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University Teaching 101 Sample Syllabus 1
University Teaching 101 Sample Syllabus 1
Teaching Assistant
Judy Black
jblack32@sampleuniv.edu
Description
In this course, students have the opportunity to understand the nature of teaching and
adult learning, develop their teaching expertise and consider early career development
and mentoring. A combination of teaching strategies, including lectures, discussions,
small group activities, feedback on other students work, and interviews with
exceptional teachers and junior and senior faculty, are used. Students explore
practical and philosophical issues related to designing, developing, delivering, and
evaluating a university-level course, as well as approaches for developing a successful
teaching career.
At the completion of the course, students will have a teaching portfolio with two main
components: 1) a statement of your teaching philosophy, and 2) a detailed set of plans
for a specific course of your choice. This is an intensive, hands on course that
requires supportive and cooperative behaviors by all.
Target Audience: Professionals in public health and medicine, who may become
university professors, think-tank researchers, directors of health facilities, etc. At the
doctoral level, virtually all job positions have requirements for teaching and training.
Intended Learning
Outcomes
General Goals
To create a class atmosphere of mutual respect and cooperation
To encourage students to gain insight about their teaching philosophy
To assist students in gaining a sense of identity as a teacher
To assist students in developing a course on a topic they might actually teach
To assist students in preparing all aspects of a course
To expose students to exceptional teachers and successful leaders
To activate students to seek mentors and plan for their job search
To assist students in developing a Teaching Portfolio
Course Learning Objectives
Students successfully completing this course will be able to do the following:
o Identify and describe their own teaching styles and learning styles
o Describe the important contextual and motivational aspects of
managing the educational space and teaching effectively
o Design a university-level course, which includes development and/or
selection of learning objectives, syllabus, lectures, participative
learning activities, reading materials, and evaluation tools
o Choose and use various technologies for teaching
Course Format
Required Course
Materials
Textbooks: REQUIRED: Nilson, L. (2010). Teaching at Its Best. 3rd Ed. Jossey-Bass:
San Francisco, CA.
Highly Recommended: Bain, K. (2004). What the Best College Teachers Do. Harvard
University Press: Cambridge, MA.
CoursePlus Site
We make regular use of the CoursePlus Site for accessing the Lecture Info, which has
materials for each class session, including PowerPoint files.
CoursePlus Site: http://courseplus.sampleuniv.edu. Select course from HPM
listing for 3rd term, by name or number 300.750.
CoursePlus Site: Once you are registered for the class you have access to the
CoursePlus site, using your SPH username and password.
We will use these sections of CoursePlus:
Materials and Resources , where the materials for each session are located.
The PowerPoint slides and links needed for each class are located in the Class
Sessions which are connected to The Online Library. The Assignment Drop Box is
2
where you upload your first written assignments and your Final Teaching Portfolio.
Assignments and
Grading
-1Tuesday
Jan 21,
2014
Main Topics
-2Tuesday
Jan 28,
2014
-3Tuesday
Feb 4, 2014
-4Tuesday
Feb 11,
2014
-5Tuesday
Feb 18,
2014
-6Tuesday
Feb 25,
2014
-7Tuesday
March 4,
2014
-8Tuesday
Mar 11,
2014
Peer Group
assignments
After the 2 class session, when Add/Drop is over, you will receive an email regarding
the group of peers that you will work with in this class this term.
W EEK 2
Course Title and
Brief Description
Submit a course title and brief description of its content and purpose (2-3 sentences).
Upload this assignment as a Word document to CoursePlus.
W EEK 3
Course Description
Learning Objectives
W EEK 4
Part 1 Due: Fri Feb
7th, midnight
Part 1: The Philosophy of Teaching Statement is typically the first piece in a teaching
portfolio.
Part 2: Provide constructive feedback to your peer group members on their course
description and objectives and Teaching Philosophy.
Part 1: Prepare a draft syllabus, which is the session-to-session plan for the course
content, the methods of evaluation, the percentage of the final grade for each
component, and the course atmosphere that you want to develop and maintain.
Include an outline of topics and dates on which you want to cover those topics (you may
presume an 8-week, 3-credit unit course unless you anticipate teaching in a semester
system and prefer that). Length 2-4 pages, single-spaced.
Part 2: Provide constructive feedback to your peer group members on their course
syllabi and grading systems.
W EEK 6
Course Learning
Activities and
Readings
Part 1: Design at least three active learning activities that you could use in your course.
You might want to build them around a discrete section of the course so that they are
related to each other, or you might intersperse them throughout the course.
Develop a basic reading list or a description of the type of readings you will require for
each class session.
Target length: 2-3 pages, single-spaced. Submit to your peer group.
Part 2: Provide constructive feedback to your peer group members on their learning
activities and readings.
W EEK 8
Final Assignment:
Teaching Portfolio
The final course assignment is to assemble your major assignments into an impressive
teaching portfolio. It is important that you update those assignments that can be
improved based on your peer group and faculty feedback, and your thoughts. You may
add any other items that you feel are appropriate.
The components that you are required to submit in your teaching portfolio are your - Title Page
(Table of Contents is optional)
Summary of changes to remaining materials
Your Teaching Philosophy
Course Description, Objectives
Syllabus, which includes schedule, educational content and delivery modes,
Learning Activities, Reading List and Evaluation methods
Submitting the Teaching Portfolio: Submit your teaching portfolio no later than the
last day of the term, March 14th by 5:00pm. You may submit a hard copy if you want to
develop that as an important career product, but you need to submit the entire Portfolio
as a single electronic document to CoursePlus.
MODIFICATIONS TO YOUR TEACHING PORTFOLIO:
Once you start getting peer/faculty feedback on the components of your
course syllabus or teaching philosophy you will want to keep track of
suggestions and your responses. In the final Portfolio include a one-page,
bulleted summary of changes made in an assignment.
ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS YOU MAY INCLUDE IN A TEACHING PORTFOLIO
Your Teaching Portfolio is a living document. Even after the end of this
course you will want to use it to record your pedagogical activities.
It may also include:
Table of Contents
Your Curriculum Vita (CV), including your TA involvement, course work on teaching
and being a TA, continuing education, special committee work and awards
Actual teaching you have done, as represented by slides, comments from observers,
written comments from student evaluations, or links to actual class sessions.
Your experience evaluating students and giving feedback, represented by evaluation
assignments and students' graded work along with a brief description about how
feedback was given.
Demonstration of your pedagogical activities, represented by courses developed,
attendance at professional conferences that resulted in changes in content or
methods of teaching.
Screen shots and addresses of websites that reflect your participation in some way
Other teaching-related materials that illustrate your expertise, innovativeness, and
involvement in teaching