The Chicago Guide to College Science Teaching


Book Description

Higher education is a strange beast. Teaching is a critical skill for scientists in academia, yet one that is barely touched upon in their professional training—despite being a substantial part of their career. This book is a practical guide for anyone teaching STEM-related academic disciplines at the college level, from graduate students teaching lab sections and newly appointed faculty to well-seasoned professors in want of fresh ideas. Terry McGlynn’s straightforward, no-nonsense approach avoids off-putting pedagogical jargon and enables instructors to become true ambassadors for science. For years, McGlynn has been addressing the need for practical and accessible advice for college science teachers through his popular blog Small Pond Science. Now he has gathered this advice as an easy read—one that can be ingested and put to use on short deadline. Readers will learn about topics ranging from creating a syllabus and developing grading rubrics to mastering online teaching and ensuring safety during lab and fieldwork. The book also offers advice on cultivating productive relationships with students, teaching assistants, and colleagues.




The Professor Is In


Book Description

The definitive career guide for grad students, adjuncts, post-docs and anyone else eager to get tenure or turn their Ph.D. into their ideal job Each year tens of thousands of students will, after years of hard work and enormous amounts of money, earn their Ph.D. And each year only a small percentage of them will land a job that justifies and rewards their investment. For every comfortably tenured professor or well-paid former academic, there are countless underpaid and overworked adjuncts, and many more who simply give up in frustration. Those who do make it share an important asset that separates them from the pack: they have a plan. They understand exactly what they need to do to set themselves up for success. They know what really moves the needle in academic job searches, how to avoid the all-too-common mistakes that sink so many of their peers, and how to decide when to point their Ph.D. toward other, non-academic options. Karen Kelsky has made it her mission to help readers join the select few who get the most out of their Ph.D. As a former tenured professor and department head who oversaw numerous academic job searches, she knows from experience exactly what gets an academic applicant a job. And as the creator of the popular and widely respected advice site The Professor is In, she has helped countless Ph.D.’s turn themselves into stronger applicants and land their dream careers. Now, for the first time ever, Karen has poured all her best advice into a single handy guide that addresses the most important issues facing any Ph.D., including: -When, where, and what to publish -Writing a foolproof grant application -Cultivating references and crafting the perfect CV -Acing the job talk and campus interview -Avoiding the adjunct trap -Making the leap to nonacademic work, when the time is right The Professor Is In addresses all of these issues, and many more.




A Student's Guide to Academic and Professional Writing in Education


Book Description

This concise handbook helps educators write for the rhetorical situations they will face as students of education, and as preservice and practicing teachers. It provides clear and helpful advice for responding to the varying contexts, audiences, and purposes that arise in four written categories in education: classroom, research, credential, and stakeholder writing. The book moves from academic to professional writing and chapters include a discussion of relevant genres, mentor texts with salient features identified, visual aids, and exercises that ask students to apply their understanding of the concepts. Readers learn about the scholarly and qualitative research processes prevalent in the field of education and are encouraged to use writing to facilitate change that improves teaching and learning conditions. Book Features: · Presents a rhetorical approach to writing in education. · Includes detailed student samples for each of the four major categories of writing. · Articulates writing as a core intellectual responsibility of teachers. · Details the library and qualitative research process using examples from education. · Includes many user-friendly features, such as reflection questions and writing prompts.




The College Instructor's Guide to Teaching and Academia


Book Description

To find more information about Rowman and Littlefield titles, please visit www.rowmanlittlefield.com.




The Essential College Professor


Book Description

The Essential College Professor is about the "how" and "why" of being a faculty member today. Based on the author's series of highly successful faculty development workshops, each chapter deals concisely with the most important information college professors need at their fingertips when confronted by a particular challenge or faced with an exciting opportunity. Written both as a comprehensive guide to an academic career and as a ready reference to be consulted whenever needed, The Essential College Professor emphasizes proven solutions over untested theories and stresses what faculty members have to know now in order to be successful in their careers. Each chapter is concluded by a short exercise that faculty members can perform to help them, for instance, completely revise a course by restructuring the syllabus and course materials, bring new life to a research project by reframing it as a book proposal or grant application, and so on.




How to Succeed in College (While Really Trying)


Book Description

After years of preparation and anticipation, many students arrive at college without any real knowledge of the ins and outs of college life. They’ve been focused on finding the right school and have been carefully guided through the nuances of the admissions process, but too often they have little knowledge about how college will be different from high school or what will be expected of them during that crucial first year and beyond. Written by an award-winning teacher, How to Succeed in College (While Really Trying) provides much-needed help to students, offering practical tips and specific study strategies that will equip them to excel in their new environment. Drawing on years of experience teaching at a variety of campuses, from large research universities to small liberal arts colleges, Jon B. Gould gives readers the lay of the land and demystifies the college experience. In the course of the book, students will learn how to identify the best instructors, how to choose classes and settle on a major, how to develop effective strategies for reading and note taking, and how to write good papers and successfully complete exams. Because much of the college experience takes place outside of the classroom, Gould also advises students on how to effectively manage their cocurricular activities, work obligations, and free time, as well as how to take advantage of the typically untapped resources on every campus. With candid advice and insights from a seasoned insider, this guide will leave students better prepared not only to succeed in college but to enjoy it as well.




What the Best College Teachers Do


Book Description

What makes a great teacher great? Who are the professors students remember long after graduation? This book, the conclusion of a fifteen-year study of nearly one hundred college teachers in a wide variety of fields and universities, offers valuable answers for all educators. The short answer is—it’s not what teachers do, it’s what they understand. Lesson plans and lecture notes matter less than the special way teachers comprehend the subject and value human learning. Whether historians or physicists, in El Paso or St. Paul, the best teachers know their subjects inside and out—but they also know how to engage and challenge students and to provoke impassioned responses. Most of all, they believe two things fervently: that teaching matters and that students can learn. In stories both humorous and touching, Ken Bain describes examples of ingenuity and compassion, of students’ discoveries of new ideas and the depth of their own potential. What the Best College Teachers Do is a treasure trove of insight and inspiration for first-year teachers and seasoned educators.




Becoming a Psychology Professor


Book Description

Introduction -- The varieties of academic experiences: types of institutions -- The fundamental research and teaching experiences needed to be a psychology professor -- Professional service, engagement, and connections -- Searching for and selecting open positions -- Creating a curriculum vita -- Application materials and the application process -- Interviewing -- Job offers and negotiations -- Conclusion.




An Insider's Guide to Academic Writing


Book Description

Valued for its clear, accessible presentation of disciplinary writing, the first edition of An Insider’s Guide to Academic Writing was celebrated by adopters at two-year and four-year schools alike. With this second edition, the authors build on that proven pedagogy, offering a series of flexible, transferable frameworks and unique Insider’s video interviews with scholars and peers that helps students to adapt to the academic writing tasks of different disciplinary discourse communities - and helps instructors to teach them. New to the second edition is additional foundational support on the writing process, critical reading, and reflection, to give students stronger tools to apply to their disciplinary writing. An Insider’s Guide to Academic Writing is based on the best practices of a first-year composition program that has trained hundreds of teachers who have instructed thousands of students. Use ISBN 978-1-319-05355-0 to get access to the online videos for free with the brief text and ISBN 978-1-319-05354-3 for the version with readings.




Candid Advice for New Faculty Members


Book Description

A 2022 SPE Outstanding Book Honorable Mention “If you want to achieve tenure, you should know a bit more about what it means and why it exists, and its benefits. All too often, even faculty don’t understand why tenure is important." Thus begins the Preface of Candid Advice for New Faculty Members, the newest and most comprehensive “how to” guide for graduate students, post-docs, and junior faculty across a variety of academic disciplines. Drawing upon her own extensive experiences and that of many colleagues, Marybeth Gasman provides you with an incredibly valuable tool for attaining tenure and for the things that you should do to advance your academic career. She provides practical (and sometimes humorous) advice about a range of topics, including: negotiating job offers planning a research agenda improving your teaching skills managing service advising students applying for research grants achieving life/work balance managing academic politics In addition to this valuable career advice, Gasman provides a peek behind the academy’s curtain by painting a vivid picture of the inner workings of the academy and all of its players. Candid Advice for New Faculty Members is required reading for every newly-minted faculty member, regardless of academic discipline. The wisdom provided in this volume will prove to be invaluable to your future career. Perfect for courses such as: Doctoral seminars across various disciplines, College and University Teaching, Graduate Student Research Seminars, Professional Development Seminars