Fuel your passion. Focus your energy. Teach Like a Champ. In higher education today, instructors face heavier workloads, shifting student needs, and increasing technological challenges. Amid these ever-mounting pressures, how does one feed a passion for teaching and students while safeguarding oneself from burnout? The answer lies in not only being effective at teaching, but also being efficient and taking care of yourself. Teach Like a Champ isn't just another teaching book-it's your sideline coach, your pep talk, and your playbook for thriving in higher education. Written by veteran educators with over 50 years' experience teaching and over 20 years' experience leading centers for teaching and learning, this book blends evidence-informed strategies, practical hacks, and real talk to help you teach effectively, efficiently, and sustainably. From course design and assessment to managing grading loads and using AI, you'll find tools to elevate your teaching while protecting your own well-being-so you can stay in the game and love it, year after year.
Regan A. R. Gurung, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at Oregon State University. After majoring in psychology at Carleton College, he earned a PhD at the University of Washington and completed a postdoc at UCLA. He has directed a center for teaching and learning and is past president of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology and Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology. He has published over 130 peer-reviewed articles and 15 books, taught over 15,000 students, and received the American Psychological Foundation's Charles L. Brewer Award for Distinguished Teaching in Psychology. Visit regangurung.com and follow @rargurung. Elizabeth Yost Hammer, PhD, is Kellogg Professor in Liberal Arts at Xavier University of Louisiana. She received the American Psychological Foundation's Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award and co-authored Psychology Applied to Modern Life and Myers' Psychology for the AP (R) Course. She served as president of Psi Chi, treasurer of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, co-chair for the American Psychological Association's Committee on Associate and Baccalaureate Education, and chief reader for the AP (R) Psychology Exam. For 17 years, she was the director of Xavier's Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development.
Preface. What Does It Mean to Teach Like a Champ? Chapter 1. Motivation and Inspiration: Are Good Teachers Born or Made? Chapter 2. Fundamentals of Good Teaching: A Pedagogical Canon Chapter 3. Capturing Effectiveness: Assessing Your Teaching Chapter 4. Increasing Efficiency: Finding Shorter Distances Between Two Points Chapter 5. Teach Happier, Teach Better: Coping With the Rigors of the Teaching Life Appendix A. Annotated Bibliography Appendix B. Our Top Ten (or So) Teaching Playbooks References
