Development and Implementation of a Graduate Student Teaching Certificate Program in the Department of Biological Sciences and Geosciences at Virginia Tech
Abstract
How do we help train graduate students for future careers in teaching and learning? At research focused institutions, graduate student instructional-training and experiences may be lacking (Prieto and Altmaier, 1993 and Park, 2004). The majority of graduate students at these institutions gain much-needed classroom experience through teaching laboratory courses. Numerous challenges for graduate students include, inexperience, being unfamiliar with the course management system(s), being unaware of available active learning strategies and other accepted pedagogical practices, assessing student learning, and handling cultural and language barriers. In collaboration with the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) at Virginia Tech (VT), a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) Certificate Program has been implemented in the Department of Biological Sciences and Geosciences. Biological Sciences piloted this GTA Teaching Certificate Program in Fall 2017/Spring 2018 and both Biological Sciences and Geosciences are offering this program to GTAs in Fall 2018/Spring 2019. The goal of this certificate program is to provide a method to gain pedagogical and practical teaching knowledge while balancing the already heavy course and research-load of a graduate student.
In order for the students to obtain the teaching certificate, they must attend the following required workshops: a) an introductory session on pedagogy presented by teaching and learning professionals (CETL), b) a learning management system tutorial (either online or in person), c) a series of workshops focused on creating informative and engaging class presentations, incorporating active learning strategies, and d) a student feedback and grading strategies tutorial. Additionally, students are required to complete a teaching observation of a recognized, effective teacher. Finally students choose one additional workshop from a list of professional development offerings on campus to attend. Through this teaching certificate program, we envision GTAs to become effective teachers, embracing a learning-centered approach in their classrooms and thereby providing students with higher quality learning experiences.- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFMED31B..03K
- Keywords:
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- 0820 Curriculum and laboratory design;
- EDUCATIONDE: 1630 Impacts of global change;
- GLOBAL CHANGEDE: 6309 Decision making under uncertainty;
- POLICY SCIENCESDE: 6630 Workforce;
- PUBLIC ISSUES