GS302- Introduction to College Teaching Course Details
- What will I learn?
- Who can participate?
- Are there any prerequisites?
- When and where do they meet?
- How can I sign up to attend?
- Why should I participate?
- What are the benefits?
- What will I learn?
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By participating in this workshop series, you will learn principles and practices that can help you succeed in your role as an instructor in higher education. Topics include:
Planning & Designing an Effective Course
New faculty need to learn efficient ways to plan and design courses that are focused on students and learning. Rather than follow a simple approach of dividing course readings into assignments, you will learn various approaches to course design. For example, you might develop a course around the 4 P's model: preconditions, plans, processes, and products.
Beliefs about Students & Learning
New faculty hold personal theories about students and learning that often are implicit. This workshop will help make your tacit theories explicit in order to examine them in relation to formal theories of adult learning and motivation. Reflection on your beliefs and attention to learning styles can help you monitor student performance, respond to difficult classroom situations, and improve your own teaching.
Writing the Syllabus & Learning Objectives
New faculty must learn quickly how to write a good syllabus with clear learning goals and evaluation criteria. In fact, a good syllabus can alleviate many problem situations that develop in teaching. This workshop will help you evaluate syllabi and learning objectives (using syllabi for courses that you teach, TA, or attend) in relation to educational principles and Duke's Curriculum 2000 learning matrix.
Selecting Teaching Methods & Learning Activities
New faculty soon realize that the goal of teaching is to facilitate student learning. This workshop will help you identify and choose appropriate teaching strategies and learning activities from the vast number of methods available (lecture, discussion, case study, projects, Blackboard, Powerpoint, etc.). You will also consider the need for selecting methods that take into account cultural and ethnic diversity, as well as different ways of knowing.
Evaluating Teaching & Learning
New faculty often search for ways to evaluate their own teaching and to obtain feedback from students. Several quick, easy, and unobtrusive methods are available and can be used in the classroom. An ongoing process of evaluation can supplement the standard source of final student ratings, and can help you recognize and respond sooner to student concerns.
Integrative Seminar on Teaching & Learning
New faculty must learn to integrate their beliefs about students and learning with actual classroom experiences. Participants will engage in critical reflection and complete a small project (course syllabus, philosophy of teaching statement, etc.) to document their professional development as a teacher (required when applying to some academic positions). Opportunity for peer review and feedback will help you engage in conversations about the scholarship of teaching and learning.
- Who can participate?
GS302 is open to any Ph.D. student at Duke (humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, basic medical sciences) who would like to learn more about teaching. Those who hope to teach a summer course, teach a course in their department, or to become future faculty are encouraged to participate.
While open to postdocs and Duke faculty members, priority will be given to graduate students.
- Are there any prerequisites?
There are no prerequisites for GS302. It is designed as a workshop series that culminates in the creation of your own course syllabi or statement of teaching philosophy.
- When and where do they meet?
Each workshop is 75 minutes long, and the series will be offered two or three times per semester. Check the current schedule in ACES or online or contact the Director.
- How can I sign up to attend?
To register, graduate students should register through ACES. However, you will need to email Doug James at douglas.james@duke.edu to request a permission number. Other interested persons should simply email Dr. James directly.
- Why should I participate?
Classroom teaching skills, like research and writing skills, require time and effort to learn, practice, and develop. Research studies on exemplary teachers and successful new faculty reveal common characteristics. These workshops will help you learn and develop some of these qualities. Each workshop will address a basic issue in classroom pedagogy while offering a safe and hospitable place to discuss the challenges and rewards of teaching. By learning how to plan and design a course efficiently, you are better able to balance teaching duties with other demands of personal life, research, community service, and professional pursuits.
- What are the benefits?
These workshops can enhance your personal journey as a graduate student and your professional development as a leader in higher education in several ways. You will:
- Learn various approaches to course planning and design;
- Engage in interdisciplinary conversations about teaching;
- Consider ways to handle difficult students and classroom situations;
- Learn ways to obtain and use student feedback to improve teaching;
- Apply your analytical skills to engage in critical reflection on teaching;
- Complete a project (syllabus, statement of teaching philosophy, etc.) that documents your professional development as a teacher.
Official transcript credit for GS302 will be submitted to the Registrar following completion of the workshops.
For more information:
Douglas L. James, Ph.D.
Director of Academic Support Programs
127 Allen Building, The Graduate School
Box 90068, Durham, NC 27708
Phone: 919/681-3251
Fax: 919/684-2277
Email: douglas.james@duke.edu
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