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. 9 for info related to teaching and students, including the Honor System.
  • TA Handbook (document).
• Syllabus and Policies: 
  • Caltech Course Syllabus Template (document)
  • Sample Collaboration Policies for Writing Assignments (link)
  • Sample Collaboration Policies for other assignments (document)
  • Collaboration Policy Checklist (document)
  • Caltech Accessibility Services for Students (link)
• Course Design:
  • Designing Problem Sets and Exams (document)
• Technology:
  • Finding and Using Educational / Instructional Technology (link)
  • Media (video, audio) and classroom technology (link)

During the course

• Honor Code Resources:
  • Preventing Problems and Handling Issues (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)
• Fair Grading and Effective Feedback (document)
• Motivating Students: Beyond the Carrot and the Stick (document)
• Active Learning Methods (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)