Teaching Experience: Why All Graduate Students Need It and Innovative Ways to Get It. COES Grad Seminar Dr. Jenna P. Carpenter Director, OWISE

Transcription

1 Teaching Experience: Why All Graduate Students Need It and Innovative Ways to Get It COES Grad Seminar Dr. Jenna P. Carpenter Director, OWISE

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3 Benefits of Acquiring Teaching Experience u Determining if (or confirming that) you really do like to teach u Preparing you to teach when you do get an academic position u Making you more competitive for both an academic position or an industrial career u Enhancing your own understanding u Improving your communication and interpersonal skills

4 Benefits of Acquiring Teaching Experience u Following 95 graduate students for a year, those who taught were able to write far better research proposals (having testable hypotheses, methodology, experimental design and data analysis). u The report suggests that teaching experience is a value-added component of graduate research training, rather than a diversion from valuable research time. u Researchers said that academics in the hard sciences often lack teaching skills, so including teaching as part of graduate studies may better prepare future researchers for teaching.

5 Types of Teaching Experience u Teaching Assistantships u Talks & Guest Lectures u Team Teaching u Teaching a Full Course

6 Teaching Assistantships u Gain experience in essential non-lecturing responsibilities associated with teaching: Grade homework or labs Prepare lab experiments Write up handouts Answer student questions Proctor make-up exams Write and give quizzes or homework problems

7 Talks & Guest Lectures u Updates on your work for students in your advisor s lab u Give a talk at an on-campus seminar u Give a talk at a local, regional, or national conference u Give a guest lecture for a professor in a class u Substitute in a class for a professor who is absent

8 Team Teaching u Share responsibilities for teaching a class with a professor u Work together to teach the course u Take turns lecturing u Work together to develop homework, make out and grade exams, etc.

9 Teaching a Full Course u This is the best preparation! u You are responsible for all aspects of the course u It is very time-consuming u This is often best to do near the end of your graduate experience u It is good to find a mentor with whom you can discuss issues, ask questions, get tips on how to explain material or handle issues

10 How to Find Good Teaching Opportunities u Let your advisor know! Often faculty are willing to support and encourage you if they know you are interested in guest lectures, substitute teaching, teaching a full course. u Find other graduate students who are engaged in these teaching opportunities and talk with them to see how they secured them. u Find out what courses are offered in which you would be interested and qualified to guest lecture, substitute for or teach.

11 Preparing for a Successful Experience u In preparing a lecture, think about the objectives of the course, your objective for the lecture, the background and interest of the students. u Reflect on what your teachers have done that you liked or didn t like; what have your best teachers done and how? u Talk to a professor who has taught the course (to avoid mistakes and save lots of time). u Get feedback on your teaching mid-quarter so you can make changes before the end-of-course evaluations. u Remember no one gets it completely right the first time; even the best teachers are always improving.

12 Watch Your Time u Teaching requires a lot of time. u Don t overcommit yourself. u You want to do a quality job. u You may want to TA, give talks/guest lectures, substitute instead of teaching a full course. u Every experience you get can be used to strengthen your resume.

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14 Reference Reis, R.M. (2000). How to Get All-Important Teaching Experience. The Chronicle of Higher Education.