Teaching Tips
Faculty and graduate students at Brown have contributed these examples of strategies and techniques they have developed to improve both their teaching and their students' learning. These teaching tips are grouped in four general categories:
Course Design
The topics below deal with aspects of course design, such as creating a course proposal, constructing a syllabus, formulating assessments of student learning, teaching First Year Seminars, using instructional technology, and accommodating diverse learning styles.
Course Proposals
Syllabi
Assessments
- Designing Assessments (PDF)
- Top Ten Tips on Assessment for Learning
- AAHE 9 Principles for assessing student learning
Instructional Technology
Variations in Student Learning
- Signs of Diverse Learning Styles: Hints for Instructors (PDF)
- Variations in Student Learning - A Sheridan Center Handbook (PDF)
- Implementing Universal Instructional Design in College Courses (PDF)
Course Management
Topics below address aspects of managing courses once the semester has begun.
The First Day of Class
Shopping Period
Large Classes
Teaching Assistants
- How Faculty Can Work with TAs Effectively (PDF)
- Working with Graduate and Undergraduate TAs (PDF)
- A Brief Guide for Teaching Assistants (PDF)
- Twenty Tips - Some Hints on how to be an Effective TA (PDF)
- Best Practice Guidelines for Undergraduate TA Programs
Critical Reading Methodology
- Critical Reading of Texts (PDF)
- Critical Reading/Analysis of Primary Sources: Text, Objects or Architecture
Student Presentations
Student Writing
- Peer Review (PDF)
- Self Review (PDF)
- Brown University Writing Fellows Program
- Brown University Writing Center
Student Feedback
- Feedback from a Single Class Period (PDF)
- Mid-Semester Feedback:
ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS
- Class Participation (PDF)
- Ensuring Students Read Your Comments (PDF)
- Grading Rubrics for Writing Assignments (PDF)
- Grading Rubrics for Research Papers (PDF)
Documenting Teaching Effectiveness
The tips in this section are relevant to preparing for annual reviews, tenure and promotion and the academic job market.
- Documenting Teaching Effectiveness (PDF)
- The Teaching Portfolio - A Sheridan Center Handbook (PDF)
- Conducting Effective Classroom Observations of Colleagues (PDF)
Advising
This section includes materials pertinent to undergraduate advising.
