This Week for Graduate Students: Sign up for Spring 2023 Essentials of Teaching and Learning workshops!

by | Nov 16, 2022

Spring 2023 Essentials of Teaching and Learning Workshops 

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

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 2023, the Essentials series will run in-person in 203 Butler Library as follows:

  • Essentials 1: Inclusive Teaching – Wednesday, Jan. 25, 10:10-11:40 am | Register
  • Essentials 2: Designing Learning Objectives – Wednesday, Feb. 1, 10:10-11:40 am | Register
  • Essentials 3: Active Learning – Wednesday, Feb. 8, 10:10-11:40 am | Register
  • Essentials 4: Assessment & Feedback – Wednesday, Feb. 15, 10:10-11:40 am | Register

Make Progress on the Teaching Development Program (TDP)!

If you are making progress and nearing completion of a TDP track, let us be the first to congratulate you! You have carried through with a systematic and sustained exploration of pedagogy that makes you a considerably stronger and more effective teacher, and will continue to benefit you, your future students, and your future employers.

Important steps at the finish line:

    • Double check that you have met program requirements by comparing the TDP Overview to your submitted materials.
    • If your degree conferral will be in February 2023, track completion deadlines are: Advanced Track: Jan. 1; Foundational Track Jan. 15

Upcoming Lead Teaching Fellow Events

The 45 2022-23 Lead Teaching Fellows are running workshops and discussions in departments all around Columbia. These are generally advertised locally. Below are a few upcoming events that are open to participants beyond the LTF’s home department.

LTF events count towards track completion in the Teaching Development Program.

Reading as Labor

Reading is labor. It’s amongst the most difficult work we ask of ourselves and of our students. It’s also arguably the most important: there is no substitute for reading, and it’s a nonnegotiable requirement for productive classroom learning. But our students are struggling more than ever. Literacy amongst college-educated adults has been steadily dropping for the last two decades, and studies demonstrate that the percentage of students who usually complete assigned readings hovers at about 20%. Add Covid to the mix, and the challenge can seem insurmountable.

This workshop will address the issue of reading in the humanities classroom. We’ll identify the struggles our students face when they read, and the obstacles we confront when motivating them to do so. We’ll discuss a variety of practical strategies we can use to increase rates of student reading, and apply those strategies to different course types—from classes in the core curriculum to advanced seminars. You’ll leave with a plan for how you might integrate these strategies into your own pedagogical practice.

This event is led by Lead Teaching Fellow Sophia Pedatella (English & Comparative Literature) and is open to all humanities instructors.

Date & Time: Tuesday, November 29, 1:00pm–2:00pm
Location: 302 Philosophy
Registration: Email Sophia at slr2175@columbia.edu