Teaching skills
scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL) | writing learning objectives | learning styles | cultural sensitivity | active learning | learner-focused approaches | in-class exercises | formative assessment | summative assessment | E-learning | hybrid/blended classroom | course management systems | clickers
Get training
- Shadow an instructor with strong teaching skills; observe and discuss their techniques after the class
- Take a course on how to teach
- Read books or articles about how to teach
- Read articles in an education journal within your field (e.g., CBE-Life Sciences Education). This article by Miller & Tanner (CBE-Life Sci Ed 2015) is a place to start.
- Attend a workshop or session at a science conference or science education conference
Practice
- Teach a mock lesson in front of “students”
- Videotape and review yourself teaching
- Volunteer in a K-12 classroom
- Guest-lecture a single lesson or short series of lessons
- Supervise an undergraduate, high school, or rotation student in your lab and be thoughtful about what and how you teach them
- Teach a course at a local college
Get feedback
- Do an anonymous formative assessment to determine whether your students have met the learning objectives, and what actions you take have been most effective
- Ask someone to observe you teaching; have them fill out a feedback form and meet with you to provide feedback (contact us for a sample form)
Self-reflection
- For each lesson you teach, select your teaching methods based on the learning objectives you have set for the lesson; observe classroom behaviors and change in knowledge to assess whether the method was successful
- After each lesson, write notes in a personal journal about what worked and what didn’t
- Develop and write your statement of teaching philosophy
- Collect your reflections as well as the materials you develop in a teaching portfolio
Local resources
- Local colleges include: Assumption College, Becker College, Clark University, College of the Holy Cross, MCPHS University, Quinsigamond Community College, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Worcester State University, Anna Maria College
- Teaching skills section of the cBCD Special Collection in the Lamar Soutter Library
- Schedule an appointment to discuss your teaching strategies or teaching statement with cBCD