Learning to Teach and Teaching to Learn Mathematics : Resources for Professional Development

Every year thousands of new mathematics instructors and teaching assistants begin their teaching careers, and , scores of experienced faculty seek ways to explore the new teaching possibilities offered by technological and pedagogical innovations. There is a great need for tools to train college mathematics instructors in both basic teaching skills and innovative methodologies.

Learning to Teach and Teaching to Learn is a self-contained and extensive resource that addresses this need. It describes training and mentoring activities that have been successfully used in a variety of settings. with a wide range of new instructors, including graduate student teaching assistants, undergraduate tutors, graders and lab assistants, as well as postdoctoral, adjunct, part-time and new regular-rank faculty. It addresses a variety of teaching issues including cooperative learning, technology and assessment.

The book provides a broad range of material including:

• the structure and operation of an integrated professional development program.
• a complete description of a pre-semester orientation session for instructors who are either new to teaching or new to a department.
• a guide to visiting and observing classrooms, including samples observations made and the feedback given.
• descriptions of procedures for customizing and developing new training materials.
• an extensive list of references and suggested readings.

This material will be of interest to faculty and instructional staff responsible for training and mentoring adjuncts, new faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate assistants and to those interested in an integrated approach to improving and expanding their teaching skills. Although specifically written as training materials,, each chapter includes an introduction, goals, activities, and an annotated list of suggested readings.

Any community college teacher or mathematics department who wants to engage in professional development needs to have this comprehensive resource. -- The Mathematics Teacher