Browse the collection of books and other resources especially for faculty

17 books particularly recommended for DISD instructors, ranging from 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School to Visual Grammar

Provides a guide to teaching art at the college level, covering classroom management, critique and grading as well as art principles

“My students are urged to recognize the value of mistakes as an important learning tool, and to develop critical thinking skills, enabling them to identify both strengths and weaknesses in their own work and the work of others.” (p. 3)

Explores different methods of assessing student learning in the arts, with case studies and examples at both the course and program levels

Examines all aspects of group work in college courses, including how to form groups and how to evaluate and grade students

“When they participate in peer and teacher review of their projects, they gain practical experience in both giving and receiving constructive criticism.” (p. 199)

Discusses ways of preparing for, starting, encouraging and evaluating classroom discussions, including tips for promoting discussions among culturally diverse students

“Sometimes, though, students choose not to say anything, and in panic, teachers start to answer their own question. Do this even once and you let students know they can rely on you the answer the question and do their thinking for them.” (p. 66)

Covers criteria and standards, calculating grades, grading more efficiently, and using the grading process to improve teaching

Examines the connection between thinking, writing and learning, and provides tips and strategies for promoting active learning and critical thinking

“Many faculty, understandably concerned about coverage of material, do not want to shift class time away from content. In my experience, however, emphasizing writing and critical thinking in a course increases the amount of subject matter that students actually learn and in many cases can actually increase total coverage of content.” (p. 9)

Provides ways that teachers and administrators can encourage a culture of excellence among students

“Critique in most classroom settings has a singular audience and a limited impact: whether from a teacher or peer, it is for the edification of the author; the goal is to improve that particular piece. The formal critique in my classroom has a broader goal. I use whole-class critique sessions as a primary context for sharing knowledge and skills with the group. … What better way is there to teach the elements of a good essay or science experiment than to thoughtfully analyze together student-created models?” (p. 92)

Presents ways of communicating course organization and learning goals through a 1-page diagram, flowchart or concept map

“What helped these instructors identify holes in the learning process was asking themselves with each objective, ‘What do my students have to be able to do before they can tackle and succeed in meeting that objective? How likely is it that they have mastered the prerequisite tasks in previous courses?’” (p. 87)

Covers course planning, teaching techniques, testing and assessment, and strategies for teaching adult students

“Studies have shown that students retain more of the material presented in the early part of the lecture and less in the latter phases. Thus, it is important that significant points are made early and then reinforced by activity later in the presentation.” (p. 33)

Discusses learning theories relevant to interior design education and strategies for course planning, classroom management, studio time and more

“While rules of thumb vary, instructors can generally expect to spend at least three hours of preparation for each hour of lecture and seminar class time, especially when developing a course for the first time.” (p. 56)

Explores the theory of and strategies for learner-centered teaching

“Watching the groups do the exam is my favorite day of the class. They hunker together around it. Their discussion starts out with a quiet intensity, but then the disagreements begin and the debate starts. My students avoid conflict and disagreement like a plague; they are scared of it. But here it happens without their even noticing. And this intense debate is over course content. They never talk about content with the kind of passion on any other day.” (p. 89)

Covers course planning, the first day of class, lectures, classroom discussion, assessment and testing, evaluating and grading, motivating students, teaching a culturally diverse group, academic honesty, problem behaviors, active learning, problem-based learning, experiential learning, technology, and more

“What students learn depends as much on your tests and methods of assessment as on your teaching, maybe even more. What is measured is often what ends up being valued, so be sure your measures reflect what you want the students to learn.” (p. 74)

Covers syllabi, the first day of class, lectures, technology, group work, academic honesty, classroom discussion, assignments and grading, student feedback, and more

“Inviting—and perhaps requiring—students to participate in the first class of the semester sends the signal that students in this course will not be able to sit back and coast through the semester. They are expected to be in class, to be prepared, and to participate in every session.” (p. 28)

Cover course planning and syllabi, copyright guidelines, the first day of class, classroom management, academic honesty, office hours, motivating students, different learning styles, lectures, classroom discussion, experiential learning, group work, reading and writing assignments, technology, assessment and tests, and more

“Do not hesitate to eliminate topics entirely. Instructors, especially new ones, tend to pack too much material into a course. It is better to teach a few topics well than merely to ‘cover the material’ with a steamroller and wind up teaching very little of anything.” (p. 24)

Includes outlines for graphic design courses including visual communications, professional practices in design, exhibition design, and much more

“The course structure and content is designed to emphasize design as a noun and a verb. Students learn from the outset that how they make/think is as important as what they make.” (p. 7)

Covers course planning and syllabi, the first day of class, teaching a culturally and academically diverse group, accommodating students with disabilities, classroom discussion, effective lectures, group work, learning styles, motivating students, writing across the curriculum, assignments and tests, and more

“One business professor explains that with traditional-age students he introduces a new concept or idea by first discussing the theory and then presenting some applications. With older students, in contrast, he begins with the applications and then moves to the theory. This approach is both more engaging to older students and more motivating.” (p. 54)

Explores preparation, expectations, classroom management, evaluation, and more

“I cannot stress enough the simple yet powerful notion that the key to understanding the best teaching can be found not in particular practices or rules but in the attitudes of the teachers, in their faith in their students’ abilities to achieve, in their willingness to take their students seriously and to let them assume control of their own education, and in their commitment to let all policies and practices flow from central learning objectives and from a mutual respect and agreement between students and teachers.” (p. 78-79)

Faculty winners of Stanford’s major teaching awards deliver lectures on teaching topics of their choice

Blog posts from a wide variety of writers expressing ideas and opinions related to teaching and higher education

“As American society increasingly questions the importance of what we in the humanities do, in the classroom I’ve been able to depend less and less on the grand narratives that long ago motivated my own passion for literature. I’ve instead had to learn to approach the stories I teach with what my yoga instructor calls the beginner’s mind: There’s a difficult text sitting in front of me. Why read it? Why do all the work it will demand of me?” (The ‘Story Behind the Story’: Making Lit Matter)

Examines the need for teaching design students to think critically and discusses strategies for doing so in design studios, design graphics/communication studios, and architecture appreciation courses

“The act of designing is the natural offspring of the act of deciding. If we expect our students to achieve a level of sophistication in their design work, we must teach them to make good decisions during the design process.”

Provides articles on effective teaching strategies for the college classroom, covering classroom management, flipped learning, assessment, learning styles, course design, and more

“A host of studies have shown that when formative assessment is implemented effectively, it can greatly enhance, or even double, the speed of student learning. It is a tool that, much like the fitness band, has the potential to facilitate amazing results.” (What Fitness Bands Can Teach Us about Classroom Assessment)

Presents strategies for integrating guest speakers into your course

“Guest lecturers ordinarily want to prepare comments, but their contributions to your class might actually more meaningful if they come simply expecting to respond to questions from the student and teacher.”

This set of 1- to 2-minute videos covers 29 different classroom management strategies for college teachers

Read issues of IDEC Exchange, IDEC’s newsletter with articles related to teaching interior design

Browse conference proceedings, articles and course materials related to teaching interior design

This brief article presents best practices for teaching cohorts of students

“Even if you aren’t teaching a particular class that the cohort is taking, be ‘visible’ to students by connecting with the other instructor(s) and knowing what students are doing and studying in their other courses. Connect concepts to the content in your own classes.”

Blog posts from several different writers about “research that matters”

“The one thing you can surmise from those and other studies is that multitasking tends to make everyone worse at everything. It slows us, makes us less accurate, and impairs our working memory. It’s tougher to spear an elk when your iPhone is buzzing.” (Are Women Really Better at Multitasking?)

The author of Presentation Zen explores strategies for using presentations in a way that engages students

Includes instructional videos featuring actual instructors, students, and business people in classroom situations, along with an overview of PBL basics, videos on using PBL in the classroom, and additional support for instructors who want to explore or implement PBL

“They start to believe that the information they’re learning in class is important when they’re applying it in a real-world situation. And they become very serious about learning the material. They actually have to figure out how to do it in a meaningful way, because it will be applied to this project.”

Blog posts from a dozen different writers about teaching, technology and productivity

“After class, take 10 minutes to write how class went. You’ll undoubtedly have done something different than you’d planned on doing. Since it isn’t in your notes, you’ll likely forget about it when you teach this course again in three years. If it went well, write it down. If it didn’t, write it down.” (So now you’re a teacher …)

Explores the types of questions that teachers ask and which types most effectively promote meaningful student discussion and learning

“As an experiment I started asking students the questions that the texts prompted me to ask myself. What was intriguing? What was irritating? What appeared to be exemplary or awful? … After those preliminaries, the class discussions exploded with questions that sent students off to the library or to other professors to get answers.”

Provides practical strategies for developing relationships with students that promote learning

“When 17,000 students were asked to list the qualities of an effective teacher, ‘respectful’ and ‘responsive’ came out on top, not ‘knowledgeable’.”

Considers the benefits of team charters and what elements should be included

“Team charters don’t guarantee that groups will function as teams, but they certainly make clearer what that means and make it easier for groups to deal with problems and issues on their own, which is what high-functioning groups do.”

Explores why one college teacher decided to change the way she taught her class

“Donald Bligh, in his book What’s the Use of Lecture? … argues that lectures can be useful in conveying information but that they do little to promote thought or problem-solving abilities, or to change behavior. Rather, they reinforce ideas, values, and habits that students have already accepted.”