This Week for Grad Students: Essentials of Teaching and Learning Workshops start tomorrow!

by | Jan 29, 2025 | Announcements

Essentials of Teaching and Learning Workshops
start tomorrow!

These foundational workshops offer new or developing graduate student instructors approaches to better facilitate student learning and improve teaching practices. Join us to deepen insight that you have started to develop at teaching orientations or in early teaching experiences.

In Spring 2025, the Essentials series are running in-person in 203 Butler Library.

Each session is accompanied by a 20-minute module in Canvas to be completed in advance. Access modules here.

Essentials workshops count towards completion of the Foundational Track of CTL’s Teaching Development Program (TDP) for graduate students. CTL offers the Essentials sequence every semester.

CTLgrads Learning Community

CTLgrads Learning Communities are interdisciplinary conversations about teaching and learning topics, designed and co-facilitated by CTL Senior Lead Teaching Fellows and other select graduate students. By participating in these discussions of the teaching literature with other graduate student instructors, you will develop new frameworks to innovate your teaching and connect to a network of interdisciplinary colleagues focused on pedagogy at Columbia.

Upcoming Learning Community:

Beyond the Lecture-Essay Model: Learning Through Non-traditional Modalities
In-Person Learning Community designed and run by  Senior Lead Teaching Fellows Tahlia Pajaczkowska-Russell (Philosophy) and Garima Raheja (Earth and Environmental Science).

  • Part 1: Monday, February 3, 11:40am-12:55pm, 212 Butler Library | Register
  • Part 2: Monday, February 10, 11:40am-12:55pm, 212 Butler Library | Register

STEM in the Field: Teaching Beyond the Classroom

A 90-minute lunch panel for Columbia faculty and graduate students.

Are you interested in leveraging spaces outside the classroom to enhance the STEM learning experience for your students? Join us for an engaging panel discussion where STEM faculty will share innovative ways to extend learning beyond traditional classroom settings. Organized and moderated by Dustin Rubenstein, Professor of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology and a Provost’s Senior Faculty Teaching Scholar, the panel will illustrate how immersion experiences in the field can not only enhance student engagement, but also deepen students’ understanding and application of STEM concepts and skills. Participants will leave with key insights and practical strategies to effectively integrate field teaching into their own practice.

Note: Lunch will be provided for registered attendees.

Panelists

  • Moderator: Dustin Rubenstein | Professor of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology
  • Sidney Hemming | Arthur D. Storke Memorial Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences
  • Ivana Hughes | Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Chemistry
  • Jenna Lawrence | Lecturer in the Discipline of Climate
  • Matt Palmer | Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology

Date: Wednesday, February 5
Time: 12:00-1:30pm
Location: 212 Butler Library

Climate Wayfinding Seminar: Teaching for Climate Healing

In this six-week intensive seminar, participants look inward, look outward, and look forward to create a pedagogical practice that meets the needs of a changing world. This heart-centered learning community explores how to address the emotionality of the climate crisis, incorporate climate content and competencies across the curriculum, infuse ecological values throughout the classroom experience, and make a plan for next steps and implementation. Participants leave with a fullerunderstanding of their own climate engagement, a plan for supporting students in theirs, and a climate-informed teaching artifact for their teaching portfolios. The seminar runs March 26–April 30; applications to join are being accepted through February 17.

Showcase Your Teaching Development – TDP Advanced Track

The Teaching Development Program (TDP), offers doctoral and MFA students a means to document and articulate their teaching development at Columbia. Completion of a track in the TDP is certified by the CTL and noted on transcripts for doctoral students in Arts and Sciences, SEAS, Mailman, Nursing, Social Work, Business, Journalism, and GSAPP – and for MFA students in the and School of the Arts. Students currently on the Advanced Track of the TDP or who are looking to switch to the Advanced Track this semester are invited to join us for this event. In particular, we welcome to this session: 

  • Participants who recently switched to the TDP’s Advanced Track who are interested in discussing tips for making progress
  • Participants who are looking to learn about or work toward the e-portfolio capstone assignment
  • Participants on the Advanced Track who want to work with the CTL and peers to map out strategies for track completion

Date: Friday, February 14
Time: 1:00-2:00pm
Location: 212 Butler Library

Spring 2025 Teaching Orientation

CTL is pleased to offer teaching orientation materials online, available to Columbia graduate students anytime. Five orientation modules are available to all with a Columbia UNI here. These five modules address the following topics:

  • Establishing instructional goals and an inclusive learning climate
  • TA teaching roles and modalities
  • Creating a policy sheet and a first day of class plan
  • Common TA challenges, campus resources that help to navigate them
  • Next steps for teaching and professional development

See also advice from experienced TAs through the video recording of our live orientation from Fall 2024 below, which compliments the above modules.

CIRTL Seminars

The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) provides resources, trainings, and networking opportunities for future faculty in STEM and other fields. Graduate students and postdocs are invited to participate in its national online cross-network opportunities to develop their teaching. Registration for the events below opens on Monday, January 13 and fills up quickly!

Upcoming seminars: 

Many CIRTL offerings, including these highlighted sessions, satisfy the pedagogy workshop requirements of the Teaching Development Program.

On-Demand Resources

CTL offers many on-demand modules for graduate students that can be accessed anytime by Columbia University affiliates. These asynchronous offerings offer support for developing teaching statements and portfolios, and for other teaching and professional development.

The CTL is here to help!

Consultations
Graduate students can now request consultations to get support for their teaching and learning needs. The CTL provides consultations on a range of topics, including syllabus design, creating and refining a teaching statement, integrating instructional technologies into class activities, and presentation practices.
Learn more and request

Office Hours
Live office hours for graduate students are running during the Spring 2025 semester on Fridays from 2:00-4:00 pm ET. Drop by 212 Butler or join our Zoom room to consult with us about maintaining an inclusive and supportive learning environment, any other aspect of teaching, CTL fellowships and other offerings, job market preparation, or making progress in the Teaching Development Program. To join office hours via Zoom, email CTLgrads@columbia.edu for the link.