|
GSI
TA Talk Highlight
Taking Advantage of Resources for Professional Development
by Joanne Holladay
Working as a TA or an AI is an important part of your professional development in graduate school. In addition to your appointment, there are other options to help continue your professional growth and many of them right here at the University of Texas at Austin.
398T Supervised College Teaching
Depending on your department, in many instances, the supervised teaching course is required for you to be a TA or AI. Taking this course is a wonderful opportunity to gain knowledge and experience with pedagogy as you develop content knowledge in your particular field.
ASPECTS Sessions
DIIA's Graduate Student Instructor Program provides opportunities to advance your pedagogical, professional, and personal development. One of these opportunities is through the ASPECTS program. ASPECTS — Advancing Students' Professional Excellence with Certificates in Teaching Series — offers multiple sessions throughout each long semester designed to promote and encourage ongoing growth and development in teaching and professionalism. DIIA offers certificates in pedagogy. Session topics include "Understanding Your Students," "Leading Effective Discussions," and "Teaching with Powerpoint." Certificates are awarded based on attending three related seventy-five minute sessions, two selections from a list of electives or attendance at the Graduate Student Colloquium, and receiving a passing score on an application-based essay. For more information or to register, go to http://www.utexas.edu/academic/diia/gsi/aspects/.
Graduate Student Colloquium
At the beginning of each academic year DIIA sponsors a colloquium for graduate students. During this one-day colloquium graduate students will have an opportunity to learn about pedagogy and network with other graduate students interested in teaching and learning. Attendees also receive elective credit toward an ASPECTS certificate. Sessions at the various conferences have included some of the following topics: Time management, grading, leading successful discussion sections, developing classroom authority, Blackboard, and improving student learning.
Individual Consulting
GSIs commonly find some instructional coaching helpful during their teaching career at UT. DIIA staff devoted to GSI-specific teaching needs are available to support and advise you on syllabus and activity design, effective classroom management, and even strategies for inspiring (or re-inspiring) yourself and your students.
Contact Mark Decker at markldecker@austin.utexas.edu to set up an e-mail, telephone, or face-to-face conversation about any aspect of your teaching.
Midterm Assessment Consulting
Frequent feedback from students assists instructors in meeting their students’ needs. Instructors may tend to rely solely on the final student course surveys, far too late to make any adjustments that could help students learn more effectively. DIIA offers an online tool, the Ongoing Course Assessment (OCA), for instructors to get anonymous feedback from students about their classes. Using this tool frequently throughout the semester will ensure that you and your students are meeting the learning goals of the course, giving you the opportunity make changes if needed.
DIIA staff is available to meet with GSIs who are interested in designing their own mid-semester and ongoing feedback instruments for their classes, or other assessment tools.
Informal Ways of Professional Development
- Develop a Teaching Portfolio
One of the newest methods of developing and demonstrating teaching skill is to create a teaching portfolio. Teaching portfolios document selected information and activities as well as evidence of their effectiveness. Graduate school is an excellent time to begin building your teaching portfolio as many hiring committees as well as tenure review committees require evidence of good teaching. - Peer observation/Supervisor Observation
Enlisting the help of a colleague or a supervisor to watch you teach can provide a wealth of information about the things you do well and areas in which you need to improve. Videotaping your teaching can also help you to discover your strengths and weaknesses. There's nothing like having to sit through one of your own lectures to find out how you are doing. - Informal Mid-semester Evaluations
Creating an informal midsemester evaluation for your students to fill out is an excellent way to check in and see what changes can be made before the end of the semester. It also shows your students that you are concerned about your teaching and learning. For more information on creating a midsemester evaluation, contact Mark Decker: markldecker@austin.utexas.edu - Books/Journals
There are many excellent journals that focus on developing your teaching skills. Some examples include Journal for Graduate Teaching Assistant Development, College Teaching, and the Journal of Excellence in College Teaching. Each discipline also has journals for promoting good teaching in particular fields. Consult with your adviser as to specific titles for your field of study.