Teaching Well: A Guide For Undergraduate Teaching???Particularly for New Engineering and Technology Faculty

Quality in engineering and technology education has always been a major concern for higher education. This has become even more important now as we become increasingly technology-oriented as a culture and as an economy. Both government and industry have taken steps to increase the number of Ph.D. graduates in engineering and technology in anticipation of faculty shortages in the years to come. But very little has been done to improve the teaching performance of our sparse Ph.D. population entering academe. Of the few Ph.D. graduates in engineering who enter the teaching field, most lack classroom teaching experience because the graduate training they received usually emphasized research rather than teaching skills. Furthermore, of the Ph.D.´s who join academic faculties, many are foreign nationals; in addition to differences in culture, the language problems of these foreign faculty members often present obstacles. The problem is compounded at publish-or-perish institutions where research work impinges on time devoted to teaching. This paper is designed to alleviate the problems of new teaching faculty, particularly those in undergraduate engineering and technology programs. It may also prove useful to those teaching in other fields. In discussing the lecture course, the paper first outlines the general and obvious concerns, followed by a discussion of preparation through paperwork. A discussion of psychological preparation and classroom techniques is presented. The paper then proceeds with teaching laboratory courses. Scheduling, pedagogical techniques, equipment, and security are addressed, followed by a discussion of student evaluations and tests.