Elements of College Teaching

After many years in the classroom, in conjunction with many years of mentoring other teachers, David Irving has set out to create a succinct and highly accessible volume of techniques and strategies for beginning educators.

Most educators come to teaching with vast subject matter expertise, but limited classroom experience. This text is for them. It offers pragmatic guidelines and suggestions in easily managed bits. For those interested in going deeper, there are suggestions for further study.

Drawing upon his own experience in film and the transition he made to the classroom, David is able to highlight some techniques that serve both professions and translate them here for teachers. The issues that he faced in moving to the classroom are the issues that all new educators encounter.

Further, drawing upon his experiences as a department chair, David sees the important role that a chair has in fostering the growth of the new educators. He suggests that chairs can do much to assist.

However, the most universally helpful part of the text is in the clear, unambiguous techniques and strategies for the classroom and career success. He writes:
Instructors need training to teach college courses. Equally important, they should be informed about the workings of the academic department in which they will teach.

This volume is ideal for new instructors and for professional development for departments.