Classroom techniques

STEMskiller: Skill Set Map for Mentors of Early Career Researchers

LEARNING, TEACHING, AND SUPERVISING

Techniques: Early career researchers in the classroom

Definition:

The term “teaching and supervision basics” incorporates many aspects of the teaching and learning theory and practice. Some institutions provide basic classes to their faculty members, sometimes in a mandatory fashion. The goal: to improve the quality of management, mentoring, and classroom or online teaching for the institution and to prepare faculty members for improving management, mentoring, and teaching and learning interactions. Basics deemed necessary by institutions or societies may change over time in response to societal trends (as witnessed in early 2020 with a swift move to online instruction, necessitating new understandings on the eLearning environment).

Useful resources on Classroom techniques for early career researchers:

Berkeley Center for Teaching & Learning. (2020). Resources. https://teaching.berkeley.edu/resources

Relevant and timely guides to: Remote Best Practices, How Students Learn, Effective Course Design, Engaging Our Students, Experiment and Iterate, New to Campus (useful model for other institutions without such documentation), Assessment and Evaluation, and Reading and Composition.

Berkeley Graduate Division Graduate Student Instructor Teaching & Resource Center. (2020). Faculty resources. https://gsi.berkeley.edu/faculty-departments/

Comprehensive, detailed mentoring guides for faculty working with GAs/GTAs/GRAs (GSIs).

The Chronicle of Higher Education’s “Teaching” section and weekly newsletter. Sample: McMurthrie, B. (2020, June 18). Sample post: ‘We can’t ignore this issue’: How to talk with students about racism. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/We-Can-t-Ignore-This/249001?cid=wcontentlist_hp_latest

The Chronicle of Higher Education is considered one of the main sources of academic affairs information in the United States. Its open content is often timely and provides advice for societal topics which institutions may be slow to react to (often, in relation to sensitive/”political” topics). The Chronicle also provide a comprehensive list of academic jobs in the United States.

MIT Teaching+Learning Lab. (n.d.). Teaching materials. https://tll.mit.edu/design/teaching-materials

Links to key materials used with instructors of all levels, including teaching assistants. Topics included: syllabus statements, course evaluations, grading rubrics, guidelines for teaching (at MIT), interactive teaching and active learning, intended learning outcomes, strategic teaching and strategic teaching analysis, developing a teaching philosophy statement, tips for TAs, and teaching teamwork.

Stanford University Teaching Commons. (n.d.). (a.) Teaching resources. https://teachingcommons.stanford.edu/resources/teaching-resources, (b.) Mentoring. https://teachingcommons.stanford.edu/resources/mentoring-resources

(a.) Overview to key aspects of effective teaching: Planning Your Approach, Teaching Strategies, Student-Teacher Communication, Small Groups and Discussions, Evaluating Your Teaching, Evaluating Students.

(b.) General mentoring resources (Characteristics of a Good Mentor, Setting Expectations between Mentor and Mentee, Effective Listening) as well as helpful tips for mentoring GAs/GTAs/GRAs (Setting Teaching Goals, Development Stages of TAs, Setting Teaching Goals Worksheet, TA Mentoring Scenarios).

Tags: IPS IA; IPS CritT; IPS CreaT; IPS WC; IPS OC; IPS R; IPS QL; IPS IL; IPS T; IPS PS; PSR CE; PSR IKC; PSR ER; PSR LL; PSR GL; IAL IntL; CompQ

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STEMskiller: Skill Set Map for Mentors of Early Career Researchers

LEARNING, TEACHING, AND SUPERVISING

Techniques: Early career researchers in the classroom

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