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On Course: A Week-by-Week Guide to Your First Semester of College Teaching
You go into teaching with high to inspire students, to motivate them to learn, to help them love your subject. Then you find yourself facing a crowd of expectant faces on the first day of the first semester, and you think “Now what do I do?” Practical and lively, On Course is full of experience-tested, research-based advice for graduate students and new teaching faculty. It provides a range of innovative and traditional strategies that work well without requiring extensive preparation or long grading sessions when you’re trying to meet your own demanding research and service requirements. What do you put on the syllabus? How do you balance lectures with group assignments or discussions—and how do you get a dialogue going when the students won’t participate? What grading system is fairest and most efficient for your class? Should you post lecture notes on a website? How do you prevent cheating, and what do you do if it occurs? How can you help the student with serious personal problems without becoming overly involved? And what do you do about the student who won’t turn off his cell phone? Packed with anecdotes and concrete suggestions, this book will keep both inexperienced and veteran teachers on course as they navigate the calms and storms of classroom life.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
60 people are currently reading
247 people want to read
About the author
James M. Lang
19 books80 followersJames M. Lang is a nonfiction author whose work focuses on education, literature, and religion. His most recent books are Distracted: Why Students Can't Focus and What You Can Do About It (Basic Books, 2020), Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning (Wiley, 2016), and Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty (Harvard UP, 2013). He writes a monthly column for the Chronicle of Higher Education; his essays and reviews have appeared in Time, The Conversation, the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, and more.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
May 3, 2016
I guess the last thing I need in my life is yet another white guy telling me what to wear and how to teach. I'm probably being unfair here, as I'm sure some of the advice is good, but this was too prescriptive for me to finish.
January 6, 2009
This book remains the one I most consistently pick up to remember why I teach and how to stay positive and productive in the classroom. The fact that it is interdisciplinary is also a plus.
February 10, 2021
Couldn't ask for more in a start-to-teach handbook. Great stuff.
February 22, 2017
Packed with great advice on everything from how to write a syllabus, to teaching techniques (this is where I learned the most), to how to construct grading rubrics, to developing a teaching persona. I've got notes scribbled all through the margins about things I want to incorporate into my class next semester, and some about things I've already tried this semester with great success. I wish I had read this book a year ago. But I knew too much then
December 19, 2017
“Of course, it’s still possible for students to cheat by going into the library and finding books and articles that aren’t available online- but any student who goes to all that trouble, it seems to me, deserves to get away with it. At least they’re in the library” (201).
No. This is not only a disrespectful mindset of your colleagues and fellow departments, whom I might add, ensure you have the information and materials needed to conduct research, but it is just condescending to the individuals that visit those hallowed halls.
The writing is mediocre and a compilation of others original thought- when he has his own, we get statements such as those above.
No. This is not only a disrespectful mindset of your colleagues and fellow departments, whom I might add, ensure you have the information and materials needed to conduct research, but it is just condescending to the individuals that visit those hallowed halls.
The writing is mediocre and a compilation of others original thought- when he has his own, we get statements such as those above.
February 28, 2020
If you do not have access to a Center for Teaching and Learning, this is a really good book to get started thinking about your teaching when new in the field. Most of the information is still on point; the text is easy to understand, and you will be able to design a syllabus and think more clearly about what is happening in your class. A couple of the chapters could benefit from a revision, I believe. In particular, the discussions around technology, inclusion and diversity, and student evaluation could be more complex. However, I could also argue that as a first-time teacher, these are things not to worry about (esp technology and student evaluation).
September 6, 2010
It's a very nice and friendly book. Reading through the book, it felt like a friendly conversation with a colleague, sharing his experience, giving indirect pieces of advice, and sharing stories/anecdotes that can help you understand the essence of effective teaching.
It was a really enjoyable read.
---
> The syllabus:
"The process of drafting the syllabus forces you to think about the learning objectives you want to establish for the students in the course, and those objectives should be formulated by answering a simple question: What should students know or be able to do as a result of taking this course? Put more broadly, when students walk out of the final exam, or hand you that final paper, in what ways will you have changed them?"
"The course plan, and the syllabus, need to focus on the students. If you have designed a course which could theoretically be taught to an empty room of iPod recorders, without any real change in your course plan, you probably need to head back to the drawing board."
:)
> First day:
- Don't dress casually
- Don't see yourself as their friend or peer.
- "Opening the semester by introducing the students to the course topic or material in a substantive way sends the message that you are excited and eager to help the students learn in this course, and that the time they invest in coming to class matters."
- "Whatever you decide to do on the first day, you should ensure that you cover three bases: present the syllabus to the students; introduce the course topic and/or some initial material; and require at least some students to participate"
-I really liked the idea of understanding students' background about the class material so that the teacher can know what s/he is dealing with. He suggested to hand out a paper during the first class, ask students to write some info about themselves, and then answer a few questions (3) "about their past experiences with the course topic, or about their understanding of the ideas you will be presenting over the course of the semester."
- Importance of catching students' interest from day 1 and maintaining it throughout the course.
> Lecturing:
- "Vary your teaching methods. No single teaching technique should constitute the sole pedagogical method in any classroom; the most effective teachers are those who use multiple approaches."
- He mentions that, "You can be certain of one thing when you are lecturing: whatever you write on the blackboard, on an overhead, or on a PowerPoint slide, students will copy into their notebooks." As a result, he says that, a teacher should make use of this information and try to make sure to have t he main points displayed for students on the board or any other way to help them write it down. He also stresses the idea of not overwhelming students with too much information they don't need to keep in their notebooks.
- "Make sure that, when you attempt to solicit questions, you communicate a real desire to hear those questions.... you ask a question, stop talking for 10 or 20 or 30 seconds, and wait. Take a drink of water, walk to a different part of the room, or just scan the faces for half a minute."
- Reasons for including discussions in classrooms:
1. "the more ways you can engage your mind and body with new ideas or material, the more deeply you will learn that material"
2. "discussion gives students the opportunity to try out ideas and theories which they can then develop further and more formally in their papers and exams."
3. "you are helping them understand something important about learning: that you are not the teapot of the sociology of race, and they are not the teacup."
- Ways to start a discussion:
1. "START DISCUSSIONS WITH LOW-STAKES WRITING": have them write a short passage answering the opening question before they start discussing it as a group.
2. "USE SMALL GROUPS OR PAIRS PRIOR TO DISCUSSION"
3. "FORCED DEBATE":
"Identify an issue about which there are two clearly defined and opposed positions, and let students know one class in advance that they will be required to select a side and defend it. On the discussion day, divide the room physically into two sides and ask the students to sit on one side or the other. I usually follow Frederick’s suggestion to leave a space in the middle for undecided students—who, however, have to move to one side or the other before the class has ended. In fact, any student who changes her mind can move during the class: from one side to the other, from one side to the center, and back again."
4. Integrate discussions early on.
"Several weeks of listening to lectures will condition students into a passivity that will be harder and harder to break as the semester continues."
> Assignments:
- "In What the Best College Teachers Do, Bain argues that penalizing late work puts an undue emphasis on the assignment as a performance, as opposed to seeing assignments as a learning experience."
---
* Take a few minutes after each class and ask students what the most important thing they learned in class was. Or have them write it down on a piece of paper.
* "Be transparent in your teaching. Take the time to inform students why you are doing what you are doing in the classroom"
* Great sample stuff in appendixes.
* What the Best College Teachers Do, Ken Bain
* Names :( : http://www.insidehighered.com/workpla...
It was a really enjoyable read.
---
> The syllabus:
"The process of drafting the syllabus forces you to think about the learning objectives you want to establish for the students in the course, and those objectives should be formulated by answering a simple question: What should students know or be able to do as a result of taking this course? Put more broadly, when students walk out of the final exam, or hand you that final paper, in what ways will you have changed them?"
"The course plan, and the syllabus, need to focus on the students. If you have designed a course which could theoretically be taught to an empty room of iPod recorders, without any real change in your course plan, you probably need to head back to the drawing board."
:)
> First day:
- Don't dress casually
- Don't see yourself as their friend or peer.
- "Opening the semester by introducing the students to the course topic or material in a substantive way sends the message that you are excited and eager to help the students learn in this course, and that the time they invest in coming to class matters."
- "Whatever you decide to do on the first day, you should ensure that you cover three bases: present the syllabus to the students; introduce the course topic and/or some initial material; and require at least some students to participate"
-I really liked the idea of understanding students' background about the class material so that the teacher can know what s/he is dealing with. He suggested to hand out a paper during the first class, ask students to write some info about themselves, and then answer a few questions (3) "about their past experiences with the course topic, or about their understanding of the ideas you will be presenting over the course of the semester."
- Importance of catching students' interest from day 1 and maintaining it throughout the course.
> Lecturing:
- "Vary your teaching methods. No single teaching technique should constitute the sole pedagogical method in any classroom; the most effective teachers are those who use multiple approaches."
- He mentions that, "You can be certain of one thing when you are lecturing: whatever you write on the blackboard, on an overhead, or on a PowerPoint slide, students will copy into their notebooks." As a result, he says that, a teacher should make use of this information and try to make sure to have t he main points displayed for students on the board or any other way to help them write it down. He also stresses the idea of not overwhelming students with too much information they don't need to keep in their notebooks.
- "Make sure that, when you attempt to solicit questions, you communicate a real desire to hear those questions.... you ask a question, stop talking for 10 or 20 or 30 seconds, and wait. Take a drink of water, walk to a different part of the room, or just scan the faces for half a minute."
- Reasons for including discussions in classrooms:
1. "the more ways you can engage your mind and body with new ideas or material, the more deeply you will learn that material"
2. "discussion gives students the opportunity to try out ideas and theories which they can then develop further and more formally in their papers and exams."
3. "you are helping them understand something important about learning: that you are not the teapot of the sociology of race, and they are not the teacup."
- Ways to start a discussion:
1. "START DISCUSSIONS WITH LOW-STAKES WRITING": have them write a short passage answering the opening question before they start discussing it as a group.
2. "USE SMALL GROUPS OR PAIRS PRIOR TO DISCUSSION"
3. "FORCED DEBATE":
"Identify an issue about which there are two clearly defined and opposed positions, and let students know one class in advance that they will be required to select a side and defend it. On the discussion day, divide the room physically into two sides and ask the students to sit on one side or the other. I usually follow Frederick’s suggestion to leave a space in the middle for undecided students—who, however, have to move to one side or the other before the class has ended. In fact, any student who changes her mind can move during the class: from one side to the other, from one side to the center, and back again."
4. Integrate discussions early on.
"Several weeks of listening to lectures will condition students into a passivity that will be harder and harder to break as the semester continues."
> Assignments:
- "In What the Best College Teachers Do, Bain argues that penalizing late work puts an undue emphasis on the assignment as a performance, as opposed to seeing assignments as a learning experience."
---
* Take a few minutes after each class and ask students what the most important thing they learned in class was. Or have them write it down on a piece of paper.
* "Be transparent in your teaching. Take the time to inform students why you are doing what you are doing in the classroom"
* Great sample stuff in appendixes.
* What the Best College Teachers Do, Ken Bain
* Names :( : http://www.insidehighered.com/workpla...
January 7, 2017
As a new teacher, I really appreciated this encouraging book. It was like having a coach at my elbow.
April 26, 2018
Fantastic book! Will read it again.
May 5, 2018
Inspiring and extremely funny and witty. Hilarious commentary on teaching and good techniques for the new teacher. Great!!!!
April 24, 2020
A great book for new and veteran teachers alike. A lot useful information.
June 3, 2020
From Doctoral Seminar class
November 23, 2020
Not as inspiring as some of the other pedagogy books I've read, but it does a good job of compiling helpful tips all in one place.
June 30, 2022
Reading the summer before my first year and this is an instant classic. Helped so much with syllabi development and course planning. Going to start reading again as soon as the semester starts☺️
July 6, 2023
Not entirely applicable to my field (Studio Art) and a bit out of date, but some good nuggets nonetheless.
October 19, 2016
There is no reason for me to have read this book other than that it happened to be on my Airbnb host’s bookshelf. This random occurrence, far from any algo-derived confirmation bias, depended nevertheless on my fascination, for had I not found it interesting then I would not have picked it up.
And what could be more interesting than teaching, the fundamental transmission of human knowledge? Woody Allen said that “those who can’t do, teach.” But I prefer Einstein’s line, “if you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” After all, only one of the two can be referenced by surname alone, which is really just the perfect way to compare two famous persons' total contribution to humanity, you know.
Teaching: decades of study, research, and practice have led to the refinement of this basic art; to ignore it would be to ignore the aim of learning itself. Furthermore, as a budding documentarian, what I’ll be doing in addition to simple storytelling is persuasive didactics, so any angle I can get on the matter must be in some way helpful. Lastly, learning about teaching is very meta, and any book concerning itself with meta-ness of any sort automatically touches my personal sensibilities. So –there’s my rationalization for reading this. You likey?
The section on preconceptions and prior “knowledge” was particularly helpful; the typical mind fallacy is among the worst any instructor can commit. Professors of all people should be cognizant that others believe in all sorts of myths grounded on false assumptions and impoverished mental frameworks. By understanding how others develop these frameworks, we’re able to nudge them in better and better directions. The goal is to redraw the lines on the map such that, as much as possible, they match the territory they describe: framework corresponds to reality.
James earns five stars because he presents valuable, practical ideas, is at once concise and entertaining (a difficult achievement), and most importantly demonstrates a genuine empathy for students throughout. The critiques taken by other readers are largely addressed in the preface, and it’s hardly fair to slam a work for something it is not and explicitly claims not to be; to do so reflects more on the reader and his curation ability.
Favorite quotes
“…one of the strangest experiences you will have as a new faculty member will be to see people writing down the things you have to say, as if you actually knew what you were talking about.” [p.78]
“Throwing around Perry’s name at a cocktail party wouldn’t be nearly as bad as authoritatively quoting Freud at a psychology convention—more like citing Newton rather than Feynman at the annual physics department picnic.” [p.172]
“One person complaining about another person, including a faculty member who complains about the chair, does not tell you anything you can trust about either of them. For all you know, the complainer is the insane serial killer, and the chair is handling this person the best way she knows how.” [p.262]
And what could be more interesting than teaching, the fundamental transmission of human knowledge? Woody Allen said that “those who can’t do, teach.” But I prefer Einstein’s line, “if you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” After all, only one of the two can be referenced by surname alone, which is really just the perfect way to compare two famous persons' total contribution to humanity, you know.
Teaching: decades of study, research, and practice have led to the refinement of this basic art; to ignore it would be to ignore the aim of learning itself. Furthermore, as a budding documentarian, what I’ll be doing in addition to simple storytelling is persuasive didactics, so any angle I can get on the matter must be in some way helpful. Lastly, learning about teaching is very meta, and any book concerning itself with meta-ness of any sort automatically touches my personal sensibilities. So –there’s my rationalization for reading this. You likey?
The section on preconceptions and prior “knowledge” was particularly helpful; the typical mind fallacy is among the worst any instructor can commit. Professors of all people should be cognizant that others believe in all sorts of myths grounded on false assumptions and impoverished mental frameworks. By understanding how others develop these frameworks, we’re able to nudge them in better and better directions. The goal is to redraw the lines on the map such that, as much as possible, they match the territory they describe: framework corresponds to reality.
James earns five stars because he presents valuable, practical ideas, is at once concise and entertaining (a difficult achievement), and most importantly demonstrates a genuine empathy for students throughout. The critiques taken by other readers are largely addressed in the preface, and it’s hardly fair to slam a work for something it is not and explicitly claims not to be; to do so reflects more on the reader and his curation ability.
Favorite quotes
“…one of the strangest experiences you will have as a new faculty member will be to see people writing down the things you have to say, as if you actually knew what you were talking about.” [p.78]
“Throwing around Perry’s name at a cocktail party wouldn’t be nearly as bad as authoritatively quoting Freud at a psychology convention—more like citing Newton rather than Feynman at the annual physics department picnic.” [p.172]
“One person complaining about another person, including a faculty member who complains about the chair, does not tell you anything you can trust about either of them. For all you know, the complainer is the insane serial killer, and the chair is handling this person the best way she knows how.” [p.262]
Read
April 1, 2015I found this to be an excellent introduction to teaching, and a nice refresher even for those not in their first year but who are looking to improve. Since so many academic get little to no preparation in their own education on how to teach, this is a book that should be welcomed by students as well. I picked up several ideas for ways to incorporate more active learning styles into my classes. The 'week by week' is a conceit to order the chapters, but a wide variety of topics are covered, from the syllabus, the first day, different teaching styles (lecture, small group, large group, outside work, etc.), grading, and more. I've mentioned it to several friends who all have been as pleased as I.
Read
April 29, 2012Informative and yet an enjoyable read. Written in informal language as Becoming a Library Teacher, but not as off-the-wall. Prof. Lang uses a non-journal article approach to put the newly minted college professor at ease, although the audience for On Course is not limited to just tenure-track professors. There are lots of useful information in here for adjuncts and teaching graduate assistants, as well. On Course is broken down in "weeks," and each of these has an annotated bibliography of recommended readings.
July 12, 2012
A good read with lots of helpful tips and concepts. Offers practical assignments and advice (grading, dealing with cheating/plagiarism, etc.) that can be adapted to your particular setting. Also provides some tools for helping to assess your ideals and principles as a teacher.
It's a bit long, due to its conversational tone, so if you need a more succinct guide for diving into college teaching, I would recommend Peter Filene's The Joy of Teaching: A Practical Guide for New College Instructors (UNC Press, 2005).
September 3, 2012
This is an informal, quick read that is a confidence-builder for the first-time university-level instructor. I enjoyed it, but it's not for somebody wanting hard-core detailed advice. It has, to its credit, excellent annotated resource lists, many of which I've begun to add to my library. it's definitely worth a perusal before the semester starts or as a frequent pick-me-up throughout the semester.
June 8, 2016
A straightforward very readable and eminently useful guide to college level teaching. While the book is definitely geared to those teaching their first semester as a full time faculty member, it has multiple suggestions and resources for experienced faculty. Perhaps a touch dated, a reference to MySpace was a bit of a jolt and a new edition with more information on how to more fully use LMS would be appreciated but these are mostly quibbles.
July 12, 2016
My college gave all incoming faculty this book to read during our orientation process. It was deeply reassuring at that time to be able to see the entire semester laid out with all of its challenges (and suggestions for solutions). Some of the practical suggestions forever changed how I teach, and I routinely refer to several of them in discussions with other faculty and friends teaching their first semesters.
September 19, 2011
Not certain what to take from this book. I thought it would be a hand's on book of how to teach at college level, but it wasn't to be. Lang is rambling on and on about what's going on with students in his class. Not enough meat in the book. It reads like a fiction to me. I wanted to know more about how he plans his lessons and how he cope with other faculty.
August 7, 2010
This book is chock full of good, useful, and practical tips, ideas, and suggestions for college professors. Even experienced teachers would get some new ideas to add to their classes. I'd definitely read it if it's your field.
October 8, 2013
This book gets a little corny at times, but offers some very helpful and realistic insight and advice about teaching at the college level. I went back to this book several times throughout my semesters teaching in grad school.
May 31, 2012
This book has several helpful tips for new instructors. I would imagine that if you've read more than a book or two on teaching, there's nothing new here. But given that in many grad programs, there is virtually no training in teaching, this will be a very helpful book for most new instructors.
April 24, 2013
I enjoyed this book. He has a student-centered approach to teaching that I like, and he gave me some new ideas for having a variety of classroom activities each semester. Nothing earth shaking, but some good tips. And it made me feel motivated to teach my absolute best each time I listened.
December 21, 2013
Thank you, James Lang for somehow reading my thoughts throughout this semester and allowing me both why I felt the way I did and how to handle those feelings. I was inspired and comforted in many ways by this book. I am sure I will return to it repeatedly and often in my career.
August 10, 2014
Bless you, James Lang and all of my friends who recommended this book. It is very enlightening and has helped alleviate some of my qualms. I know I will be referring back to it over the upcoming weeks.
December 8, 2019
Re-read this - with highlighter in hand - during my second semester of teaching. This book continues to be an invaluable resource for me as a new teacher. Looking forward to continuing to reference it for years to come.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews