Content:  Be sure you are clear about what you are being asked to teach and how it fits into the rest of that course or the curriculum as a whole.  There are several ways to decide what content to cover.  Is there an old handout from a previous lecturer?  Is there a textbook you respect?  Can an experienced faculty member guide you?  What were you taught about this topic?  All of these methods will give you a place to start, then you can evolve from there.

Don’t try to cover everything!  Give the big picture, the “take home” points, and lots of examples.  Decide ahead of time what the most important points are, and make sure they are stressed.  The details can be left to the textbooks.  Later, be sure that your exam questions are consistent with what you have stressed.


If you are part of a team-taught course, the best thing to do is to attend the lectures that precede yours so you can take off where the other instructor left off.  If that’s not possible, at least talk to other instructors in the course so you can put your material in proper context. 
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