This course is designed primarily to prepare those with no or little formal training as educators to assume instructional roles in higher education. Considerable emphasis is given to understanding the process of learning and the characteristics of learners. Participants in this course will observe, reflect, discuss, and write about teaching, in addition to practicing instructional skills. Students in this course are welcome to sign these materials out, but are normally expected to return them at the next class meeting. Our task as educators is to bring our disciplines alive in a way that makes learning accessible and meaningful.
All effective teachers are learners, and all learners have the capacity to be teachers.
To receive a passing grade, a satisfactory standing is required for each of the four course components. This assignment is designed to help you articulate your developing perspective on teaching and learning, and to create a baseline statement and framework for your teaching dossier. Criteria for grading include clarity and presentation, use of course materials and of concrete examples that show how you might use this philosophy. Include your ideas about changes to the lesson that you would enact if you were teaching the course, relating these to your philosophy and style of teaching. This assignment is designed as a condensed experience in the process of classroom teaching, including the components that we have studied so far in this course.