Issue
27(1)
Teaching
First-Year College Students.
(2006).
Bette Erickson, Calvin B. Peters,
and Diane Weltner Strommer. San Francisco
: Jossey-Bass, 284 pp. $38.00. ISBN # 0-7879-6439-5.
Review
by: Susan Dawkins
Academic
Support
Center
University
of Pittsburgh
at Johnstown
This text,
a revised edition of Teaching College Freshmen , provides
an excellent and timely resource for veteran as well as novice
college teachers. Here authors consider every facet of the classroom
experience, exploring many unique aspects of the first-year experience.
Most
striking about this volume is its consistent blend of clearly
explained theory and broad range of practical suggestions for
teaching first-year students. Each of its three sections - Understanding
First-Year Students, Effective Instruction for First-Year Students,
and Opportunities and Challenges in First-Year Instruction - includes
helpful information on a variety of topics including: student
development theory, learning styles, course design, presenting
effective lectures, evaluation and grading, diversity, group activities,
and, most helpful for new faculty advisors, a strong discussion
of advising goals and practice.
While
this volume is directed to classroom faculty who wish to rejuvenate
their teaching, it offers much for academic advisors and others
interested in the first-year experience. Although the advising
section is directed to faculty advisors, non-faculty advisors
will find its information useful and thought-provoking. The authors
provide a clear explanation of the advisor's role and make concrete
suggestions for conducting advising sessions. I would like to
see more resources cited in this section (NACADA, for example,
isn't mentioned), but the discussion is more than adequate given
the scope and focus of the book. Advisors will be enlightened
by the authors' discussion of special challenges in teaching.
For example, an advisor who graduated from a small college will
find insightful descriptions of the issues involved in taking
classes in auditorium-style classrooms. The discussions about
diversity in the classroom and the role of graduate teaching assistants
are excellent additions to the literature on these topics.
The authors
acknowledge that Teaching First-Year College Students
focuses on traditional-age, full-time students. Thus, those who
teach traditional-aged students college students will find it
most applicable to their experience. This observation, however,
should not deter college teachers in other venues from reading
the book. The theories, observations, and practical suggestions
offered by the authors will benefit almost any teacher or advisor
- and, more importantly, their students.
