TEACHING HANDBOOK
INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This is the On-Line version of the Teaching Handbook produced by the Center
for Teaching and Learning at The City College of New York. This guide, along
with the Center itself, are City College initiatives which aim to enhance
faculty members' perception of teaching as a key component of their professional
role. Among the beneficial consequences we anticipate from increased emphasis
on teaching are greatly improved student learning and motivation and creation
of an energized community of teacher-scholars who support each others' innovations
in the classroom. Such consequences, we believe, are essential for readdying
City College, as a public institution, for the educational tasks of the
twenty-first century.
The vision which guides the Center's activities eveolved from the experiences
of several successful curriculum development projects at City College. Elements
of this vision include:
- Allowing students to assist each other in learning, through collaborative
and peer leadership strategies
- Designing courses with active, student-centered learning
- Embedding systematic development of learning, analytical thinking
and communication skills in teaching and all content areas
- Aligning objectives, benchmarks for student performance, learning
activities and outcome assessment in each course
- Addressing the variety of learning styles within the student population
- Planning early and continuing hnads-on design experience by students
working in teams
- Teaching students how to function effectively in a high technology
environment
This guide exists because a number of faculty, staff, and administrators
at the College, sharing a vision of a college curriculum revitalized by
its faculty, gave generously of their summer hours to write the sections
which follow. Their hope and ours is that their ideas will serve as an invitation
to you to use the writers as resources as you reconsider and refine your
own teaching work. Both for their past contributions and future commitment,
we are very grateful.
We are also indebted to the staff of the Center for Teaching and Learning
and the Office of Academic Affairs, particularly Jason von Zerneck, who,
through countless hours at the computer, transformed a stack of very rough
drafts into this finished product.
Creation of this guide was supported by the Institution-Wide Reform Initiative
at the College, a project funded by the NSF at City College early in 1997.
The overall spirit of this project stresses the concept of a "learning
community," with the Teaching Guide as a frist collaborative product.
We encourage you to join with us in creating the 1999 edition of this guide
and welcome your comments and contributions.