“McKeachie’s Teaching Tips” is an oft cited handbook on college teaching. The book includes chapters that cover everything from college culture to handling independent study to lecturing. Breadth is a great strength of this book, as there is almost any topic in contemporarily college teaching that you could want (and if your topic isn’t there, it may be in the next edition, as McKeachie releases new editions of his book every few years). McKeachie writes with the comfortable tone of an older faculty mentor giving words of wisdom to younger faculty (or teaching assistants).

Since McKeachie admittedly takes a “stance” on issues of teaching, it’s important to know where he’s coming from. He notes in his introduction that he is more focused on “learning” than “teaching,” that he is interested in creating students that are lifetime learners, and that he believes that reflection about one’s teaching is an important component of becoming a good teacher. These assumptions place him squarely within the mainstream of the scholarship of college teaching, which makes sense, as McKeachie’s books have helped to popularize this field. Reading, understanding, and being able to apply the lessons in McKeachie’s Teaching Tips will help college teachers bring their teaching up to speed with the current zeitgeists in college teaching.

Andrew Kerlow-Myers