Teaching Tips

• McKeachie. WJ, et al (1994) TEACHING TIPS - Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers, Ninth Edition, Lexington, Mass: DC Heath and Co.

As the preface says, this book was written for new academics, to place them at ease with their teaching responsibilities, and to get them started effectively in the classroom. With a focus on immediate practical problems, the chapters emphasise "tips", but these are not provided in an atheoretical context. Most chapters contain useful though brief discussion of relevant research and theory. The couple of pages covering research on class size and associated theory provide a good example.

Having reached its ninth edition since the original publication in 1951, this 'pocket-size' book has a demonstrated track record of usefulness. Issues are typically presented in question form, eg. "What do you do with a student who wants a grade changed?", and they are the common questions and issues that teachers in higher education confront. Suggested solutions are concise and supported by reference to research in the area.

The book is broken into six sections: Getting Started; Basic Skills - Leading Discussions, Lecturing, Testing and Grading; Teaching Techniques, Tools and Methods; Teaching Large Classes (and Small Ones, Too); A Potpourri of Practical and Theoretical Topics; and Teaching for Lifetime Outcomes. While each chapter is short, of necessity given the comprehensive coverage, supplementary reading with brief annotations is provided at the end of each chapter. The book makes effective reference to a broad range of literature from both the United States and Northern Europe.

From a preparatory count-down, to meeting the class for the first time, to dealing with a range of presentation techniques, to issues of assessment, to taking account of student diversity, to values and ethics in teaching, to classroom research and teaching students how to think and learn, Teaching Tips provides a handy compendium of practical ideas for making our teaching in universities more enjoyable and more effective.

While a few of the chapters use distinctly North American terminology, the messages are still clear. References to teaching assistants require some translation into the Australian context and repeated use of the word 'instructor' has the potential to deflect the focus away from the learner. However, the book remains a very useful reference for both the novice and the experienced teacher.