Tentative Syllabus Spring 2011
The SEAS Teaching Practicum enhances the teaching skills of students teaching in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The course will meet Tuesdays 3-5 in Pierce 100F.
This class provides a platform for observation, practice, feedback, discussion, and reflection that will help you become a good and effective teacher. More broadly, the skills from good teaching (being an effective, confident speaker, a careful listener, an inspiring mentor, a good communicator and team player) are useful skills that apply to other aspects of professional and personal life. Whether you are a new or experienced teacher, and whether you love teaching or are teaching primarily to meet a departmental requirement, we hope this course will not only help you become a better teacher but also to guide you through a path of self-discovery that leads to finding your passion and developing your self-confidence.
We emphasize an active but reflective approach to teaching. You will practice teaching through numerous exercise and teaching simulations where you receive feedback from peers and self-assess to reflect and improve your teaching. You will also learn from others' teaching and provide constructive feedback to help others improve their teaching. As teaching occurs as much outside of the classroom as in, we will also focus on topics such as lesson planning, office hours and 1-on-1 interactions, feedback, assessment, and working with course staff.
Course Objectives
Knowledge: By the end of the course, you will have knowledge of:
- The principles of effective teaching and section leading and their relevance to students' learning and your personal development.
- The application of analytical thinking and reflection to teaching.
- The teaching resources available to you from the Bok Center and beyond.
Skill: by the end of the course, you will be able to:
- Prepare a goal-oriented lesson plan tailored to your audience.
- Lead an effective section on a topic in your field, engaging students in interactions and discussions that help them learn beyond lectures and readings.
- Work well with other teachers in a team environment.
Values: the course is based on the following values and assumptions
- You are the teacher: what you do, say, and believe will shape what you are able to get out of teaching and whether you will be an effective teacher, mentor, and presenter.
- Teaching can be a very personal experience. You have tremendous influence over your students as a teacher. We hope that you use your skills to better your students (and your own) educational experience.
- Passion is a force shared by effective teachers. To be effective, you must find your passion and use it to shape your teaching values and goals.
Measurable Outcomes: Your grade will be developed in the following manner:
- Your self-assessment of your work in the course and the learning you have accomplished.
- Your assessment should be based on your in-class participation (and hence attendance!), completion of the readings, and engagement with the assignments.
- We hope that you will apply what you have learned to shape your teaching career, professional development, and personal life. You should incorporate in your assessment the extent to which you have used this class in each of these areas of your life.
Instructors
- John Girash, girash@fas.harvard.edu (Coursehead), Science Center 317b
- Jason Waterman, waterman@eecs.harvard.edu, Maxwell Dworkin 238
We look forward to getting to know you and hope to see you in office hours (regular, or by appointment) throughout the term.
Assignments
Assignments for this course are designed to help you reflect on the process of teaching, whether it be of yourself or someone else. Please complete assignments on time and come to class ready to engage.
Readings
Readings will be made available on a week to week basis. Here are some references you may be interested in (some of which we will read in this course).
Arthur Mattuck. "The Torch or the Firehose: A Guide for Section Teaching (Harvard Edition)." Available online from the Bok Center website http://bokcenter.harvard.edu under Resources...Books.
Cassandra Volpe Horii (2007) "Teaching Insights from Adult Learning Theory". J. VME 34,369-376. http://jvmeonline.org/cgi/content/full/34/4/369. (Students will be given access.)
NRC (2000) "How
Experts Differ from Novices.
Chapter 2 in Bransford J.D., Brown A.L., Cocking R.R., eds. How People Learn:
Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, Chapter 2 (pp. 19-38).