A well-designed college course syllabus can serve a variety of purposes: as an agreement between teacher and student; as a device for communicating intent, seriousness, and expectations; as an overall plan of action for the course; and as a cognitive map of the course to share with students. This article identifies the major components of a good…

The mnemonic device "ATOMIC" refers to course and lesson design elements that can help make college teaching more effective. It highlights the importance of these design components: audience, arena, ambience, topic, theme, title, objectives, message, methods, materials, involvement, close, and check-up. (MSE)

A discussion of techniques for closing college class sessions and courses, often problematic for both teachers and students, first looks at the social dynamics between faculty and students, examines ways to improve student-student interaction at the end of class, and considers problems in ending courses. A number of classroom activities providing…

Five communication strategies are essential to success in large courses: managing instructor anxiety, using presentation time efficiently, motivating students, communicating enthusiasm, and organizing content. (MLW)

This paper discusses seven ways in which college faculty can become actively engaged in scholarship about teaching. The seven principle components of teaching are as follows: (1) subject matter expertise; (2) organized presentation of subject matter; (3) concern for curricular relevance and coherence; (4) informing the curricular change process;…

While the populations of students learning writing in English as a second language (ESL) are diverse and have widely varying needs, three general recommendations to nonspecialist teachers of ESL pupils are to: (1) organize courses according to thematic unity; (2) limit the number of formal, polished essays assigned; and (3) encourage students to…

The discussion of reflective techniques for second language teaching is intended for teacher trainees and in-service teachers and focuses on practical applications of the reflective method. Each chapter presents an important dimension of teaching and poses questions for classroom observation, investigation, and critical reflection. The suggested…

This handbook provides guidelines and forms for evaluating second language teachers' performance and second language programs. The first section, which addresses the supervision and evaluation of language teachers, outlines basic principles (supervisory goals, evaluator attitudes, supervisory visits, and follow-up conferences), gives instructions…