Graduate Student Instructor Teaching Orientation

Session Descriptions

August 26, 2013, 1:00-4:00 p.m. and

Tuesday, August 27, 8:30 a.m.-4:15 p.m.

Michigan League, 911 N. University Ave. (map)

Monday, August 26

2:30-4:00 p.m. Concurrent Sessions: Preparing for the First Week of Teaching

Preparing for the First Week of Teaching Graduate Students

Preparing for the First Week of Teaching Undergraduate Students

Tuesday, August 27

1:00-2:30 p.m. Concurrent Sessions I: Teaching Methods

Dealing with Controversy During Classroom Discussions

Evaluating Student Writing

Facilitating Discussions in the Humanities

Facilitating Discussions in the Social Sciences

Facilitating Group Work to Maximize Learning in Labs and Discussions

Leading Problem Solving Sessions

One-to-one Teaching in Music, Art, Dance, and Architecture (part I)

Strategies for Teaching Foreign Language Courses

Teaching Effectively with Technology

2:45-4:15 p.m. Concurrent Sessions II: Teaching Methods

Dealing with Controversy During Classroom Discussions

Evaluating Student Writing

Facilitating Discussions in the Humanities

Facilitating Discussions in the Social Sciences

Grading in the Quantitative Courses and the Sciences

Identity and Authority Issues in the Classroom

One-to-one Teaching in Music, Art, Dance, and Architecture (part II)

Teaching Effectively with Technology

Preparing for the First Week of Teaching Undergraduate/Graduate Students

These workshops provide information on preparing for the first days of class, whether the class is one that is largely structured for you or one that you have primary responsibility for designing. Discussions will focus on preparing for the first class, making goals explicit during the first class, and creating an inclusive classroom climate. The session on teaching graduate students will also focus on some of the particular challenges facing GSIs who teach fellow graduate students. These workshops will be conducted in small groups.

Dealing with Controversy During Classroom Discussions

Controversy may emerge in the classroom when instructors expose students to subject matter that lies outside their realm of experience. How can GSIs ensure that controversy becomes an opportunity to learn, rather than filling the classroom with tension and hostility? This workshop will offer GSIs specific techniques for dealing with classroom controversy, as well as tools to discuss social identity and to recognize resistance. We will consider both specific exercises and abstract approaches that will help GSIs make the most of controversy in the classroom, positioning controversy as a productive part of the learning process. 

Evaluating Student Writing

Evaluating student writing is one of the most subjective and elusive tasks that we as instructors undertake each semester. In this workshop, we will work to alleviate some of the anxiety surrounding the evaluation process by discussing the use of specific criteria for grading student writing. We will also discuss methods for commenting effectively on writing and for managing time spent on grading. The workshop will include breakout sessions in which GSIs can practice using grading criteria on papers from different fields -- humanities, lab sciences, and social sciences. 

Facilitating Disussions in the Humanities

This workshop will enable participants to reflect on two essential components of leading discussions in the humanities: planning and facilitation. Workshop participants will acquire a toolbox of strategies for planning discussions, such as creating a climate conducive for discussion, framing effective questions, encouraging participation, and responding to students’ questions and comments. Workshop participants will also work on facilitation techniques and ways to address problems that arise, even during well-planned class discussions. The facilitators will model selected teaching techniques during the workshop to help participants envision using them in their own courses.

Facilitating Disussions in the Social Sciences

This workshop will enable participants to reflect on two essential components of leading discussions: planning and facilitation. Workshop participants will acquire a toolbox of strategies for planning discussions, such as creating a climate conducive for discussion, framing effective questions, encouraging participation, and responding to students’ questions and comments. Workshop participants will also work on facilitation techniques and ways to address problems that arise, even during well-planned class discussions. The facilitators will model selected teaching techniques during the workshop to help participants envision using them in their own courses.

Facilitating Group Work to Maximize Learning in Labs and Discussions

GSI-led labs and discussion sections often make use of groups to bring about students' learning. Group work is a powerful pedagogical technique, but it is also easy for students to be marginalized and disengaged during group activities. The role of the GSI is to ensure that all students are engaged and included in groups, and that individual learning is maximized. This session will model effective formation and management of student groups, including techniques for conflict resolution. Active learning techniques easily applied to cooperative learning settings will be discussed.

Grading in the Quantitative Courses and the Sciences

Grading is an important task, but can be a complex aspect of the teaching experience. This session will introduce and explain GSI grading responsibilities. The workshop highlights policy issues (course policies and student privacy), provides suggestions for how to grade, gives attending GSIs an opportunity to create a rubric and practice grading, and offers some tips to make the task of grading more enjoyable.

Identity and Authority in the Classroom

This workshop provides GSIs with resources and strategies for navigating issues of identity and authority in teaching. Participants will reflect on how their own social identity may be seen by and impact the learning experiences of their students. Additionally, this session will highlight research showing how students from minority groups perceive their interactions with instructors and provide strategies for GSIs to create an inclusive classroom.

Leading Problem-Solving Sessions

One of the most challenging aspects of teaching is getting students to think critically and problem solve independently. In this workshop we will explore a range of problem-solving approaches and practice several strategies for teaching these skills. This session will cover problem solving in a variety of settings, but will be most useful to GSIs teaching in quantitative fields.

One-to-One Teaching in Music, Art, Dance, and Architecture (parts I and II)

This session will focus on teaching skills in the music, art, dance, or architecture studio, including conducting a critique, giving feedback to students, drawing on your own experience as a student, grading performance, and expanding critical awareness.

Strategies for Teaching Foreign Language Courses

In this workshop, we will discuss instructor-student and student-student dynamics in the foreign language classroom and develop strategies for facilitating learning in a multicultural environment. We’ll discuss the following questions: What are some of the complex cultural interactions that take place in a foreign language classroom between instructor and students, as well as among the students themselves? What are some of the issues that surround the teaching of a foreign language and the culture(s) it embodies? What strategies could a language instructor develop in order to create a good language-learning climate? During the course of the workshop, participants will be encouraged to reflect on their goals and practices as foreign language teachers and assess the potential impact of the choices they make on students’ learning.

Teaching Effectively with Technology

This workshop will cover several features of CTools, U-M’s course management system, and Google Apps for Education, U-M’s supported collaboration suite. GSIs can easily implement both of these systems to make their teaching more efficient and more effective. Topics will include setting up a CTools site, assessing student learning using technology, facilitating student interactions using technology, and planning technology use.