Presented as a series of suggestions for improving teaching, this compendium describes more than 200 teaching techniques that faculty members have found to be effective in their courses at the University of California, Berkeley. Taken together, these suggestions cover the major aspects of college and university teaching from planning and preparing courses to presenting material and motivating students to giving and getting feedback on learning.

The compendium is designed to be a reference tool to help you improve certain aspects of your own teaching; it is not a narrative discourse on teaching meant to be read in a linear fashion. Therefore, it is recommended that you begin by reading the initial menu and skimming the Index in order to locate those sections or particular suggestions of greatest interest to you.

After you have become generally familiar with the contents of the compendium, five steps are recommended for its most effective use as a reference tool for improving teaching.

First,         fill out the 23 item self evaluation form in       
               Appendix B to help identify those aspects of       
               teaching which you may wish to improve.

Second,        review data from prior student evaluations of your 
               teaching to identify additional areas for          
               improvement.

Third,         use the menus to locate those sections of
               greatest interest to you and read the suggestions 
               within each of those sections, noting whether the  
               particular suggestion could be adapted to your     
               class.

Fourth,        use the Index to locate additional suggestions of  
               interest.  Many of the suggestions affect more than 
               one aspect of teaching; these are cross-referenced 
               in the Index.  In addition, suggestions relating to 
               very specific teaching techniques (e.g., simulations 
               or guest lecturers) can be readily found in the     
               Index.

Fifth,         once you have found suggestions that you want to try 
               in your own teaching, be sure to make a note of them 
               in or alongside your lecture notes so that you do  
               not forget to employ the suggestions at appropriate 
               points in your class.