A partially annotated bibliography of resources on faculty life and teaching for biologists
          The list below represents some of the readings for the Spring 2006 version of the Seminar in Teaching College Biology.  The individual chapters or articles are listed by topic, and for those that aren’t available via specific websites or Duke’s e-journals, bibliographic information is provided.

 

1. Faculty life at different colleges and universities
     McKeachie Ch 1 [McKeachie’s Teaching Tips, by Wilbert McKeachie and Marilla Svinicki 2006, Houghton-Mifflin Co.]
     Gleckner.  A taxonomy of colleges and universities. [In Deneef, A.L. and Goodwin, C.D., ed.  1995 The academic’s handbook.  Duke Univ. press.  Durham, NC]

2.  Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
     Modell  2005.  Helping the learner to learn: the role of uncovering misconceptions. American Biology Teacher [e-journal]
     Musante.  2005.  Learning the nature of science BioScience. [e-journal]
     Zull 2002 Ch 7 The art of changing the brain [Zull, James E.  2002.  The art of changing the brain.  Stylus.  Sterling, VA]
     Nazario, Burrowes and Rodriguez.  2002. Persisting misconceptions: use of pre-and post-tests to identify biological misconceptions.  Journal of College Science Teaching.  Feb 2002, vol 31, issue 5, p. 292

 

3. Designing a course
       Gillen 2004.  An online tutorial for helping non-science majors read primary research literature in biology. Advances in Physiology Education [e-journal]
      Wood.  2005.  Lecture-free teaching in 7 steps. American Biology Teacher.   [e-journal]
      McKeachie Ch 2 [See topic 1]
     Uno. 1999. Ch 12.  Organizing your course. [In handbook on teaching undergraduate science courses]
    Posner and Rudnitsky.  1994.  Ch 2.  Setting a direction.  In Course Design.     

 

4.  Active learning
     Rutledge2005.  Making the nature of science relevant: effectiveness of an activity that stresses critical thinking skills. .  American Biology Teacher.   [e-journal]
     Handelsman.  2004.  Scientific teaching. Science.  [e-journal]
      McKeachie Ch 16-18 [See topic 1]
     Modell.  1996.  Preparing students to participate in an active learning environment.  Advances in physiology education.  [e-journal]
    Herreid.  1998.  Return to Mars: how not to teach a case study.  Journal of College Science Teaching [JCST; e-journal]
    Herreid.  1994.  Case studies in science- a novel method of science education.  JCST [e-journal]
    Duch.  1995.  What is problem based learning?  In About teaching. 
    Duch and Allen.  1996.  Problems: a key factor in PBL.  About teaching.
    Johnson, Johnson and Smith.  1991.  The Instructor’s role in cooperative learning.  In Cooperative learning. 
    Meyers and Johnson.  1993.  What active learning is and how it works.  In Promoting active learning. 
    Meyers and Johnson.  1993.  Informal small groups.  In Promoting active learning. 
   

 

5. Lecturing well
      McKeachie Ch 6 [See topic 1]
-advice about lecturing, supported by research on student learning

     Christensen 1995 The nuts and bolts of teaching a lecture course.  In the Academic’s Handbook  [See topic 1]
-as the title suggests, a very practical approach to the mechanics of lecturing (including tips about organizing and giving exams in a lecture course).  The author is from Duke’s NSOE

     Bonwell and Eisen.  1991.  The modified lecture.  In Creating excitement in the classroom.
-ways of integrating active learning techniques into primarily-lecture courses

 

6. Making labs engaging
      McKeachie Ch 20 Laboratory Instruction [See topic 1]
-general explanations of various philosophies of lab instruction (including expository, inquiry, discovery and problem based learning).  Many of these types are similar to the types of active learning we read about a couple of weeks ago, but here these ideas are applied specifically to the context of lab classes.

     Switzer and Mckee Schriner.  2000.  Mimicking the scientific process in the upper-division laboratory.  Bioscience [e-journal]
-description of an inquiry-type lab course in animal behavior.  The authors explain how they set up the course, what worked, and what was challenging

    Uno 1999.  Inquiry instruction.  In Handbook on teaching undergraduate science courses.
-A basic guide to inquiry-based labs.  The reading gives brief descriptions of sample activities in various disciplines, and includes basic guidelines for designing your own inquiry-based labs or activities.

 

7. Assessing student progress
     McKeachie Ch 7 different modes of assessment (not just testing)
                         Ch 8-9 strategies for designing and giving tests, and for helping students better prepare for and take tests (Ch 8 has an especially useful section on grading and returning tests and dealing with unhappy students - something many of us have encountered)
     McKeachie Ch 15 (on writing) [See topic 1]  different modes of using writing, from 2 minute in-class papers to longer, multi-draft, peer reviewed assignments.  Also includes advice about grading

    Uno.  1999.  Assessment strategies.  In Handbook on teaching undergraduate science courses.  [e-reserve]  nuts and bolts advice about different types of tests and test questions designed to address different types of learning.  Also offers correlations between assessment and activities such as lab practicals, problem based learning, etc

    Gopen 2004 Reader Expectations.   
-As the name suggests, this book explains what readers tend to look for when they read.  This can be helpful in diagnosing and providing advice on student writing (as well as potentially improving your own writing.) 

    Gopen and Swan.  1990.  The science of scientific writing.  American Scientist
- The “reader expectation” model, applied to scientific writing and discussed in more detail.  This is aimed at improving one’s own writing but is another good tool for helping students to recognize helpful or unhelpful patterns in their own writing.

For more on science writing, the Chicago Guide to Communicating Science is a good resource (for yourself or your students).

Also, Duke’s Writing Studio website http://uwp.aas.duke.edu/wstudio/ has lots of links to great resources, ranging from grammar guides and citation tutorials to advice for non-native speakers, advice on how to write in specific genres (research paper, article critique, lab report, etc). 

 

8. Discussions/ dilemmas teachers face
    Bonwell and Eisen.  1991.  Questioning and discussion.  In Active learning. 
    -This article deals specifically with strategies for managing classroom discussion.
 
     McKeachie Ch 3, 10, 14 [See topic 1]
       Ch 3 deals with the first day of class.  While this may seem limited in scope, some research suggest that the impression students form of teachers on the first day (or even in the first minutes) largely shapes their perceptions of the course, the amount of effort they are willing to put in, and the amount of respect they are likely to have for the instructor.
     Ch 10 deals with cheating in terms of identifying causes, trying to prevent, and dealing with students who cheat.
     Ch 14 addresses problem students, ranging from classroom management issues, students with emotional instability, and students with varying preparation.
     While each of these chapters is fairly short and deals with these issues somewhat superficially, each chapter also offers good suggestions for further reading.

 

9.  Teaching styles and statements

American Chemical Society.  How to write a teaching philosophy for academic employment. 
-A more comprehensive guide to thinking about and structuring your teaching statement; the article also includes quotes from, and links to, sample teaching statements.

Additional resources:
See also a Chronicle of Higher Education article on how to write a teaching statement:
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2003/03/2003032702c.htm

10. Academic job search
    DeNeef.  1995.  On Getting a job.   The academic’s handbook [See topic 1]
-This is a general overview of the academic job search process, from deciding whether you want an academic job to finding out about positions, preparing application materials, interviewing and negotiating.
 
   Heiberger and Vick.  The academic job search handbook. 
-Chapters include topics such as the job search timetable, cover letters, CV’s, additional application materials, interviewing, negotiating, etc.  Concise advice, with discipline-specific examples of materials.

Duke Career Center Website: http://career.studentaffairs.duke.edu/graduate/

Advice from the director of Yale’s career services (Chronicle of Higher Ed
2004): http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2004/07/2004071501c/careers.html

A list of books, websites (and cartoons!) on preparing for the academic job
market (Chronicle of Higher Ed 2003):
http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2003/08/2003080101c/careers.html

A sample teaching CV for someone in the sciences (Chronicle of Higher Ed 2003):
 http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2000/03/2000033102c_teaching/careers.html

 

Other useful resources:
Bain, Ken.  2002.  What the best college teachers do.  Harvard U Press.  Cambridge, MA

Zull, James E.  2002.  The art of changing the brain.  Stylus.  Sterling, VA
            -Provides a non-technical (and very readable) explanation of the neurobiology of learning, and discusses how we can use that knowledge to improve our teaching.

The Chronicle of higher education.  http://chronicle.com. 
            -See especially the first-person career columns, in which people describe their experiences applying for jobs, interviewing, deciding between academic and non-academic positions, dealing with advisors or postdoc issues, preparing for tenure, etc.  You don’t need to be a subscriber to access these.
            -See also the very comprehensive list of faculty job openings.  This is often an especially good place to look for more teaching-oriented positions that may not be listed in places like Science.  You can set up an account to have new job postings emailed directly to you on a regular basis.
            -The Chronicle website also provides access to data on average faculty salaries, community college positions, and a wide range of other issues related to higher education and academia.