The course begins as a 5-day institute, January 6-10 from 9:00AM to 4:00PM on most days. During the remainder of the semester follow-up activities are scheduled to give students practice in using the knowledge and skills acquired in the institute segment of the course. This is the equivalent of a full 3-credit course.

1. Develop a philosophy of teaching.
2. Develop teaching skills.
3. Become familiar with some of the literature on college teaching.
4. Design a course.
5. Develop a teaching portfolio.
6. Accomplish the specific objectives stated for each unit.

     These books are required:

McKeachie, W. J. (1999). Teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers. (10th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Perlman, B., McCann, L. I., & McFadden, S. H. (1999). Lessons learned: Practical advice for the teaching of psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Society.

     These books are recommended:

Boice, R. (1996). First-order principles for college teachers. Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Company.

Davis, B. G. (1993). Tools for teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

     The Psychology Department is developing a teaching resource room in which other materials will be placed.

     You will be completing assignments as you go through the units in the 5-day institute. Some assignments will be written (e.g., your teaching philosophy) others will be performed (e.g., presenting a lecture). Additional assignments will be made during the semester. See the section below on follow up.

     In order to receive a grade of A, you must

• complete all objectives for each unit at an acceptable level,
• attend all sessions of the institute,
• complete all assignments during the follow up period,
• submit a teaching portfolio that contains all required items and is judged to be of high quality by the instructor and your teaching mentor.

Lower grades will be given for work that is less complete or of lower quality, and for partial attendance.

     Attendance. The objectives of this course are achieved by your active involvement during class time, along with reading and activities outside of class and during the follow up period. Therefore attendance is expected at all institute sessions and follow up activities. However, illnesses and emergencies do happen, and you will be excused for good reasons. In that case you must find a way to make up what you missed. If you become ill for more than one day during the institute, you must drop the course.

Our class will meet in Shannon Hall, so it may be tempting to go to your office or get involved with students and others not involved in this course. Please minimize distractions. There will be ten-minute breaks each morning and afternoon, and lunch breaks each day, although we may decide to schedule one or two "working" lunches.

     Other policies. Because of the individual nature of your assignments and the frequent feedback you receive, missed assignments and dishonesty are unlikely to be problems, so no specific policy is needed in these areas.

INSTITUTE SCHEDULE

9:00   Welcome, introduction, and orientation.

9:30   Developing your teaching philosophy.

1:00   Planning a course.

Tuesday, Jan 7

9:00   Class presentations (lectures plus).

1:00   Managing small group discussions.

3:00   Technology demonstration, Mary Stephen, Center for Teaching Excellence.
         (Class may extend beyond 4:00 today.)

Wednesday, Jan 8

9:00   Design a class (one period or unit of a course).

11:00   Classroom assessment.

1:00   Mini-classes. Students teach in half-hour segments.

Thursday, Jan 9

9:00   Assessment and grading.

1:00   Ethics, cheating, and civility.

3:00   Evaluation of teaching.

Friday, Jan 10

8:30   Philosophy posters. [Note the earlier start time.]

9:00   Developing a teaching portfolio.

1:00   Review and reflection; preparation for follow up.

3:00   Institute evaluation.

4:00   Social event

AFTER THE INSTITUTE

     Our class will meet about every other week to discuss readings and teaching experiences.

Teaching mentor:

     Find a faculty member to be your teaching mentor. This person should agree to allow you to conduct some of the follow-up activities in her/his class, review your teaching philosophy and discuss it with you, observe your teaching live and on tape, and review your teaching portfolio. If Dr. Korn has agreed to be your mentor, we must find a co-mentor to give you a second opinion on your work.

Follow-up activities:

     1.  Course planning. Complete a syllabus for one undergraduate course that you expect to teach (but have not yet taught), including a narrative that explains how the course plan is related to your teaching philosophy. Include this syllabus in the teaching portfolio.

     2.  Observation. Visit one class of at least two different teachers to observe their techniques. Meet with the teachers to discuss their approach before and after each class.

     3.  Take responsibility for at least two class periods of a course. Develop a plan for each period using a variety of methods: lecture, demonstration, and active learning. One of these classes should be videotaped. Use classroom assessment to evaluate student learning. The regular instructor of the course should be present and provide feedback as soon as possible after the end of the class.

     4.  Manage discussions. One alternative here is to teach a small (10-15) discussion section of a large enrollment (70-100) course. In a small (20-35) enrollment course, divide the class into small (6-8) groups.

     5.  Assessment. Design an assignment and an examination, and grade the students.

     6.  Evaluation. Use multiple methods to evaluate teaching, including peer observation by another participant from the institute. The experience involves both being evaluated and doing evaluation. Meet with your mentor to discuss the results.

     7.  Teaching portfolio. Document your teaching experiences and write a self-evaluation. This portfolio is the final product on which to evaluate the work of participants in the teaching course, i.e., the five-day institute with follow up activities.

     8.  Do one of the following: (a) Design a research project on a teaching issue, and collect the data. Eventually this should be submitted for publication. (b) Design a poster or presentation on a teaching issue that could be presented at a teaching conference. Either the research or the presentation may be done in collaboration with other students, whether they are enrolled in this class or not.

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