teaching - How to improve myself as a lecturer?

I am a new lecturer in the field of Computer Science. I got my MSc and I would like to go for a PhD. However, I would like to improve my teaching methods and way of thinking before I pursue this goal. Any recommended books or articles?

Answer

The way I learned how to lecture was just drawing on things other professors did that were beneficial to me. If you are going to get a PhD however, teaching will be secondary. The focus on the program you go in will be teaching you how to conduct research and write papers for publications.

That being said the best way to improve, in my opinion, is to record yourself giving a lecture. Just audio is fine, make sure you are covering the context... Every lecture I give I make sure I have the following components in it:

1. I get to class early to talk to students as they come in and make sure I have all of the equipment ready to go.


2. I bring some anecdotal humor into the lecture. I don't sit there and tell knock knock jokes, but I make it relevant to them.


3. Use previous material to frame the new material.


4. Let them go early if I finish early.

In addition to that I use an Audience Response System, or clicker, and that helps keep the students actively engaged (class of 350 freshmen).