing or interesting stories
which will illustrate the key points of your presentation.
Explain things several times and in several different ways. Integrate a variety of presentation strategies
into the classroom so as to engage as many different learners as possible. While it is of course impossible
to address the specific learning styles of every student, enlarging the scope of one's pedagogical repertoire
goes a long way in absorbing more students into the learning process. What is more, the exposure to
diversified pedagogical approaches can also serve to enhance each individual student's learning by
offering new prisms of understanding.
Support your presentation with visual material when possible. Become comfortable using overhead
projectors and audio-visual equipment in imaginative ways.
Practice. Practice delivering your presentation as many times as is necessary in order to familiarize
yourself with its flow and to master its contents. This exercise should also help to bolster your confidence.
Advance practice will also allow you to ascertain whether the talk conforms to the time period allocated
for it. In addition, it will give you the chance to iron out any wrinkles that weren't apparent in the
preparation stage or in the written manuscript. As you get more experience, the extent of preparatory
rehearsal will lessen. However, in the beginning of your career as a presenter, having already gone
through the process of giving your talk will boost your confidence and facilitate a smoothly delivered
talk.
Prepare all materials in advance. Make sure to organize the preparation of any handout or audiovisual
materials well in advance of your preparation. Don't wait until an hour before your presentation to
photocopy handouts only to discover that every photocopying device on the premises is out of order.
Make sure all video equipment functions and that the tape you will use is in working order. Check the
sound quality of recordings. There is nothing like an last minute upset or in-class complication to derail a
presentation.
Classroom reconnaissance. A more practical aspect of preparing for your presentation is getting to know
the classroom space in which it is to be delivered. If you have never given a presentation in a particular
classroom, visit the room beforehand so that you get an idea as to its size, the space between you and your
audience, how far you may need to project your voice or, conversely, how intimate the setting will be, the
number and positioning of blackboards, and what audiovisual equipment is on site.
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Tips For Effective Delivery
The audience is on your side. Remember that your audience wants you to do well. No one wants to go to
a lecture or class to watch someone crash and burn. Keep this good will in mind and hang on to it. The
feeling of wanting to repay that good will with a smooth performance may help to counteract any
nervousness you might feel.
Clothing. Don't distract your audience by wearing anything more interesting than you are. Don't distract
yourself by wearing anything uncomfortable or fussy. Empty your pockets before presenting so that
nothing jingles as you move around the classroom or with nervous energy.
Stance. Ground yourself and stand firmly on your two feet. Try to avoid leaning and swaying. While
moving across the classroom can contribute to your presentation's vigor, anxious pacing can infuse you
delivery with distracting anxiety.
Eye contact. Look at your audience and establish eye contact with everyone in your audience. Do this as
naturally as possible, continually sweeping across the room.
Voice. Leverage the breadth of your vocal range to enliven your delivery. A monotone is impossible to
follow. Vary your tone, pitch and speed. Punctuate your sentences by emphasizing key phrases. Pause
from time to time. Pauses also provide a useful interim within which to recollect your thoughts. The five-
second lull that seems an eternity to you can offer an appreciated breather to your audience and allow
students to catch up on their note-taking.
Project. Speak so that your voice fills the whole room. Standing up and breathing slightly more deeply
will help your audibility.
Board techniques. Many disciplines require a lot of blackboard annotation. Make sure that you can
effectively exploit this tool, which provides an important supplement to your voice.
Arrange what you write on the board in clearly delineated panels. This visual organization will convey the
impression of an organized intellect.
Erase only when necessary, and when you do, be sure to erase whole panels at a time.
Echo what you are writing by reading it out loud. This practice will help to maintain the momentum of
your presentation, keep you audience engaged and ensure that what you are writing down is legible and
clear to your audience.
Interaction with students. Encouraging student participation throughout the course of your presentation
can be a good way to punctuate it and to keep students more actively engaged. If you welcome student
questions and comments, be aware that sometimes you may find yourself afflicted by "chalkboard
myopia." You are on the spot, you are focused on the matters covered by your lecture, and you are
suddenly confronted with a question for which you don't have a ready answer. Don't be afraid to defer the
question to your office hours. The simple acknowledgement of the question's interest and the invitation to
pursue it after class should be enough to smoothly extricate yourself from such a jam.
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Respect the clock. A cardinal rule of presentation-giving is to avoid overrunning class time. Try to
consistently end your presentation on time as a mark of respect towards your students and as a sign of
your control of the run of your talk.
RESPONDING TO STUDENT WRITING
Foundational philosophy
The teaching workshop on grading papers was led by Naomi Reed and Michelle Down, PhD candidates
from the English Department who teach sections of the core writing course "Logic and Rhetoric," and
who also coordinate the efforts of the other TF's teaching that course. They began the workshop by
explaining the general philosophy that informs their program's approach to assessing student writing. In
L&R courses, students are taught to construct inductive as opposed to deductive arguments. Instead of
following the standard high school model of paper writing, i.e. introduction - three paragraph
demonstration of introductory thesis - conclusion, students are taught to develop a logical argument
before postulating a thesis. Working inductively as opposed to deductively, they structure their arguments
by beginning with specifics and analytically evolving towards a logical conclusion. The evidence is
marshalled to form and support an argument and the introduction is written last. The thesis thus becomes
the result of the line of argument as opposed to its a priori arbiter. This compositional model emphasizes
clear logical progression and reflects a critical methodology one would hope to inculcate in the students.
Essential to this approach is the assumption that grammar and logic are inextricably bound up with one
another. Grammar mistakes, convoluted syntax, and other stylistic protuberances signal conceptual
problems in the writer's argument. These aberrations therefore serve as excellent signposts in guiding the
evaluation of student writing.
When annotating a student's work, it is important to recognize the respective value and uses of the two
main tools of writing critiques: margin comments and end comments. Margin notes offer a place to deal
with specific issues of grammar and syntax and to cursorily indicate lapses and leaps in argumentation.
End comments provide the forum within which to address the argument's structure as a whole and to
speak broadly to generalized error patterns. Following are some of the common problems one might
encounter when assessing student writing:
Hypothetical Case Study: The 4-paragraph exam essay
The Introductory Paragraph
The compulsion to position the subject in the scheme of history

Students will often seek to justify the relevance of their topic by evoking its enduring prestige within a
broader historical or cultural perspective. A student treating the subject of the fleetingness of human life
might, for example, introduce his or her argument with a statement such as "Since the age of the ancient
Greeks, man has been concerned with life's ephemeral nature." The instructor should point out that
critical arguments, if cohesive and compelling, are valid as such and don't need to be authorized in terms
of their place in the evolution of history. Ideas are legitimate objects of inquiry in and of themselves.
Sweeping contextualization is unnecessary.
The evocation of nonspecific subjects

Deter your students from using unspecific or global subjects like "we" or "man" or "the ancient Greeks."
Statements asserting what "we" as a society think or what the ancient Greeks believed are far too
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categorical to be proven. If the student consistently makes unsubstantiated global claims, the instructor
would want to address this tendency in the end comments.
The failure to define terms

Students often take the terms that will be central to their argument for granted, neglecting to succinctly
define them. A paper on the transience of life might blithely put the key word transient into play without
clearly delimiting its meaning with respect to the specifics of the argument at hand. Such an oversight
immediately sets the stage for a more generalized imprecision of argument, for it is in the definition of
key terms that the argument begins to clarify itself.
Generalization and repetitiveness

When key terms remain undefined, the lapse often points to the more universal problem of an inchoative
thesis. When the contours of the central line of argument are not fully formulated, the introductory
paragraph tends to be repetitive and to remain at the level of meaningless generalization. Without an
orienting thesis, the writing drifts around in the realm of platitude, usually recasting the same
commonplace via synonymic reformulations. Encourage students to bolster all of their assertions with
concise, specific examples.
The move to abstraction

Along the same lines, the language of introductory paragraphs often remains quite abstract. When
nebulous metaphor comes into play, it can betray that the essayist is having difficulties articulating a
concise thesis. He or she skirts this foundational deficiency by maintaining the discourse at an abstract
level. Instead of specifically defining the transience of life as a literary or philosophical concept, for
example, the writer waxes lyrical, deploying metaphoric language referring to the fleetingness of time, to
life's quintessence, etc. Such descriptions do nothing in the way of outlining an argument to be developed.
Fallacious logical chains

Beware of the grand assertions of causality with which introductory paragraphs often conclude. Make
sure that the terms comprising causal claims have been defined and that their interrelationship and
progression are logically sound. You will find that the terms that compose these causal chains are often
taken for granted. Consider, for example, the following statement: "When man is cautious, his pursuit of
glory falters. He may live longer, but he will accomplish less." The logic generating these assumptions is
far from patent. While there are traditions that conceive of caution as antithetical to the pursuit of glory,
that specificity needs to be explained. It is precisely the task of the introductory paragraph to formulate
and elucidate such binary oppositions.
Body Paragraphs
The body paragraphs develop the line of argument sketched out in the introduction. Each paragraph
should be dedicated to one definable building block of that argument. Taken together, the body
paragraphs should logically progress, cohering in the lucid demonstration of an overarching thesis.
Transitional language
It is crucial to stress logical transitions. The subject matter of each paragraph should have been topically
introduced in the essay's first paragraph. Each move to a new paragraph of course demarcates a shift in
focus, but that shift needs to be justified by the guiding structure of the overall argument. Links between
disparate conceptual realms need to be asserted.
Relevance
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As already emphasized, the discussion developed by each successive paragraph must have been cursorily
prepared for by the essay's introductory paragraph. If an idea has not been integrated into the thesis
statement, a paragraph cannot be allocated to it.
Evidence
Whereas the language of the introductory paragraph can speak more generally in its outline of the
argument to be developed, in the body of the argument, assertions should be backed up by solid
examples. In the body of the argument, there is no place for sweeping generalizations. Irrelevant detail
While concrete examples are essential, superfluous details such as dates that are irrelevant to the
argument at hand should be avoided. Each element that a writer included in his essay should
incrementally build upon his or her argument. If an observation or detail doesn't contribute to the
cumulative advancement and fleshing out of the thesis, it should be omitted.
Compare and contrast

Each successive body paragraph should consider the argument through a new prism, offering new
examples that build upon it. Encourage students to not only accumulate examples that attest to their
argument, but to also contrast those examples with each other so as to nuance the argument.
Leaps in argument
Be sure to highlight leaps in argument that do not logically evolve.
End comments
The end comments are the place wherein the instructor can make suggestions to the student as to how to
have better organized the paper, perhaps signaling a more effective thesis strategy. Quite often, a student
doesn't arrive at a good idea until the end of the paper. The instructor should be alert to belated ideas,
point them out to the student, and encourage him or her to redevelop the argument. The end comments
also provide the forum within which to address globalized patterns of error, grammatical and logical.
One effective strategy with which to organize end comments is to make two lists, one for the itemization
of the essay's strengths (this list should be first) and the other for its weaknesses. Under each list, bullet
key observations. Don't hesitate to reiterate comments made in the margin notes. Repetition can only
benefit the student.
The end comment section is the place wherein you are justifying the grade you will attribute to the paper.
Be just as thorough in your critique of an A paper as you would be of a C paper.
Remember that you are grading what is on the paper before you, not the students' intelligence or life.
Time constraints and extenuating circumstances should have no bearing on your assessment of the work
presented to you. The paper must speak for itself. If you remain clear about this distinction, you will
convey it to the student.
Grading Criteria
The Grading Criteria sheet furnishes a general outline of standards to help guide an instructor in his or her
attribution of a final grade. The principle quality that distinguishes an A paper from a B paper is the
clarity and originality of its thought. The A paper should be grammatically clean and stylistically elegant,
with varied syntax and a harmonious flow of argument. It should offer succinct and effective evidence for
all of the statements that it puts forward. But above all, it should display a critical engagement with the
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material under consideration. The perfectly crafted paper that parrots an instructor's lecture or information
garnered from secondary sources would, besides flirting with plagiarism, fall into the B grade range.
Another type of
B paper would be one that evinces an argument and that displays grammatical and syntactic command,
but that doesn't succeed in bringing the idea to full fruition via a concise and logically structured
argument and clear substantiating examples. The C paper offers no argument and does not progress
logically from one idea to the next. Repetition and leaps in logic abound. The C paper takes refuge in
cliché. Grammatically, the C paper contains large sentence-level errors. A D grade
is reserved for the realm of an attitude problem on the part of the writer. This grade would be appropriate
for a paper with particularly egregious grammar/logical problems or whose tone was deliberately hostile
and belligerent, expressing, for example, racist or sexist attitudes.
GRADING CRITERIA
An "A" Paper
Clear argument
Logical and coherent throughout
Good use of evidence
Variety of sentence structure
Original thought
Grammatically clean
A "B" Paper
Paper has an argument

Leaps in logic
Fair use of evidence, though at times evidence is missing or used ineffectively
Digressions
No major grammar errors
Some glimmers of thought
A "C" Paper
No clear argument and no clear development of ideas

Large, sentence level errors
Repeated leaps in logic Repetitive
Poor use of evidence
Takes refuge in cliched ideas
A "D" Paper
A modicum of effort
So flawed by poor grammar and logic that it is incompetent
Otherwise exhibits a bad attitude, e.g., expresses racist or sexist views
An "F" Paper
Minimal effort
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Flawed grammar and logic, e.g., misinterprets the assignment or contains half as many pages as assigned
While it is impossible to avoid difficulties with students entirely, many problems can be circumvented or
at least attenuated if you clearly outline your expectations and evaluative criteria at the beginning of every
course you teach. Spelling out these details at the outset will protect you and your students from future
misunderstandings and will leave you less vulnerable to the demands or complaints of disgruntled
students.
An Ounce of Prevention …
Clearly state your expectations concerning class attendance, participation, and the timely completion of
assignments at the course's very outset. Hand out a document that outlines these criteria.
Try to communicate your biases so that your students know what type of work you expect. Explain your
own critical methodology and interests to give them an idea as to what approaches you prefer.
Be an ally, not an adversary. Show students that you care and are committed to fostering learning.
Cultivating a positive classroom dynamic will be critical to your success as an educator.
Be accessible. Announce your office hours and email address. Make it clear that you welcome your
student's questions and input.
Develop a rapport with your students. If feasible, arrange to meet with each of students during your office
hours during the early weeks of the semester. This policy goes a long way in establishing a rapport with
your students from the outset, which in turn promotes a positive classroom dynamic.
Be warm and supportive in encouraging your students' participation in class.
Carefully frame the way you correct student input in class so as not to put embarrass them or put them on
the defensive. Point out mistakes in a positive and constructive manner that is not discouraging. Help
students recognize for themselves flaws in their argument or response. It is part of your job to teach
students to contribute constructively to discussions.
Be fair and ethical. Students talk to each other and compare notes.
Be consistent in your attitude towards students. Students are often confused by and alienated from a
teacher who alternatively acts as a friend or peer, then as a stern authority figure.
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Intervene early when a problem arises, documenting and saving copies of all your efforts to reach out to a
given student.
Make sure that your attitude in class serves as a model of how you expect your students to behave and
participate in your class.
Grading
Making your grading policies and expectations as transparent as possible will help you to steer clear of
many problems, but this proactive approach will not totally preclude difficulties. What follows is a list of
the most common student situations that arise, accompanied by several possible solutions.
Student doesn't hand in assignments or turns them in late
Unambiguously state your policy on how late or missing assignments will be handled in the syllabus that
you distribute on the first day of class.
Speak to student in private to determine the cause of their failure to complete the assignments in an
appropriate manner.
Make the student aware that their reluctance to fulfill the course requirements will negatively impact their
grade. Remind the student that ultimately they are in control of their coursework.
Document the interaction that you have with your student concerning the missed assignment(s).
Communicate by email or follow up an in-person discussion with an email reiterating the pertinent
aspects of the conversation.
Student misses an exam or quiz
Discuss how you'll handle missed exams and quizzes at the beginning of the semester. What will be your
policy on making up missed exams?
Stick to your policy so as to maintain total fairness with all students.
Student argues about a grade
Make your grading criteria clear from the outset of the course.
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Use a grading/point system that is clear and straightforward so that it is easily defendable and easy for
your students to understand.
Furnish students with the criteria necessary for success so that they know how to meet your expectations.
If possible, hand out guidelines for a good essay or examples of a superior exam answer.
When you grade, give detailed explanations of why you found a given point weak or strong and offer
suggestions as to how the work might be improved.
Give the students ideas about how to study or organize their ideas more effectively.
Although it is a time-consuming process, you may want to offer your students the option of handing in an
initial draft of their work that you will comment on but not grade. If you assign more than one paper
during a semester, you could offer this option for the first assignment.
Ask the student to explain to you in specific terms why his or her work deserved a better grade.
You might consider instituting a formal re-grade policy whose details you spell out in your syllabus. If
you don't want to open the door to the possibility of re-grades by posting the policy on your syllabus, at
least formulate a policy for yourself in advance of having to implement it.
If you agree to re-evaluate student work, make it clear that you retain the right to adjust the grade either
up or down. Warn the student that you may find mistakes or problems that you hadn't noticed the first
time around, which could adversely affect their grade.
If you are a TA, advise students that in the case of an unresolved difference of opinion, the professor will
make the final decision, if this is the policy in place.
Although "grade grubbers" are a nuisance, remember that they are of a generation of students dealing
with fierce competition in their pursuit of post-university goals.
Always keep an open mind to the possibility that you may have made a mistake in evaluating student
work and that re-evaluation might indeed be in order.
Student who offers to do extra credit to recoup grade
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List all of the assignments that will accrue towards the final grade on your first-day syllabus, making it
clear that supplemental work will not be factored into the grade.
Remind the student that the concept of "extra credit" has currency in the arena of secondary education but
is no longer operative at the university level.
Classroom behaviors
The student who is always late
Speak to the student in private and ask that he/she make a better effort to arrive on time.
If the student constantly experiences traffic problems or the like, ask that he/she enter the classroom as
unobtrusively as possible and get the student's commitment to recuperate missed material from a
classmate.
Always start class on time. Don't wait for latecomers.
Give quizzes at the beginning of class.
Address the class as a whole, insisting on the importance of punctuality as a mark of respect not only
towards the instructor and course material but also towards the other students in the class. Emphasize that
you respect your students and that such respect should be reciprocal.
Excessive absences
Make sure that you state your policy on attendance in your syllabus, indicating whether a certain number
of absences will result in the lowering of a grade.
Contact the student individually to find out what the circumstances of their absence are.
Warn the student that their grade will probably suffer as a result of their chronic absences.
If attendance is not required and the student is doing well, you may be better off not addressing the issue
with that student.
Student is chronically hostile or disruptive

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Contact the student to discuss the problem. Document and keep records of all of your attempts to address
the issue.
Ask for, listen to, and try to understand the student's perspective.
Sometimes disruptive behavior reflects a desperate need for attention. By listening to your student, you
might be able to help him or her through a difficult period of their lives while at the same time diffusing
the negative situation.
One-on-one communication often works to diminish or to dispel entirely a student's hostile attitude. You
may often discover that the attitude has nothing to do with you or your class and that the student is not
even aware that they seem hostile. Calling attention to the behavior may incite the student to be more
attentive to the impression that they are giving. The contact may also help you to build a rapport with the
student, who may become more productively engaged with your class as a result.
If the student has a specific problem, ask them to suggest possible solutions. Try to think of ways that you
could help, within the limits of your role as an instructor.
Explore the possible solutions with your student and decide together upon the best course of action.
Frame your comments on the student's behavior in terms of "stress" so as to keep them from feeling
judged or attacked. Stress provides a neutral and safe context within which to discuss disruptive behavior
and attitudes.
If the problem persists, talk to other faculty members who have had the student in their classes. You'll
often find that the student is hostile in all of their classes and your colleagues may be able to offer some
insights into the student's behavior and/or effective strategies for dealing with the individual.
Talk to a dean or to someone at Columbia Psychological Services to get further input and support.
The argumentative student
If a student won't accept that you disagree with their point of view or with an argument that they've made
in class, support your position by relying on the course materials, to which you both have access.
If the student continues to argue the point, suggest that he/she continue the discussion during your office
hours.
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Remain calm and nonjudgmental. Do not take the student's insistence or vehemence personally.
Listen to and try to understand the student's perspective.
Don't assert your authority as the professor. Avoid introducing your statements with "I." Keep the
discussion impersonal and allow the student the dignity of their right to express and defend an opinion.
If a student is stubborn and refuses to postpone a disagreement until after class or office hours and
completely disrupts a class, remain calm. If the student is agitated to the point of being unreasonable, ask
them to carry the grievance to a higher authority (e.g., the department head or dean). Make apparent your
willingness to discuss the issue calmly, but do not continue trying to reason with a student who is highly
agitated. If you remain calm in the presence of the group, the student may soon become cooperative
again.
In an extreme case, you may have to ask the student to leave the classroom, or even dismiss the class. Try
to respond as calmly as possible. Avoid making an issue out of a small incident. The hardest part of such
a situation is to maintain your professionalism, and not to respond as if you feel personally attacked.
Unreasonable demands for help
If a student places excessive demands on your time, make yourself less available. Do not make special
arrangements to meet the student outside of the time frame of your office hours. Don't allow the student to
monopolize your time for hours on end.
Refer the student to the appropriate tutoring facilities.
Often the student that seeks you out on a frequent basis wants more from you than instruction. Do not
allow yourself to get drawn into the details of a student's life when that student is relying too heavily on
you as a counselor or soul mate. Diplomatically refer him/her to Columbia Psychological Services, where
he/she can find a professionally trained ear.
Excessive questions or monopolizing of discussion sessions
If a student is diverting too much class time to their particular questions, answer briefly and ask that the
student meet you after class or during your office hours to receive a more developed response.
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Thank a student who dominates the conversation for their contributions and indicate that you'd also like to
hear from others in the classroom. If you have a friendly rapport with the student, you could jokingly say
"Someone else besides Marissa?" to get your point across to the individual and to the rest of the class. The
other students will probably be relieved to see that you want to hear from others.
When you pose a question to the class, don't call on the student who always raises their hand first. Allow
the other students the time to formulate their answers.
If one or a few students dominate class discussion because they think faster on their feet, try to anticipate
the questions you'll be asking during the following class session so that the less spontaneous students can
think about and write down their contributions in advance of class.
Email discussion questions to everyone before class.
ENCOURAGING CRITICAL THINKING
Why emphasize the development of critical skills?
As Davis Royce points out in his teaching manual Teaching Tips for College and University Instructors
(2001), we live in an age where information and the state of knowledge are evolving at an increasingly
rapid pace. Thus teaching agendas based on the simple task of transmitting factual knowledge to students
do not serve the best interests of the students, who need rather to develop techniques to understand, assess
and accomodate the continual flow of new data to their knowledge base. It is in light of this new learning
model that problem solving, case studies and discussion leading have become the more privileged
pedagogical strategies of late.
Assignment development with Bloom's Cognitive Taxonomy
As much as possible, each and every assignment that you impose on your students should be formulated
with a view to their enrichment. Assignments should be instructive, stimulating your students' curiosity,
adding to their knowledge and developing their skill set. There are few things more alienating for students
than work that is perceived as mindless and unstimulating. Before giving an assignment, justify it to your
students, explaining the goals you had in mind when developing it and the expectations that you have for
its successful accomplishment.
A useful guide for defining learning outcome goals is Benjamin Bloom's Cognitive Taxonomy (1956),
which articulates the various skills and aptitudes that academic assignments typically tap into. Following
is a synoptic recap of the basic categories tht Bloom defines. As their order represents a progression from
simple to more complex tasks, it would be the goal of the instructor to stimulate the higher order
cognitive processes:
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Knowledge: Remembering factual materials Students must memorize and recall. Sample verbs that might
appear in an assignment oriented to testing knowledge would be: describe, list, name, cite, recall, state,
identify.
Comprehension: Grasping the meaning of materials Students would be expected to interpret, describe,
explain, extrapolate, arrange, sort and classify.
Application: Problem solving Students are expected to apply facts, rules and principles. Sample verbs that
would appear in an assignment geared toward student application of concepts would be: apply, illustrate,
solve, demonstrate, use.
Analysis: Understanding the structure amd components of knowledge Students are expected to break
down knowledge to show the relationship of the parts. Compare and contrast assignments and exercises in
critical appraisal would speak to this skill.
Synthesis: Creating a unique and original product; combining ideas to form a new whole Students are
expected to bring together disparate parts and components of knowledge to create a new perspective.
Evaluation: Making value decisions about issues; weighing in on controversies Students appraise
knowledge. Assignements would ask them to appraise, argue, assess, attack, compare, predict, support,
defend, recommend.
Source:
Bloom, Benjamin S. 1956 (1984 copyright renewed). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Handbook 1:
Cognitive Domain. Longman, White Plains, NY.
Critical Thinking for College and University Professors
As educators become more dedicated to teaching to all of the different learning styles that can converge in
a given classroom, the research exploring these styles is constantly expanding upon and refining the
categorization of the various modes of cognitive reception. Following are descriptions of the four most
widely recognized categories of learners, VISUAL LEARNERS, AUDITORY LEARNERS, TACTILE
LEARNERS, and KINESTHETIC LEARNERS, followed by a more detailed breakdown of learning
styles known as “multiple intelligence.” It is important to remember that no one uses one learning style
exclusively. While each individual favors a given cognitive tendency, there is usually significant overlap
in learning methods.
Visual Learners
These learners learn best when information is presented visually. It is as if information doesn't exost
unless it has been seen in written form.
If the visual learner favors verbal learning, he or she will relate most effectively to material in written
language format.
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If the visual learner favors nonverbal stimuli, he or she will relate most effectively to material presented
in picture or design format.
These learners need to see the teacher’s body language and facial expressions to understand the content of
a lesson. They tend to prefer sitting at the front of the classroom to avoid visual obstructions, such as
people’s heads.
They benefit from an instructor’s use of the blackboard or of an overhead projector to display the outline
of a lecture’s essential points.
They may think in pictures and benefit from visual displays such as:
Blackboard notes
Handouts
Outlines
Diagrams
Overhead Transparencies
Charts
Graphs
Tables
Maps
Photographs
Illustrated books
Videos
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During a lecture or classroom discussion, visual learners prefer to take detailed notes to absorb
information, even if they already have a written copy of the presentation.
These learners tend to like to study by themselves in a quiet room.
They usually do not gravitate to group study.
They see information in their “mind’s eye” when they try to remember something.
They often have an artistic side that enjoys activities having to do with visual art and design.
Visual learners will tend to be most effective in written communication and symbol manipulation.
Visual learners make up about 65% of the population.
Effective learning strategies for visual learners:
The use of color to highlight important points in a text
Making lists and categorizing information
The illustration of ideas in brainstorming bubbles
The exploitation of multimedia (e.g. computers, videos and filmstrips)
Reading books embellished with illustrative materials such as tables, graphs, pictures, photos, charts,
maps, etc.
Visualizing information as a picture to aid memorization
AUDITORY LEARNERS
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These learners learn best through verbal lectures, discussions, talking things through and listening to what
others have to say.
Auditory learners interpret the underlying meanings of speech through listening to tone of voice, pitch,
speed and other nuances.
These learners benefit from group discussion because they learn most effectively from listening/speaking
exchange.
These learners benefit from audio materials such as:
Speeches
Interviews
Videos
Music
They have a memory for the spoken word and so remember things in their mind’s “ear” as they heard
them.
They respond less to written notes and more to the memory of how they heard information and/or
repeated it aloud.
Written form may have little meaning until it is heard. These learners often benefit from reading text
aloud and using a tape recorder.
These learners often gravitate towards study groups and collaborative learning situations.
Auditory learners may be sophisticated speakers that may tend to specialize in subjects like law or
politics.
Auditory learners make up about 30% of the population.
Effective learning strategies for auditory learners:

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Participation in class discussions/debates
Making speeches and presentations
Participation in brainstorming activities
Using a taperecorder during lectures instead of taking notes
Reading text aloud
Explaining ideas and concepts to others; peer coaching
Discussin ideas and concepts in study groups
Creating musical jingles to aid memorization
Using verbal analogies and storytelling to demonstrate points
KINESTHETIC/TACTILE LEARNERS
These learners learn best through a hands-on approach, actively exploring the physical world around
them.
The kinesthetic learner will learn most effectively when the learning process actively engages the body.
The tactile learner will learn most effectively when the learning process activates the sense of touch.
These learners assimilate skills through imitation and practice.
They benefit from a lab situation where they can manipulate materials to learn new information.
Kinesthetic learners learn best through performance-oriented activities, such as role-playing, charades,
skits, and games, and pantomime.
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They may find it hard to sit still for long periods and may become distracted by a need for activity and
exploration.
They benefit from instructors who encourage in-class demonstrations, experiments, and fieldwork outside
the classroom.
Kinesthetic learners make up about 5% of the population.
Effective learning strategies for kinesthetic/tactile learners
Frequent study breaks to briefly move around
Drawing or doodling while taking notes in class as a mnemonic aid
The incorporation of movement into the act of studying (e.g. reading while on an exercise bike, molding a
piece of clay while learning a new concept, tossing a ball in the air while memorizing).
Working in a standing position
Chewing gum while studying
The activity of highlighting while reading, using bright colors
Decorating work space with visual stimuli such as posters
Listening to music while studying
Skimming through reading material to get a rough idea as to what it is about before settling down to read
it in detail.
SYLLABUS DEVELOPMENT
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Effective syllabus development is a crucial first step in successfully teaching your course. Not only will
the process clarify for you your course objectives and force you to rationalize the progression of your
treatment of the material, it will also force you to consider in advance your course policies. Establishing
these policies for yourself in advance of encountering problems will enable you to more confidently deal
students when they don't adhere to your course stipulations. Moreover, the syllabus that you distribute to
your students on the first day of class will constitute the first material evidence of your commitment to
their learning experience. Presenting your students with a well conceived syllabus from day one will
immediately demonstrate your professionalism, organization and authoritative grasp of the course's
overall goals and objectives.
The syllabus is a kind of contract between you and your students that stipulates not only what you expect
of them, but what they can expect from you and the course. Once reviewed together on the first day of
class, it can be considered a binding agreement, barring any objections the students may voice on the first
day and resultant accommodations on your part. The more specific and detailed you make your syllabus,
the fewer the misunderstandings and difficulties you will encounter later on in the semester. You will
always have this document to refer back to should problems of incomplete assignments, absences or
grading criteria come up.
What to include
As the syllabus will serve as a reference for both you and your students, you will want to include as much
pertinent information as possible:
All of your bureaucratic information: your name, office location, office hours, office phone number and
email address.
A course description that communicates your overall objectives for the semester. These objectives could
include the learning outcomes you expect.
A list of all required texts and where to purchase them.
A list of any readings you may have placed on reserve, complete with call numbers.
A supplementary bibliography if desired (this could be added on a separate page of the syllabus).
All deadlines for papers and exams.
Stipulations concerning length and formatting for writing assignments. Specify if how many pages or
words you expect, if it needs to be typed and whether you prefer single- or double-spacing. For research
papers, you may also want to specify the minimum number of references should be incorporated.
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A breakdown by percentages of how the assignments and classwork will be weighted when you calculate
the final grade.
Your grading scale.
Your policy on lateness and attendance: How many unexcused absences will be allowed and how will
exceeding this number affect the final grade? How will lateness be counted?
Your policy on class participation and your definition of what constitutes active participation.
Your policy on late or missed assignments.
Your policy on missed quizzes and exams.
Your policies on breaking laboratory safety rules.
A request that students with disabilities or special needs supply you with the necessary documentation
and requests for accomodation within the first week of class.
A statement of the university's policy on plagiarism: You must go over this in detail with your students.
Once you have, they can be held responsible for any violoations.
Articulating learning objectives
When setting out to prepare a syllabus, you need to first determine your priorities both in terms of the
content to be covered and in terms of the learning outcomes you seek for your students. Begin by asking
yourself with what skills and knowledge you want your students to leave your class, write them down,
and let these criteria guide your subsequent decisions regarding the material you wish to cover, in what
depth you will cover each curricular aspect and the types of assignments you will develop. You may even
wish to include a statement of your objectives in the syllabus, which will serve to inform your students'
learning strategies.
Departing from the syllabus
Make your best possible effort not to depart too radically from the syllabus. Setbacks inevitably crop up,
but try your best to adjust quickly without rupturing the semestral flow you worked so hard to flesh out.
It is almost always a bad idea to spontaneously add assignments to the syllabus. If you come up with a
good idea, be patient and incorporate it into the next semester's program.
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Conversely, removing assignments never seems to meet with too much student resistence. If you plan to
eliminate an assignment, be sure that you do so well before students have begun to invest time in
preparing for it.
If you didn't adequately speak to problems with attendence or late homework submissions in your
syllabus, don't suddenly institute new policies halfway through the semester. Learn from the mistake and
craft a better syllabus next time.
Sources:
Curzan, Anne and Demour, Lisa. First Day to Final Grade: A Graduate Student's Guide to Teaching.
Anne Arbor: University of Michigan Press: 2000.
Royce, David. Teaching Tips for College and University Instructors. A Practical Guide. Boston, Allyn
and Bacon, 2001.
ENGLISH
How can I improve my English?

A question that is frequently asked by international students who expect to teach is "How can I improve
my English?" This is of special concern to students, who find that the English they have acquired abroad
in pursuit of a high TOEFL score allows them to read English quite well but is of little use when they
need to negotiate housing, navigate the university registration process, do a bank transaction, or
understand the endless questions newcomers generally face. It is of even greater concern to graduate
students when they must communicate with their advisors and teach.
Columbia University provides help to in-coming graduate students in the form of courses available
through the American Language Program. During the Fall registration period, in-coming international
graduate students who are expected to teach are asked to take the EPT (or English Placement Test), a test
that is similar to the written TOEFL test, and the SPEAK Test, a test of spoken English. The EPT results
give the administrators at the American Language Program a way of comparing each student's English
proficiency to that of other Columbia students. Students who do not get a sufficiently high score on the
SPEAK test are asked to enroll in the two semester International Teaching Assistants Training Course
given by the American Language Program. This course emphasizes oral skills in English, especially
pronunciation, as well as teaching skills.
Students who are not asked to enroll in the ITA Training Course can nonetheless take advantage of some
of the classes offered at the ALP. Graduate students who are interested in doing so should speak to one of
the coordinators of the ALP: John Een or Leila May Landy. With the help of the EPT and SPEAK test
scores, the coordinators can suggest the best formal classes for students to take, as well as offer
suggestions on appropriate materials for students to use on their own in the lab. Such materials could
include pronunciation tapes, grammar practice materials, listening materials, etc. In addition, The
American Language Program offers a "Language Exchange Program" in which native speakers of a
99
language are matched with American students who are trying to learn that language. The idea is that one
hour of conversation in English is exchanged for an hour of the other language.
Besides taking advantage of the professional advice and English classes offered for international students
at the ALP, students who would like to improve their English can do a number of things on their own.
One's language skills improve the more one uses them; it is therefore essential that students wanting to
improve their English take advantage of every possible social opportunity on campus to speak in English.
Joining a club, participating in pick-up basketball or soccer games, taking a fitness class in the gym,
attending department parties, engaging in small talk with classmates, all of these are opportunities to
improve one's language skills. International House (500 Riverside Drive) is a great neighborhood place
for students to meet English speakers or students with whom English is a shared language. International
House offers a number of social activities, parties, and excursions, all of which provide chances to meet
other speakers of English. Riverside Church, at 120th and Riverside, has a free conversation program:
volunteers at the church who are interested in meeting international students donate their time to converse
with one student one hour a week.
100

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TEACHING MANUAL – Columbia University, NY, USA.

Processing of Teaching Fellowships

2.1 Reading and Grading

• Working with Faculty

2.2 Assisting in Teaching

• Working with Faculty

• Working with Faculty

2.4 Leading Laboratory Sections

2.5 Leading Recitation Sections

• Working with Faculty

2.6 Teaching Your Own Class

• Working with Faculty

3. Working with Faculty

Before the Semester

4.1 Developing Your Teaching Style

Command of Course Content

• Have a solid command of your field.

• Be energetic and dynamic.

• Stimulate and guide interaction in your class.

4.2 Fostering a Positive Classroom Environment

Davis, B.G. Tools for Teaching. Jossey-Bass, 1993.

4.3 Establishing Good Student-Teacher Relationships

Davis, B.G. Tools for Teaching. Jossey-Bass, 1993.

• Be enthusiastic about your subject.

Davis, B.G. Tools for Teaching. Jossey-Bass, 1993.

Recognizing and Overcoming Stereotypes and Biases

Davis, B.G. Tools for Teaching. Jossey-Bass, 1993.

4.6 Holding Office Hours

Making Effective Use of Office Hours

Davis, B.G. Tools for Teaching. Jossey-Bass, 1993.

5. Working with Students: Mentoring

5.1 Advising Students

5.2 Counseling Students

GSAS Workshop, Spring 1999, with Ask Alice! and CPS

5.3 Writing Letters of Recommendation

• Review your old grade books or records.

GSAS Workshop, Spring 1999, with Ask Alice! and CPS

5.4 Problems with Students and Conflict Resolution

Hocker, J. "Teacher-Student Confrontations." In J.M. Civikly (ed.), Communicating in College

6.1 Preparing Your Course and Syllabus

Planning and Preparation

Davis, B.G. Tools for Teaching. Jossey-Bass, 1993.

McKeachie, W.J. Teaching Tips. Houghton Mifflin, 1999.

6.2 Preparing Assignments and Tests

Davis, B.G. Tools for Teaching. Jossey-Bass, 1993.

McKeachie, W.J. Teaching Tips. Houghton Mifflin, 1999.

7. Developing Specific Teaching Skills: Performance

7.1 The First Day of Class

Davis, B.G. Tools for Teaching. Jossey-Bass, 1993.

7.2 Preparing and Holding Class

W.J. McKeachie. Teaching Tips. D.C. Heath and Company, 1969.

7.3 Asking and Answering Questions

• Consider possible student answers when you frame your questions.

Davis, B.G. Tools for Teaching. Jossey-Bass, 1993.

McKeachie, W.J. Teaching Tips. D.C. Heath and Company, 1999.

7.4 Presenting and Lecturing

• Emphasize course objectives.

Brown, G. "Lecturing and Explaining. New York, 1978.

McKeachie, W.J. Teaching Tips. D.C. Heath and Company, 1999.

7.5 Leading Discussion

Davis, B.G. Tools for Teaching. Jossey-Bass, 1993.

7.6 Leading Laboratory

Preparing to Lead a Laboratory Section