Teaching Skills Developing effective teaching skills is a significant focus in the doctoral program because demonstrating the ability to teach effectively is becoming increasingly important in attracting job offers in the academic job market. Doctoral students are assigned during their first year in the program to assist a faculty member in teaching his or her course. The provides an opportunity to work closely with and observe an experienced teachert to gain exposure to the subject matter of the field, learn methods for testing, grading, and providing feedback, and become familiar with different styles of instruction. At the end of the first year or in the second year, students are given responsibility for teaching their own course under the supervision of a faculty member. By the time students graduate from the program, they can expect to have taught approximately six courses over a four or five year period.
Every effort is made to allow students to teach in their area of doctoral specialization.
Significant resources are available in the college and on the University of Oregon campus to improve teaching effectivness. The UO Teaching Effectiveness Program, for example, regularly offers workshops on teaching, testing, group projects, grading, and other related topics. In addition, they are available to video tape instructors in the classroom and gather feedback from students on their perception of how a course is going. Department faculty are also available to observe classes and provide feedback. The emphasis in such efforts is on development rather than on evaluation.