The Ex Ce Ed Teaching Workshop: Hints To Successful Teaching

The purpose of this paper is to present successful teaching hints identified by one team as a result of their experience in the ExCEEd (Excellence in Civil Engineering Education) Teaching Workshop (ETW) and proven successful during the course of last year. ETW is an American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) sponsored one-week course offered at the United States Military Academy (USMA) and the University of Arkansas that provides the participants with the foundation necessary for continued growth and development towards teaching excellence. The team, comprised of six faculty members from various universities throughout the country, adapted what they learned during their ETW experience (i.e., kept journals) and through selfassessment and assessments by peers and students upon returning home to offer several successful teaching hints. The teaching hints, which are consistent with the literature on successful teaching, can be categorized into four areas: organization, preparation, practice, and rapport. This paper describes these teaching hints with everything from “full dress rehearsals” to memorizing your student’s first names. The effectiveness of these hints with respect to teacher performance evaluations, student feedback, and self-assessments is also included.