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Graduate Academy For College Teaching

The August 2023 Graduate Academy for College Teaching will take place August 17, featuring a mix of online and face-to-face sessions, with Microteaching on August 18.

The August 2023 Symposium on Grading and Office Hours will take place August 16.

The Graduate Academy for College Teaching is a required, pre-semester orientation for new teaching assistants (TAs and ITAs) who have classroom responsibilities (teaching lecture, discussion, laboratory, or studio sections). Required sessions about language and culture have been incorporated into the Graduate Academy to meet the University’s policy requirements for training international teaching assistants. 

Two campus-wide, pre-semester orientation programs for new Teaching Assistants (TAs) are held each August and January. The program includes

  • Small group sessions on common teaching challenges
  • Concurrent sessions which offer choice from diverse teaching topics
  • Microteaching sessions where TAs practice teaching and receive feedback

Note: Departments register their TAs for these programs; individual TAs cannot register themselves.

The Graduate Academy for College Teaching is a required, pre-semester orientation for new teaching assistants (TAs and ITAs) who have classroom responsibilities (teaching lecture, discussion, laboratory, or studio sections). Required sessions about language and culture have been incorporated into the Graduate Academy to meet the University’s policy requirements for training international teaching assistants. 

Two campus-wide, pre-semester orientation programs for new Teaching Assistants (TAs) are held each August and January. The program includes

  • Large group presentations on teaching and grading concepts
  • Small group sessions on common teaching challenges
  • Concurrent sessions which offer choice from diverse teaching topics
  • Microteaching sessions where TAs practice teaching and receive feedback

Note: Departments register their TAs for these programs; individual TAs cannot register themselves.

The Graduate Academy for College Teaching is a required, pre-semester orientation for new teaching assistants (TAs and ITAs) who have classroom responsibilities (teaching lecture, discussion, laboratory, or studio sections). Required sessions about language and culture have been incorporated into the Graduate Academy to meet the University’s policy requirements for training international teaching assistants. 

Two campus-wide, pre-semester orientation programs for new Teaching Assistants (TAs) are held each August and January. The program includes

  • Large group presentations on teaching and grading concepts
  • Small group sessions on common teaching challenges
  • Concurrent sessions which offer choice from diverse teaching topics
  • Microteaching sessions where TAs practice teaching and receive feedback

Note: Departments register their TAs for these programs; individual TAs cannot register themselves.



Grad Academy For College Teaching

The Graduate Academy for College Teaching prepares TAs for classroom teaching responsibilities (lecture, discussion, laboratory, or studio) by engaging them in interactive sessions about teaching strategies and resources. The program is designed as a conference with choices of sessions on foundational teaching topics, discipline-based teaching topics and language, culture, and diversity topics. Grad Academy TAs will also attend Microteaching sessions that provide them with a safe and constructive environment to practice their teaching skills. Read more about Microteaching below.

Click to see the draft schedule for August 2023

Click to see the January 2023 Grad Academy program

The Symposium on Grading & Office Hours

The Symposium on Grading & Office Hours is for those TAs who have non-classroom responsibilities. In large and small group sessions, TAs learn about effective and fair grading techniques and how to use office hours as an opportunity for good teaching and learning. 

Click to see draft outline of the January 2023 Symposium on Grading program

Microteaching

Microteaching is a 90-minute session during which you will deliver a 7-8 minute lesson to six fellow TAs, and serve as a student for the lessons of your fellow TAs.

Logistics – Sign Up for a Microteaching Session
You will sign up for a 90-minute Microteaching session using a link you will receive when your department registers you for the Grad Academy. Sign-up is first-come, first-served, so those that sign up first have the most choice of session times.

Getting Ready – Planning Your Lesson
You will choose a topic/concept in your discipline that you could teach to freshmen or sophomores in 7-8 minutes. You will do some work on planning this lesson during the first day of the Graduate Academy, but it helps to think about a few topic ideas before this time.

During the Session
You will teach your lesson and get feedback immediately from your peers. In addition to being a teacher, you will be expected to play the role of a student for the lessons taught by the other TAs in the session. You should be prepared to offer support and ideas for improvement to your fellow teaching assistants, and receive the same from them.

After the Session
You will schedule a playback consultation with a CITL staff member. These consultations will take place via Zoom during the first few weeks of the semester. The consultation is a private conversation with an experienced instructor about teaching. This is not an evaluation, but, rather, is a sharing of ideas and a time to ask questions.