Graduate Student Instructor Program: ASPECTS
Advancing Students' Professional Excellence with Certificates in Teaching
Series
ASPECTS encourages ongoing pedagogical, personal and professional development throughout your career as a graduate student instructor. During each long semester, GSIs will have the opportunity to attend sessions presented by teaching, learning, assessment and technology professionals. You may choose to complete sessions to earn one or more certificates, or to attend individual sessions as you wish.
Look at
FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions for ASPECTS
"I can sing the praises of using examples all day but I figure
I'll practice what I preach. We focus on frequency response during
a portion of my class. I can talk about Bode plots and bandwidth
till I'm blue in the face and my students will nod and say they
understand it but they have blank stares on their faces. However,
there is (or was) a real life example of what happens when modal
(frequency response) analysis is not performed. A bridge, built
in the early twentieth century, called the Tacoma
Narrows bridge was nick-named Galloping Girdie. Most engineering
students have seen film of this bridge undulating like a perverted
sine wave. Conjuring that image helps explain that concept applied
to the flat plate they're studying with accelerometers. I also use
cars and other everyday systems to help explain difficult concepts." |
Promising
PracticesRegister for individual sessions.
Simply choose the sessions(s) that you would like to attend and register for them online. If you decide at a later date that you would like to apply for a certificate based on your offering attendance, you may do so under the guidelines provided on our Web site.
Certificates Series
A certificate from the GSI Program provides tangible evidence that you have been willing to go beyond the minimum requirements of your GSI position to explore ways of becoming more effective in classrooms, labs or office hours. Earning certificates indicates a dedication to your department, your students, and to your own self-development. In addition to attending the sessions, you will be required to complete an essay which incorporates application and self-reflection, believed to be essential components of development as a teacher and a professional. GSIs who have participated in certificate programs at other institutions have realized additional benefits such as enhanced job placement upon graduation.
Additional reasons to consider pursuing certificates through the GSI program include:
- Placing the certificates in your teaching portfolio.
- Providing records of your completion to your graduate coordinators or advisers.
- Using the certificate program as a professional development plan to improve your teaching in specific areas that your student evaluations have indicated as problematic.
Finally, a certificate provides evidence to your department that you are gaining expertise in teaching. In departments where getting a position as a TA or an AI is competitive, this documentation could assist you.
To earn a certificate through the ASPECTS program, you must attend a total of five sessions. First, choose a Certificate Series that meets your current needs and interests. Register for and attend those three sessions. Next, register for and attend two elective sessions. (Note: All of the certificate sessions are also included in the electives.)
You will be required to complete a 900-1200 word essay which incorporates application and self-reflection, believed to be essential components of teaching and professional development. The essay will be scored by a team of presenters using a scoring rubric. Upon satisfactory completion and evaluation of the essay, you will receive a certificate.
Register for a certificates series »
Example essays with comments:
About the Certificate Series (PDF)
If you have any questions or comments about the ASPECTS program, please feel free to e-mail us at aspects@utlists.utexas.edu.