The Professor's Guide to Teaching: Psychological Principles and Practices [Hardcover]

Donelson R. Forsyth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2002 | ISBN-10: 1557989605 | ISBN-13: 978-1557989604 | Edition: 1

The Professor's Guide to Teaching explores what research has revealed about effective teaching and mines this resource to offer useful suggestions and practical recommendations for both new and seasoned instructors. The book unfolds in a logical fashion, beginning with prepping and lecturing and ending with evaluating and documenting. Chapters achieve a rare blend of theoretical depth and practical utility. For example, Forsyth's analysis of lecturing as a form of communication includes recommendations for teaching that stress the importance of considering the source of the message, the nature of the message, and the characteristics of the receiver of the message. Similarly, the author approaches classroom testing from the standpoint of psychological assessment, and so considers how testing requires the same care that psychologists use when developing questionnaires and inventories.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 353 pages
• Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA); 1 edition (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557989605
• ISBN-13: 978-1557989604
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,099,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Don, a social psychologist, studies and writes about ethics, groups, and leadership. His recent research focuses on individual, group and cultural differences in degree of idealism and relativism. An authority on group dynamics -- whose text Group Dynamics is in its fifth edition -- he studies groups' reactions to success and failure and the interpersonal functions of groups, including small group decision making. He is currently on the faculty of the Jepson School faculty in 2005,and he served on the faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University as a Professor in the Department of Psychology with a joint appointment in sociology. At Richmond he holds the Leo K. and Gayle Thorsness Chair of Ethical Leadership. He received a Ph.D. degree from the University of Florida, and a BA degree from Florida State University.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book about Teaching at the College Level, May 14, 2007

By 

K. Batts "krb5" (Raleigh, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Professor's Guide to Teaching: Psychological Principles and Practices (Hardcover)

This book is well-structured and contains a lot of helpful tools for new instructors at the college level.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teaching Book, August 22, 2005

By 

Jennifer Smith (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Professor's Guide to Teaching: Psychological Principles and Practices (Hardcover)

Great book for advice on teaching at the college level. The book is well written and based on literature review, not mearly opinion. Highly suggested.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The fun to read reference book, January 28, 2005

By 

Jonathan B. Singer "Social Work Podcast" (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Professor's Guide to Teaching: Psychological Principles and Practices (Hardcover)

Forsyth's Guide to Teaching emulates a good class: the content is well researched, thought provoking, clearly presented (good use of bullet points, charts, and tables), and well-suited for current and prospective professors. The tone of the book moves between the familiar and the authoritative. For example, while the principles and practices are grounded in current research on teaching and learning, Forsyth uses his practice wisdom to comment on findings from the literature.

This book does not try to be the last word in teaching (e.g. the material on discussions, while sufficient, is better covered in Brookfield and Preskill's Discussion as a Way of Teaching). It is a good first word, and for people teaching those in the helping professions (clinical social workers, psychologists, nurses, etc.) it can answer many common teaching questions. The section on "Using technology creatively in teaching" begins with a quote from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and references to the French impressionists. While the information might be somewhat redundant for the under 30 crowd, Forsyth covers all the technology bases in a user friendly way.

I checked this book out of the library, but found myself wanting to write notes in it, highlight and personalize it, so I ended up buying it. I'm glad I added it to my library.