Tamarack (Larix laricina) cones. Nothing to do with developing teaching skills but I am currently analyzing how seed production varies across altitudinal gradients. Since seeds have been perpetually on my mind, I figured it was fitting they be represented in this post.
Hi All!
I am going to start off with being boastful, so please bear with me here. In December, my last blog post “My first experience with the peer review process: it’s been a long and winding road” was in response to some frustration I was feeling about the journey that my first manuscript out for submission was on. I had just finished up responding to some major revisions and didn’t feel very confident that the manuscript would make it past the next round of reviews. Update: it did!! To my surprise, I heard back from the journal about a month later with minor revisions and since that final time resubmitting the manuscript has been accepted to be published! Anyways, to all of you out there feeling tired and frustrated with a project that keep dragging along, I hope this instils a bit of hope that it is not all for naught!
Ok, so onto what I wanted to touch on about this post: the Teaching Skills Enhancement Program. As graduate students, especially Masters students, our teaching opportunities are often limited to teaching assistantships. While some require instructing students in a face-to-face manor, work involved with most teaching assistantships surrounds grading assignments. For those of us who are considering to pursue academia, this leaves us with a gap in both knowledge and skills that are required for professor positions. Of course, there are opportunities available to gain these skills: a number of students in my department have been sessional teachers and the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning offers the Teaching Skills Enhancement Program (TSEP).
TSEP is a free, official, non-credit program that is offered to Memorial’s graduate students, aimed at building confidence and capacity in teaching ability and providing opportunities to develop teaching skills. Over the fall semester, TSEP participants attend weekly seminars where they discuss teaching in regards to undergraduate learning. During winter semester, TSEP students work alongside a mentor to gain face-to-face teaching experience. Students who successfully complete all the TSEP requirements are awarded a certificate of completion and an official annotation on their transcript.
While the fall weekly seminars were not always completely engaging (and I never thought I would use the term pedagogy so much), looking back on the TSEP course objectives, the weekly seminars effectively met what they set out to achieve. I found reflecting on what teaching approaches worked and didn’t work for me when I was an undergraduate student to be most meaningful. This self-reflection in combination with an introduction of adult-learning theories and group discussions has introduced me to how to be an inclusive teacher where a diverse array of learning strategies are considered. By the end of the fall semester, I had begun to formulate what my teaching philosophy would be and ideally what type of teacher I would strive to be.
An objective of the TSEP program is to “familiarize graduate students with the challenges and rewards of teaching.” This semester, I have been undertaking the teaching apprenticeship part of the TSEP program. As of last week, I have completed three of three lectures in the course my teaching mentor is instructing and man, preparing for class takes a LOT of time. I am sure I likely dedicate more time than a tenured faculty member would (I’ve got a serious case of imposter syndrome) but again there are reasons why faculty have options for taking teaching leave, teaching takes a lot of energy and time away from time that could be focused on your research (which is likely the aspect of academia that has drawn us all to do what we do). The experience has definitely been eye opening on the time management skills needed to balance running courses as well as a research program. Becoming familiarized with the rewards of teaching was less apparent, especially since I only spent a few hours interacting with the students, but at the end of one of my lectures a few students stopped on their way out complimented me on how I organized the lesson. Receiving positive feedback was very rewarding and helped me combat some of the self-doubt that was in the back of my mind while preparing and giving the lectures.
I’m at a point where I am getting close to the end of my Masters and have been thinking what I want to do next. Continuing on in academia is definitely on the forefront of my mind, and that is mainly driven by my love of research. But when thinking about future goals if I continue in academia, teaching is a part of the job description and something that should be considered. Reflecting on the TSEP program, I am definitely happy I enrolled and undertaking the teacher apprenticeship has been an excellent learning opportunity. Of course learning, reflecting on, and discussing adult learning in higher education was valuable and perhaps one day in the near distant future some of the knowledge gained will be put to use. Thinking about the near future, the best thing I have gotten from the program is a chance to practise public speaking (with the added challenge of disseminating knowledge that is not directly related to what I study). All in all, I would recommend the teaching skills enhancement program. If you are anything like me, the fall weekly seminars will require some patience (with some sessions being a little dull and others being a little frustrating) but looking back, each week I walked away with a piece of useful knowledge.
Cheers,
Anna
A view from my study site, looking down the southwest arm of Green Bay.