Teaching Resources: Resources for reflecting on and refining pedagogical skills

The Andrew W. Mellon Teaching and Learning Institute

Supported by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to Bryn Mawr College and coordinated by Professor of Education Alison Cook-Sather, the Teaching and Learning Institute supports Bryn Mawr and Haverford College faculty members and undergraduate students in partnerships through which they explore, affirm, and revise classroom practice. 

Full-time, continuing faculty members may choose to participate in cross-disciplinary, semester-long or half-semester, Faculty Pedagogy Seminars and work in one-on-one partnerships with undergraduate students who assume the role of pedagogical consultant.

Part-time and interim faculty members are not eligible for participation in the seminars but may partner with student consultants through the Students as Learners and Teachers (SaLT) program.

In addition to these partnerships, continuing faculty members can participate in faculty seminars known as TLI2s (for those who have already participated in a faculty pedagogy seminar), Colleagues as Teachers and Learners (cross-visitations between faculty members, or “teaching circles”) and Summer Course Development/Revision Workshops.

 

Full- or Half-semester Faculty Pedagogy Seminars

If you are a full-time, continuing faculty member at Haverford, you are eligible to participate in a faculty pedagogy seminar. If you choose to participate in a full- or half-semester faculty pedagogy seminar, you are committing to:

• attending and participating in weekly, semi-structured, two-hour discussions focused on what is happening in their classrooms and what could happen there
• posting weekly entries to a closed blog in response to general prompts (e.g., In what ways are your approaches to assessment aligned and/or misaligned with your pedagogy and the learning goals you have for your students?)
• working with a Student Consultant (a student not enrolled in the faculty member’s courses who visits one class session each week, takes detailed observation notes focused on pedagogical issues the faculty member identifies, and then meets with the faculty member weekly to discuss what is happening in his/her class)
• facilitating a portion of one or more of the sessions
• taking observation notes (like those taken by Student Consultants) at one of the sessions
• offering mid-semester and end-of-semester feedback both to inform the seminar and to document their work, and
• completing a portfolio at the of the seminar that documents what they have learned.

Full-Semester Faculty Pedagogy Seminar (carries $4,000 stipend)

These are semester-long seminars offered in the Fall and/or Spring semesters (depending on faculty interest) and include all of the commitments listed above. They are appropriate for faculty members who want to work with faculty colleagues and student consultants for a full 15 weeks, exploring both a course they are currently teaching and a course (or courses) they plan to teach. The first part of the semester focuses on larger pedagogical questions in relation to a course being taught, the middle portion focuses on issues and topics identified for further exploration by the group, and the final third focuses on applying what we have explored in the seminar to future courses.

Half-Semester Faculty Pedagogy Seminar (carries $2,000 stipend)

Half-semester seminars allow for more faculty participation and a differentiation between focusing on a course currently being taught and a course to be taught the next or in a subsequent semester. These seminars are offered in the Fall and/or Spring semesters (depending on faculty interest) and include all of the commitments listed above. Seminars focused on a course currently being taught begin in week 1 and conclude in week 7. Seminars focused on a course to be taught in a future semester begin in week 8 and conclude in week 14.

Students as Learners and Teachers (SaLT) Partnership

Student Consultants are available to work with interested faculty members on a focal course. A student who is not enrolled in the course upon which you want to focus can work with you for the entire semester or for some portion of it. S/he visits your class, takes detailed observation notes focused on pedagogical issues you identify, gathers midcourse feedback (if you wish), and meets with you to discuss what is happening in your class.

These partnerships are for faculty members who do not wish to participate in a faculty pedagogy seminar or have already participated in a seminar and wish to continue in a partnership with a Student Consultant.

Any faculty member may request a Student Consultant for a full semester, a portion of a semester, or for a focused assessment (e.g., midsemester feedback).

TLI2

(carries $3,000 stipend for facilitator, or the stipend can be distributed among participants)

These seminars are for faculty members who have already participated in a half- or full-semester faculty pedagogy seminar. Suggested by past participants, TLI2s give faculty the opportunity to work in a focused way on a pedagogical issue, interest, or challenge. Participants commit to:

• meeting bi-weekly for 90 minutes
• maintaining communication between meetings using Moodle, Google, or some other technology
• offering mid-semester and end-of-semester feedback both to inform the seminar and to document our work, and
• documenting the work accomplished in each meeting and overall.
• Faculty may request Student Consultants to work as partners in TLI2s.

Colleagues as Teachers and Learners

This program affords you the opportunity to visit and/or be visited by a faculty colleague in the bi-co and then meet to talk. If you indicate what discipline or division and what kind of class you are interested in observing, appropriate partnerships between faculty who wish to engage in this cross-visitation can be arranged.

You may wish to combine this program with the SaLT program. Faculty have found that the intersection of faculty and student colleague observations, and a three-way dialogue about what is happening in the classroom, are very informative.

Summer Course Development/Revision Workshops

Continuing and new faculty members are invited to participate in summer workshops focused on developing a new course or revising an existing one.

Working in collaboration with other faculty members, members of the Information Services staff, and undergraduate students in the role of pedagogical consultant, you may develop a syllabus from scratch, revise a syllabus in a general way, or revise a syllabus with a particular focus (e.g., the integration of technology).

Participants meet four or five times over the summer, with communication maintained through technological media in between meetings. In-person meetings are scheduled around participants’ schedules. While no stipends are attached to this forum, travel beyond the regular commute to campus may be reimbursed.

More information?  Contact Alison Cook-Sather acooksat@haverford.edu or acooksat@brynmawr.edu