Teaching development

Apart from research, I often participate in workshops/training and take courses to connect with other community members and learn about different evidence-based teaching practices. Some of the events which helped in improving my understanding of different teaching strategies are:

• Courses from the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL)

CIRTL is a National Science Foundation Center for Learning and Teaching in higher education. Its main mission is to enhance excellence in undergraduate education through the development of a national faculty that is committed to implementing and advancing effective teaching practices.

1. An Introduction to Evidence-Based STEM Undergraduate Teaching

The goal of this eight-week course is to equip the next generation of STEM faculty to be effective teachers. As the name suggests, this course provides an introduction to effective teaching strategies and the research that supports them. It covers:

• Role of mental models in learning and the importance of practice and feedback

• Basic elements of course design (learning objectives and assessments)

• Teaching strategies that promote active learning and inclusive teaching

2. Advanced learning through evidence-based teaching

This 8-week course builds on the introductory course to equip the next generation of STEM faculty to be effective teachers. It covers:

• Active learning strategies (peer instruction and problem-based learning)

• Importance of learning through diversity and strategies to incorporate it in your classroom

• Pedagogical strategies such as flipped classrooms and learning communities

3. Research Mentor Training

The main goal of this 6-week seminar-style course was to develop and improve research mentoring skills. Participants developed their personal mentoring philosophy and learned strategies for dealing with mentoring challenges. In addition to the general content about research mentoring, seminar topics were:

• Aligning Expectations and Assessing Competencies

• Effective Communication

• Fostering Independence, Self-efficacy, and Professional Development

• Fostering Equity and Inclusion in a Research Context

• Conflict Resolution, Feedback, Well-being

• Articulating a Mentoring Philosophy and Plan

• Workshops from the Center for Teaching Innovation, Cornell University

(GET SET Workshops)

The main goal of these workshops was to offer opportunities to develop teaching skills, gain theoretical grounding and practical strategies, and connect with fellow teaching graduate students and postdocs. 

1. Course Design (2017)

2. Assessing Learning and Teaching (2015)

3. Enhancing Teaching with Technology (2014)

4. Innovative Approaches in Pedagogy (2014) 

• I have also attended two summer institutes on teaching:

1. CIRTL Summer Institute on Scientific Teaching

In this five-day institute, participants experienced a thorough introduction to the core ideas that ground CIRTL’s approach to STEM education:

• learning-through-diversity

• learning communities

• evidence-based teaching

• teaching-as-research

By the end of this institute, participants developed a deeper understanding of scientific teaching. They examined relevant literature, worked online in small peer groups facilitated by topical experts, and performed structured work independently.

2. Johns Hopkins University Summer Teaching Institute

It is a multi-day teaching institute for doctoral students and post-docs to advance the development of university-level educators by enhancing classroom teaching skills

The Teaching Institute is based on the concept of teaching-as-scholarship, which challenges instructors to bring to teaching the critical thinking, rigor, creativity, and spirit of experimentation that defines research in all disciplines. Teaching-as-scholarship embodies three core themes: active learning, assessment, and diversity.