Linda Nilson, Director of the Center for Teaching at Vanderbilt, produced the volume under review for the whole Vanderbilt teaching community, rather than just for TAs, though their needs were undoubtedly influential in its conception. Teaching at Its Best is designed to serve the needs of any and all university teachers; determinedly broad in its approach, with a studied care for teaching demands in different disciplines; eclectic and pluralistic, rather than mastered by a thesis or party line; and--most of all--rich and profuse in useful ideas, this is a book from which every one of us will learn. Nilson calls it a toolbox, and it is a wondeful toolbox, one of those big ones on wheels, with thirty-two different wrenches and a drill bit for any hole you want to drill and many you haven't ever thought about yet. Every teaching center will benefit from having a copy of this book.

Considering its origins, there is very little here which is exclusively useful at Vanderbilt--some addresses, information about student services and technical support, discussion of the Vandy honor code and demographics of their student body. These demographics, coupled with the discussion of common problems like wheedling questions and glazed eyes during lectures, remind us that we faculty share needs and interests far more than we realize, regardless of where we teach.

It is tempting to quote at length, but a partial list of the contents may give a better idea of what is in this book. Preparatory chapters include "Understanding Your Students," "In the Beginning: Course Design and Objectives," "The Complete Syllabus," and "Your First Day of Class." More theoretical, or research-based, chapters are on "Learning Styles," "Questioning Techniques for Discussion and Assessment," "The Case Method," and "Cooperative Learning" (which includes "the case for cooperative learning"). There are good chapters on teaching in mathematics, in foreign languages, and in the sciences; there are chapters on assessing student progress and on constructing, preparing students for, and grading tests; there is a fine chapter on office hours, including an interesting suggestion for holding office hours somewhere other than your office; and there are suggestions for assessing teaching effectiveness, including student evaluations, peer evaluations, and using portfolios.

Just as important is the sound research base of what is contained in Teaching at Its Best. Chapters are thoroughly referenced and there is a six-page bibliography.

It helps that this book is well-written. There is a minimum of jargon and a maximum of detail. It is firm but human; it is not too serious to include an appeal to Ross Perot as well as one to Socrates.

A toolbox is most useful when you can look into it and find a tool for performing a specific task. This book is full of "tips" for any teacher (or student--the chapter on "Making the Lecture a Learning Experience" also contains 29 note-taking suggestions for students). Would you, or a beginning teacher, like assignment ideas for active learning? Are your students packing up early? Do you need some information on the optimal size of student groups? Have you heard about "higher-order" skills but aren't really sure what sorts of questions help develop them? Skeptical about the reliability of student evaluations? Worried about cheating? Linda Nilson has something that will help with each of these worries, tasks, or inquiries.

She quotes the useful saying that to a person with a hammer everything is a nail. This toolbox contains far more than hammers. That is what makes it pluralistic. Though it is possible to detect a preference for active, cooperative, and experiential learning and a suspicion of the pure lecture method; and though there is also some uneasiness about multiple-choice testing, nevertheless the guide ministers to those who lecture and those who use multiple-choice tests, too. It is not about what not to do; it is about how to do what we do--or want to do--better, more effectively, more purposively, more successfully and (probably) more happily. If every teacher wants to teach well--if we all aspire to teaching at its best--then this is a resource which can help any of us move closer to that goal.

Ordering information: Teaching at Its Best is available from the Center for Teaching, Vanderbilt University, Box 1537-B, Nashville, TN 37235, (615) 322-7290. Price: $10.00 plus $3.00 shipping (in the U.S.), for a total of $13.00. Outside of the U.S., shipping is $5.00, for a total of $15.00. Send a check or money order (institutional or personal) made out to "CENTER FOR TEACHING." Bulk discounts are available. Anyone interested should call Linda Nilson at (615) 322-7290 or email at .

Merritt Moseley
UNC at Asheville