This annotated bibliography of selected educational literature was developed to support USC faculty, administrators, and schools in the development and evaluation of excellence in teaching. The focus, particularly in the section Teaching Best Practices in the USC Definition of Excellence in Teaching Criteria, is on published research that experimentally validates the effectiveness of practices that promote student learning outcomes. Priority is given to meta-analyses that critically analyze the results of multiple studies and provide corresponding references. The bibliography is not intended to include foundational texts for each topic nor provide literature specific to each discipline.  For additional literature specific to your discipline, you may wish to review the USC Libraries Research Guide indexing educational journals by discipline.

All references are obtainable from USC Libraries through online access, hardcopy, or, in a few cases, interlibrary loan.

These texts evaluate practices. They do not provide guidance on effective implementation. For resources on how to implement best practices in course design and teaching, please search the CET resources or contact CET at usccet@usc.edu.

If you have recommendations for additional resources to add to the list, please let us know by sending an email to usccet@usc.edu.

Click on underlined items to view a list of relevant publications. A printer-friendly version of this page is available for download.

Teaching best practices in the USC Definition of Teaching Excellence criteria

Respectful and professional

• Students producing self-explanations

Challenging and supportive

• Classroom environment

• Defining learning objectives

• Promoting higher-order thinking

Inclusive and diverse

• Groupwork

• Reducing student stress

• Student participation

Relevant and engaging

• Limited use of lecture

• Active learning

• Classroom discussion

• Problem solving

• Use of real-world/concrete examples

• Visual support for instruction

Prepared and purposeful

• Activating prior student knowledge

• Instructor demonstrating worked examples

• Student reflection

Fair and equitable

• Establishing learning goals with students

• Instructor feedback

Evidence-based

• Formative assessment

• Grading based on student mastery

• Rubrics

Defining teaching excellence

Faculty development

Instructor evaluation

• Systems for instructor evaluation

• Student surveys

General teaching and learning resources