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Title: Advice for New Faculty Members by Robert Boice ISBN: 0-205-28159-1 Publisher: Pearson Allyn & Bacon Pub. Date: 21 January, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (7 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Great advice but quite repetitive
Comment: The tips are great, but skim rather than pore over the book because the recommendations are presented over and over. Especially useful are Boice's suggestions for managing "student incivilities". His methods will help you keep students from being rude, late and argumentative. The main thrust of the book is excellent: professors need to focus on process as well as content, and new teachers usually try to cram too much material into their lectures. I'm a clinical psychologist who coaches junior faculty trying to get tenure, and I recommend this book often to new professors.
Rating: 5
Summary: Mentor in a Box
Comment: I am surprised that anyone who criticizes this book as obvious is bothering to read such a book. If it is so obvious, then you are probably one of the "exemplars" that Boice studied to formulate his analysis. Either that, or one of the struggling faculty members he studied, who fail because they are too proud to believe that anyone else has anything to offer. For the rest of us mortals, this book is fantastic.
One thing other reviewers have not emphasized is the extent to which Boice bases his advice on his field studies of faculty. It apparently has been his life's work to study what determines whether university faculty succeed or fail. This gives him unique credibility.
Yes, I acknowledge that it may be a bit off-putting because it is written somewhat in the style of self-help books, i.e., very informal, a bit repetitive, with some of that schtick that runs: "follow my 5 step program to success, because I have uncovered the key heretofore only known by a few, etc." However, the big difference between this and any self-help book is that he can back it up with research. I guess that's how you write self-help books for academics. (And don't misunderstand me, even when it sounds like a self-help book, it's like the better self-help books. This is clearly a labor of love for Boice.)
This book is like one of those rare, great mentors. It doesn't tell you war stories, or give you a laundry list of techniques. Instead, it tells you how to be effective at your job. It describes the day-to-day processes and habits that so many successful people are terrible at articualting ("well, you just do it"). I suspect most academics really can use this. Yes, it's probably the kind of stuff that would be obvious to an outgoing, outwardly directed person like a salesman or politician, but the inwardly-focused types who tend to be drawn to academia really need this kind of help.
Rating: 5
Summary: Best advice on writing practices I have read.
Comment: Some reviewers have criticized this book for being obvious. I found it anything but. The culture of my field says that the way to write a paper is to set aside large, uninterrupted blocks of time. It was an eye-opening experience to see hard data that show it is more effective to write in brief daily sessions. These writers are roughly twice as productive by several measures (pages written, manuscripts published) and also report themselves to be happier. This idea changed my professional life.
One more word---the advice in Boice's book can be *very* difficult to follow. I found the book only somewhat helpful with, for example, the difficulties of stopping when one feels ``on a roll.'' I have nevertheless found this an invaluable book.
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Title: McKeachie's Teaching Tips : Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers by Wilbert McKeachie, Barbara Hofer, Nancy Van Note Chism, Erping Zhu, Matthew Kaplan, Brian Coppola, Andrew Northedge, Claire Ellen Weinstein, Jane Halonen, Marilla Svinicki ISBN: 0618116494 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 01 January, 1900 List Price(USD): $40.76 |
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Title: Professors As Writers by Robert Boice ISBN: 091350713X Publisher: New Forums Pr Pub. Date: February, 1990 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Ms. Mentor's Impeccable Advice for Women in Academia by Emily Toth ISBN: 0812215664 Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press Pub. Date: July, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.75 |
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Title: Classroom Assessment Techniques : A Handbook for College Teachers by Thomas A. Angelo, K. Patricia Cross ISBN: 1555425003 Publisher: Jossey-Bass Pub. Date: 26 February, 1993 List Price(USD): $43.00 |
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Title: Lifting a Ton of Feathers: A Woman's Guide to Surviving in the Academic World by Paula J. Caplan ISBN: 0802074111 Publisher: Univ of Toronto Pr Pub. Date: May, 1993 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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