Planning & Teaching Courses

Resources on planning and teaching Caltech courses are organized according to when you're most likely to need them:

• Before the course: textbooks, handbooks, syllabus/policy examples, course design, technology
• During the course: practices related to the Honor Code, grading and giving feedback, motivation, active learning, getting feedback
• Recitations, labs, and office hours: specific techniques for teaching in these special settings.

Before the course

• Textbooks and Course Reserves:
  • Course Reserves
• Handbooks:
  • Faculty Handbook (link). See Ch. 8 for information related to teaching and students, including the Honor System.
  • TA Handbook (document).
• Course, Syllabus, and Policies: 
  • Course and Syllabus Design (link)
  • Caltech Course Syllabus Template (document)
  • Caltech Accessibility Services for Students (link)
  • Designing Problem Sets and Exams (document)
• Honor Code Resources:
  • It is crucial to create clear and explicit collaboration policies for the course. These policies can vary by assignment. The following resources give an overview of why collaboration policies are important as well as examples of types of policies that are helpful (and some that are not). Collaboration policies should be clearly explained in the syllabus and it is useful to reiterate them on specific assignments.
    • Preventing Problems and Handling Issues (document)
    • Sample Collaboration Policies for Writing Assignments (link)
    • Sample Collaboration Policies for other assignments (document)
    • Sample Collaboration Policies, Developed by the undergraduate Board of Control (BoC) and Academics and Research Committee (ARC).
      • Collaboration Policies Checklist (document)
      • Collaboration Policies in Narrative Form (document)
• Technology:
  • Canvas Resources (guides on using modules, quizzes, assignments, speedgrader, gradebook, etc.)
  • Finding and Using Educational / Instructional Technology (link)
  • Media (video, audio) and classroom technology (link)

During the course

• Assessing Student Learning (link)
• Fair Grading and Effective Feedback (document)
• Motivating Students: Beyond the Carrot and the Stick (document)
• Promoting Study Skills (external link)
• Active Learning (link)
• Active Learning Strategies (document)
• Supporting Students Who Miss Coursework Due to Illness

Recitations, Labs, and Office Hours

• Effective Recitations: Helping Students Learn (document)
• Fostering Student Engagement through Office Hours (document)
• Thinking on Your Feet: Teaching Lab Classes Well (document)