Davis, B.G. Tools for Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993.

A compendium of classroom-tested strategies and suggestions designed to improve the teaching practices of all college instructors, including beginning, mid-career, and senior faculty members. The book describes 49 teaching tools that cover both traditional practical tasks—writing a course syllabus, delivering an effective lecture—as well as newer, broader concerns such as responding to diversity on campus and coping with budget constraints.

Available at the UCB campus library (call # LB2331.D37). The entire book is also available online as part of netLibrary (accessible only through computers connected to the UC Berkeley campus network). It is available for purchase at the Cal Student Store textbook department, the publisher, and Amazon.

Please note: some of the chapters below have been modified from the original version.

Table of contents

Getting Underway

1.    Preparing or Revising a Course
2.    The Course Syllabus
3.    The First Day of Class

Responding to a Diverse Student Body

4.    Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
5.    Diversity and Complexity in the Classroom: Considerations of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender
6.    Reentry Students
7.    Teaching Academically Diverse Students

Discussion Strategies

8.    Leading a Discussion
9.    Encouraging Student Participation in Discussion
10.   Asking Questions
11.   Fielding Students' Questions

Lecture Strategies

12.   Preparing to Teach the Large Lecture Course
13.   Delivering a Lecture
14.   Explaining Clearly
15.   Personalizing the Large Lecture Class
16.   Supplements and Alternatives to Lecturing: Encouraging Student Participation
17.   Maintaining Instructional Quality with Limited Resources

Collaborative and Experiential Strategies

18.   Collaborative Learning: Group Work and Study Teams
19.   Role Playing and Case Studies
20.   Field Work

Enhancing Students' Learning and Motivation

21.   Helping Students Learn
22.   Learning Styles and Preferences
23.   Motivating Students

Writing Skills and Homework Assignments

24.   Helping Students Write Better in All Courses
25.   Designing Effective Writing Assignments
26.   Evaluating Students' Written Work
27.   Homework: Problem Sets

Testing and Grading

28.   Quizzes, Tests, and Exams
29.   Allaying Students' Anxieties About Tests
30.   Multiple-Choice and Matching Tests
31.   Short-Answer and Essay Tests
32.   Grading Practices
33.   Calculating and Assigning Grades
34.   Preventing Academic Dishonesty

Instructional Media and Technology

35.   Chalkboards
36.   Flipcharts
37.   Transparencies and Overhead Projectors
38.   Slides
39.   Films and Videotapes
40.   Computers and Multimedia

Evaluation to Improve Teaching

41.   Fast Feedback
42.   Watching Yourself on Videotape
43.   Self-Evaluation and the Teaching Dossier

Teaching Outside the Classroom

44.   Holding Office Hours
45.   Academic Advising and Mentoring Undergraduates
46.   Guiding, Training, and Supervising Graduate Student Instructors

Finishing Up

47.   The Last Days of Class
48.   Student Rating Forms
49.   Writing Letters of Recommendation

©Jossey-Bass. Tools for Teaching may not be copied or reprinted without permission from Jossey-Bass. If you would like to purchase a copy and are unable to locate Tools for Teaching at a local bookstore you can purchase it through Amazon.com or Jossey-Bass.