How to Become a Better College Professor

Although you may be an expert in your particular field, you may not have the necessary skills to be a good college professor. Researching various teaching methodologies and learning diverse teaching styles can provide valuable information that may help you become a better college professor, but that is only one piece of the puzzle. In order to be a truly excellent college professor, there are still some additional steps that should be taken.

Instructions

1. Be transparent in your expectations and assessment. Make sure your syllabus thoroughly explains your exact expectations, and make sure your students are aware of their grades and what they can do to improve these grades--at all times. Study guides or grading rubrics are particularly useful for this purpose.

2. Be prepared. Make sure that all handouts are copied beforehand and reread resources on the subject of each class's topic before lecturing. Have extra resources and references always on hand and available. Also, if you tell students that you will bring additional information to the following class, make sure you follow through.

3. Keep things interesting. Although it's natural that you have a lot of material to cover in a short amount of time, keeping the class interesting will ensure that students actually pay attention and learn what you are teaching. Interesting guest speakers, interactive activities or thought-provoking movies on the subject you are teaching are just some of the ways you can add a bit more interest to the class.

4. Improve your classroom management techniques. Many professors erroneously believe that college students will know how to behave and that classroom management techniques are only needed for K-12 teachers. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. You should always have complete control over the classroom at all times, and be able to appropriately and effectively deal with behavior issues as they occur. Don't let the behavior of one student ruin the learning experience for everyone.

5. Keep an open door policy and provide extra help when necessary. Some students may have special needs or have a hard time in a large group learning situation. Be accommodating to those who have unique circumstances or have questions or concerns that need to be addressed outside of the classroom. Be sensitive and considerate when dealing with these students, and try to help them any way you can.

6. Ask for student feedback. Any sort of direct feedback from your students can be invaluable. Anonymous surveys can be a great way of understanding what your students really think of you and finding ways you can improve.

Tips & Warnings

• Although it is important to have the student be able to relate to you, it's also important that they respect you. Try to act more as a mentor than a peer.

References

• Become a Better Professor
• Berkley.edu
• Virginia Tech

Resources

• List of Books for Becoming a Better Professor
• Teaching Excellence
• FacultyFocus.com