Mastering the Techniques of Teaching [Paperback]

Joseph Lowman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 078795568X | ISBN-13: 978-0787955687 | Publication Date: 1995 | Edition: 2

Now in Paperback!

"Masterfully balancing the practitioner's need for concrete suggestions and the scholar's quest for intriguing ideas, this book offers tips to be tried in class tomorrow and ideas to be mused on for months."
--Maryellen Weimer, professor, Penn State University-Berks Campus

"I have used the first edition of Joe Lowman's book for years and found it most helpful. The new edition is a must for teachers and faculty developers."
--Milt Cox, University Director for Teaching Effectivness Programs, Miami University

In this second edition of his classic resource, Joseph Lowman expands on his earlier model of effective teaching to place greater emphasis on motivational skill and commitment to teaching. He presents a practical new learning model that compares six sources of influence on what and how students learn in a college course. All types of teachers and instructors will discover options on how to organize classes and use group work to promote learning. They will also find a checklist for assessing their classroom performance on video, detailed instructions for using video analysis to improve their technique, and an innovative approach to evaluating their overall performance.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Masterfully balancing the practitioner's need for concrete suggestions and the scholar's quest for intriguing ideas, this book offers tips to be tried in class tomorrow and ideas to be mused on for months." (Maryellen Weimer, professor, Penn State University-Berks Campus)

"I have used the first edition of Joe Lowman's book for years and found it most helpful. The new edition is a must for teachers and faculty developers." (Milt Cox, University Director for Teaching Effectivness Programs, Miami University)

"Lowman's book has it all. Excellent suggestions for active learning, a conceptual model for guiding teaching practices, and research results that nicely support the ideas for enhancing teaching that he advocates.... The best book I've read in a long time on college teaching." (Anthony F. Grasha, professor, Department of Psychology, University of Cincinnati)

"Lowman has somehow managed to preserve the best of his original edition while adding important and relevant new material. I am confident that this edition will be as well received by my students as the first edition has been--something that does not happen often." (James O. Hammons, professor, College of Education, Educational Leadership, Counseling and Foundations, University of Arkansas)

From the Inside Flap

Since the publication of the first edition of Mastering the Techniques of Teaching in 1984, national interest in promoting effective college teaching has risen to an all-time high. While Joseph Lowman's revised second edition of this widely praised work retains the vision of exemplary teaching presented in the original, it has been completely updated to reflect the results of a wealth of additional research--140 new references appear in this second edition--and practice.Lowman presents for the first time a new learning model that details the relative strength of six sources of influence on what and how much students learn in a college course. He expands his earlier model of effective teaching to place more emphasis on motivational skill and commitment to teaching. And he presents still more options on how to organize classes and use group work to promote learning.This second edition also includes an expanded checklist to help college teachers analyze their classroom performance on videotape, detailed instructions on how to use videotape analysis to improve teaching, and a new approach to evaluating college teaching based on Lowman's expanded model of exemplary teaching. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 2 edition (1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078795568X
• ISBN-13: 978-0787955687
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #610,487 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Teacher is Both Host and Guest . . ., October 20, 2007

By 

cvairag (Allan Hancock College) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Mastering the Techniques of Teaching (Paperback)

I was turned onto this great book by a former instructor in pedagogy, whom I felt was a great teacher in his own right, a relevant and profound authority, and I am ever grateful.
Lowman begins from this definition: "A classroom is an emotionally charged interpersonal arena in which a wide range of psychological phenomena occur." Also, he begins with a challenge: "Beyond a solid mastery of one's subject, college teaching of the highest order appears to be a complex task requiring the ability of communicate well with students, whether in large or small groups or in formal or informal settings, and to relate to them as people in ways they find positive and motivating."
The classroom is thus a diverse, and ever changing series of contexts for human action, reflecting the blossoming of relationships between teacher and students. As teachers, we want to inspire. But, in order to achieve this end, we must pursue a rational approach. We must adhere to specific, tested strategies and principles. Lowman's strength is in his ability to chart in clear and ordered contours a path to recognition of the best course of action to be taken in each given context to achieve maximum student motivation. He establishes the instructional qualities that have, over time, been proven to comprise exemplary teaching and proceeds to demonstrate how they can be developed.
The text is well-organized in 10 chapters which outline these qualities in progression: 1)What Constitutes Exemplary Teaching? 2)Understanding Classroom Dynamics 3) Developing Interpersonal Skills and Teaching Style 4)Analyzing and Improving Classroom Performance 5)Selecting and Organizing Material for Classroom Presentations 6)Enhancing Learning Through Classroom Discussion 7)Planning Course Content and Teaching Techniques to Maximize Interest 8)Integrating Learning In and Out of the Classroom 9) Evaluating Student Performance 10)The Art, Craft, and Techniques of Exemplary Teaching.
He references a number of interesting sources, of which two impressed me as being of primary importance: the 1970 Mann Group Study and a book by Duffy and Jones, entitled 'Teaching Within the Rhythms of the Semester' (1995). Although I'm not crazy about typologies, I found the Mann Group findings truly helpful in dealing with the continual flux of people that come to my classroom, each with varying presuppositions, life challenges, and diverse backgrounds, which must be sorted and dealt with quickly and effectively in creating positive learning environments. The Mann typing of students gives a quick and accurate paradigm for categorizing behavior which I've found very useful for building community in the classroom.
Lowman's ability to apply pedogagic studies such as these to specific contexts that arise in the course of instruction puts the methodology of teaching on a series of grids - which have the cumulative effect of locating for the aspiring teacher an easily referenced modus operandi which leads to classroom success. His masterful, accessible, and graphlike insights have helped me organize my teaching and classroom presence as no other work I've read on a skill set - in the use of which one can never improve oneself enough.
Well worth the investment for any prospective college instructor - comprehensive - all the essentials of instructor and student performance and interaction are discussed with concision and depth - and useful strategies for engaging virtually any situation arising in the classroom emerge. If you have funds for one guide to professional teaching - get this one.

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very useful descriptions of masterful University teaching., August 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mastering the Techniques of Teaching (Josse Bass Higher and Adult Education) (Hardcover)

This book provides examples of inspirational teaching and techniques for reaching students. For me it ranks up there right next to Wilbert McKeachie's "Teaching Tips".

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic advice!, August 29, 2008

By 

Lemuel R. Myers - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mastering the Techniques of Teaching (Josse Bass Higher and Adult Education) (Hardcover)

I wish I'd read this book when I first started teaching 8 years ago--I would have been able to avoid some of my early mistakes and optimized my interaction with students even earlier! Also highly recommended for those who train new instructors!!!