Assignments

On this page you will find a description of assignments for the course:

1. Teaching Statement
2. Teaching Brief
3. Practical Teaching Project
4. Teaching Portfolio

Teaching Statement

We will focus much of the course on helping you develop a 1-2 page “teaching statement,” also known as a “teaching philosophy.”  We emphasize this assignment because:

• The process of writing a teaching statement can yield important insights about the kind of teacher you are or would like to be, what you find challenging/satisfying about teaching, and about the role you’d like teaching to play in your career.  We know of no more powerful tool for stimulating reflections on teaching and learning.
• Most academic positions require some version of a teaching statement during the job application process, and professors are increasingly asked to submit teaching statements or portfolios for tenure and promotion.  Writing a compelling teaching statement takes time and multiple drafts.  So we’d like to help you get started now!

Even if you have little formal teaching experience, it is still valuable to begin developing your teaching statement.  You can draw upon your experience and observatons as a learner, and you may have other teaching-related experiences you can weave in, such as giving research presentations, tutoring, mentoring, coaching, working with patients or clients, etc.  Without overstating your experience, you can still use the lessons you have learned and insights you have gained as a basis for making statements about how you will teach in the future.

Effective teaching statements tend to be:

• 1-2 pages (single-spaced)
• Written in the first-person, without citations
• Supported by specific examples that explain general statements
• Grounded in your discipline (“one of the challenges of teaching astronomy is…”)
• Unique to you (i.e., couldn’t have been written by anyone else)

Additional resources can be found at:

• Writing a Teaching Statement
• Developing a Teaching Portfolio
• Teaching Portfolio Resources

 

Due Date: Prepare a draft for peer review in class on January 21, and a final draft will be due as part of your Teaching Portfolio Assignment on the last day of class.

 

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Teaching Brief

Prepare a briefing on one teaching approach or strategy that is (or could be) particularly useful in your discipline.  Prepare a one-page set of Briefing Notes to share with others in class in order to introduce them to the topic and identify helpful resources they might refer to as starting points.

Possible strategies and approaches to look at include:

• Active Learning
• Cooperative or Collaborative Learning
• Inclusive Teaching
• Problem-Based Learning
• Teaching First-Year Students
• Using Writing as a Teaching Strategy

Possible questions to address include:

1. How are people using ___ in your disciplines?
2. What is gained by using ___? What is lost?
3. What does ___ require from the instructor? From the students?
4. How do you determine the effectiveness of ___?

Possible resources to consult for this project include:

• Materials on the CIDR web site or in the CIDR Reading Room
• Staff at CIDR, CELT, Catalyst, or other centers on campus that specialize in teaching and learning issues
• Colleagues in your department or at other institutions
• Jessica and Wayne

 

Due Date: Submit your Teaching Brief via email prior to class on February 11, and be ready to present it in class that day. 

 

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Practical Teaching Project

Propose and conduct one specific project related to teaching, to take place in a setting in which you are already active: for example, a class you are teaching, your department, or a professional organization. Implement the project, and submit a one-page report explaining:

1. what you did,
2. what you learned from it, and
3. what you would recommend to someone else who might like to do something similar.

A practical project can be anything that represents an opporunity to learn something new for the person who does the project. For example,

• Pair up with a classmate from a different discipline and help each other figure out how a newcomer experiences classes in your field.
• Interview faculty in your department or at other types of institutions (for example, a community college or four-year liberal arts college).
• Raise questions about teaching on disciplinary discussion lists, or start a teaching discussion group among fellow graduate students in your department.

If you are currently teaching, you might try something you haven't done before in your class:

• Arrange for a midterm class interview.  (note: the earlier you arrange this, the better!)
• Use a new approach to collecting student feedback.
• Arrange with a colleague for peer observations of your teaching.
• Have a class meeting videotaped and review it with a CIDR consultant.
• Try an active learning strategy that you haven't used before.

 

Due Date: Project ideas should be proposed no later than February 4, and will be presented in class on March 4.

 

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Teaching Portfolio

The final Teaching Portfolio assignment for this class will include four components:

1. A revised teaching philosophy statement.  You have many sources of material for your revision:  comments received during peer review and from the instructor, as well as insights gleaned from your practical teaching project .  In addition, you should now revise your teaching statement so it refers the reader to the portfolio section you include (explained below).

2. One section of your teaching portfolio.  The goal here is to provide specific evidence of how you have put (or will put) your teaching philosophy into practice.  You can focus on past or future teaching in this section of your portfolio:

   • You can highlight previous experience by supplying at least one artifact of your teaching (e.g., a handout or assignment you’ve created, a write-up of an activity you use, selected student ratings or comments, a summary of midterm feedback, a syllabus you wrote, etc.)

   • You can highlight future plans for teaching by writing out a section of your portfolio on Teaching Goals, or by providing a tentative syllabus or plans for a class that you anticipate teaching.   This section may also highlight lessons learned from your Practical Teaching Project or Teaching Brief for this course

3. Annotate this section of your portfolio with a brief commentary on how it relates to your teaching philosophy.  Please refer to the handout provided in class for examples of different annotation or narration styles that can be used to guide readers’ consideration of artifacts in the appendix.

4. Finally, prepare a brief presentation of your portfolio.   You will meet with a small group for peer review, and begin by presenting:  a) what you are hoping to communicate by putting your portfolio together in this way, and b) what types of feedback you would like to receive from your colleagues in class.

 

Due Date: Submit materials in hard copy on or before the last day of class. Presentations will take place in class on March 11.

 

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email: cidr@u.washington.edu
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