Professional Development in Teaching Program
Synopsis
Formalized training in pedagogy for graduate students and postdocs from across all disciplines.
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Program Overview
The Professional Development in Teaching Program is designed to be the starting point for a career that includes teaching. The program emphasizes the practice of scholarly teaching, which is defined as teaching that draws on evidence-based classroom strategies suggested by current educational research and that prioritizes self-reflection and assessment. Throughout the program, participants will have the opportunity to engage in cross-disciplinary conversations about teaching and learning, while developing and refining their own approach to teaching.
Political Science Graduate Student and Program Alumnus
William O'Brochta
"Completing the Professional Development in Teaching Program helped me critically assess and reflect on my teaching in a systematic and structured way. The program also introduced me to a supportive teaching community of CTL staff and fellow graduate students."
Levels of Engagement
The program allows graduate student and postdoc participants to engage along a number of levels (described in the image below: Community Member, Associate, Innovator, Practitioner, and Scholar). The structure is built to allow for different ways of fulfilling requirements, depending upon the amount and kinds of teaching experiences offered to students and postdocs in different programs. The program is built around three core components: taking workshops, documenting teaching experiences, and reflecting on teaching. The tenets of this program have been developed in accordance with the core goals and motivating principles of the CIRTL network of which Washington University is a proud member institution.
Objectives
Throughout the program, participants will have the opportunity to:
- Learn about effective research-based pedagogical strategies through participation in Center for Teaching and Learning workshops and apply these strategies in teaching experiences.
- Reflect on teaching experiences through feedback from faculty or Center for Teaching and Learning staff, students, and self-reflection.
- Develop and articulate a well-informed teaching approach by writing and revising a teaching philosophy statement.
- Explore the field of pedagogical scholarship through planning and implementing a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) project.
The objectives listed above are tied to particular levels of engagement in the Professional Development in Teaching Program. Further detailed information about specific requirements can be found in the available downloads and in the levels of engagement page.