Unlike primary and secondary educators, professors are typically not taught how to teach; nor are they expected to have been. This is particularly true of adjunct professors, who may have roots in industry. A Guide To Classroom Instruction For Adjunct Faculty, published by the American Chemical Society, was written to help solve this problem. It promotes critical thinking about teaching at the college level and provides a number of helpful hints and ideas. Because this guide touches upon several concepts that are important to effective teaching, but perhaps not obviously so, all teaching faculty—adjunct and full-time, seasoned and new—can benefit.

A Guide To Classroom InstructionÉ is laid out in four chapters. Chapter 1, "Introduction to Classroom Instruction," discusses basic preparation, from understanding institutional policies and procedures to thinking about how to handle difficult students. Chapter 2, "Fundamentals of Learning," delves into modern theories of how students learn as well as other factors that influence learning, such as age and cultural background. Various levels of instructor involvement during class are discussed in Chapter 3, "Methods of Delivering Instruction." Chapter 4, "Administration, Evaluation and Feedback," presents ways in which to better execute the teaching/learning cycle.

A Guide To Classroom InstructionÉ is quite readable. It is concise (only 45 pages!), and the ideas are well organized and clearly presented; key concepts are outlined in the margins. Perhaps as important, it is visually attractive. It contains large, good quality color photos both on the cover and throughout the text, and it also contains tables and figures in color.

One appealing aspect is the impartiality that is maintained regarding various approaches to teaching. This guide promotes the idea that there is not one, true method for effective teaching; any of a number of methods may be appropriate for a given situation, and a given set of students. Consequently, a variety of methods are presented, their pros and cons are discussed, and the notion of adaptability is heavily stressed. "Instruction is a combination of art and science. To be effective, you must experiment, practice, borrow from others, and not be afraid of making mistakes."

Among the best attributes are the appendices. Appendix 1 discusses each of the four realistic, thought-provoking case scenarios from the chapters, and provides several suggestions. Appendix 2 presents statistics on the typical community college student in the United States, which may allow for a better understanding of one's audience. Appendix 3 outlines personality types that may affect classroom interaction, and suggests ways in which to handle them. An example of a complete syllabus comprises Appendix 4, and a sample lesson plan can be found in Appendix 5. Appendix 6 is a glossary, designed to familiarize readers with terms and phrases used in the education community.

Although scarce, there are a few areas that could be improved. Some may find portions of each chapter a bit slow; at times, significant space is allocated to seemingly rudimentary concepts (for instance, types of exam questions, such as "multiple choice", "true-false", etc., are defined at some length). Additionally, the guide could be substantially improved by including several more case scenarios with corresponding discussions; significantly more than four types of difficult classroom scenarios exist. Finally, although occasionally mentioned, the guide does not appear to stress enough the importance of tapping other faculty for advice; there is no better source of wisdom than those with experience.

All said, A Guide To Classroom InstructionÉ is well constructed, easy to read, thoughtful, and, for the most part, to the point. It is clear that the American Chemical Society believes it should be read. This reviewer agrees.