Customer Reviews

The Adjunct Professor's Guide to Success: Surviving and Thriving in the College Classroom

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Having reviewed several books for aspiring and new college instructors, I found The Adjunct Professor's Guide to Success to be the one book that will help you most in launching your part-time teaching career. The book addresses not only the technical and logistical aspects of teaching, but the critical emotional and psychological issues that you will experience. Its contents address how to get your first teaching assignment, how to orient yourself to the college, getting the course off to a successful start, building and de-bugging exams, and how to build a long-term part-time teaching career, plus many others important to beginning instructors. Having been an adjunct instructor, I employed its strategies to obtain a full-time postion, and still use the book as a constant resource. The book is extremely reader-friendly, avoiding the "educationese" language of other books on the market, and provides many practical, hands-on examples. This book is a must for any part-time instructor.

The Adjunct Professor's Guide to Success provides a personal guideline and outline for teaching. I have been teaching for one year now and I have been able to utlize many strategies for creating a successful framework in the classroom. Dr. Lyons provides samples and examples which include a model syllabus, various orientation checklists, and exercises that compliment your teaching style. The book travels with me and is a part of my permanent library of resources for teaching. It is a must read and will add to your success in the classroom.

I'm about to have my first formal teaching experience at a local community college and was delighted to find a textbook written especially for part-time teachers. As a health care professional, I've had many opportunities to teach clients but this forum is brand new for me. "The Adjunct Professor's Guide to Success: Surviving and Thriving in the College Classroom" provides clear, practical information written in a way that holds my interest throughout the book. Each chapter flows seamlessly into the next and provides specific methods ensuring the logical progression of thought. I don't have to re-invent the wheel.

The chapters also provide a variety of ways to make certain that the information is understood: Tips for Thriving, Focus Questions, Through the Adjuncts' Eyes and Review of Key Points reinforce specific ideas and concepts. This is an easy book to read. There is a clarity and conciseness which I found very appealing. It reads like a novel to me in that I am eager to read what is next! It truly is a step-by-step guide to a positive teaching experience.

I recommend this book to any and all who have a desire to share their expertise in a classroom setting. Just as "When the student is ready, the teacher appears, so too, when the teacher is ready the book appears." This is a book that ranks high on my list of favorites.

I am considering a position as an adjunct professor after I finish graduate school, and obtained this book in order to learn more about this career option.

Unfortunately, I was unable to finish this book, as it was almost completely devoid of useful content. It's not that the information presented is wrong; instead it's a combination of vague and obvious. For example on page 51 the authors state that a syllabus, "should be a thoroughly conceived, effective, and appopriate communication tool for the specific type of student your course is designed to serve". On page 91 we discover that, "Drinking with students is an especially thorny issue." This sort of non-information makes up the bulk of the book, and after making my way through a substantial portion of it, I was astonished to discover that I hadn't learned one new piece of information.

Aside from the absence of content, the book is quite good. The authors are on good terms with the English language, the writing flows well, and there are no grammatical or spelling errors.

I was looking for a book to recommend to new adjuncts coming into our department. Unfortunately this book will not do. I felt that it lack content and specifics for execution. Maybe there isn't enough real information to write a book on this topic. Much of the "information" seemed to be fluff. I also got the feeling that some of the positive reviews for this book were written by the authors or by their friends. The language was too similar to that of the language used in the book. (Forgive the suspicious mind of a linguist).

This book is organized very well and guides the reader from an interest in adjunct teaching through job interviews, class preparation, grading exams, to evaluation and assessment.

The first thing I noticed was that the authors assume that the reader is (a) coming from a corporate environment and/or (b) at least 35-40 years old and 'out of touch' with today's college students. Also there is no mention of online classrooms, which was a major disappointment for me (although understandable since the book was published in 1998).

Overall the information was valuable and helpful, although they really should come out with a second edition that includes more current issues in higher education, including distance learning issues.

"The Adjunct Professor's Guide to Success." It was interesting to find that this text has the same contemporary approach that is used in business today. I have just completed an MBA program, and much of what was presented in this text mirrors what I learned during the program. This is reassuring in that it compares the academic and business environments in a similar light and reinforces that successful business practices can be applied over multiple disciplines. I noticed that many of the suggested readings are those in which I have already been exposed to during the MBA program.

I will undoubtedly consider this text as an integral part of my instructor's toolkit. It is very easy to read, straight and to the point. It's methodical approach makes it easy for the adjunct professor to understand and apply the information provided. The format and content is arranged to provide for quick reference and gives additional reading sources for a more in-depth perspective on the topics covered. The information provided offers sound practices for the college professor, as well as, for teachers at all grade levels. As a part-time teacher, I have used the text on many an occassion and have found it to be valuable in developing a win-win learning environment for both the students and myself. I would most definitely recommend the"Adjunct Professor's Guide to Success" for those teachers who want to be more effective and successful at their trade.

If you are a new adjunct professor, or about to become one, this book offers good advice and excellent insight into how to survive and excel as a novice. If you have experience, it's not for you. I wish I would have had this 4 years ago when I first dealt with the issue of students contesting grades. I'm seasoned now, and I can confirm that the information in this book will prevent, if not reduce, the likelihood of rookie mistakes. That alone makes it a worthwhile purchase. It would make a nice gift for a first year colleague.