Teaching Convening- Becoming a Teacher

CID Summer 2005 Convening: Developing Effective Teachers

Topic 4: Becoming a Teacher

University of Louisville - Neuroscience Program

This Snapshot describes how the doctoral program in neuroscience helps new teachers develop a professional identity, a sense of their roles and responsibilities within a community of teachers.

Teaching encompasses a variety of roles and responsibilities that doctoral students may not have the opportunity to experience while in graduate school, but are expected to perform in their first faculty appointment or as a practicing professional outside the academy. When students develop a sense of confidence and excitement about their teaching, it contributes to a richer understanding of the professional identity of an effective teacher.

U of L Neuroscience Program website

Summary Description
Our program is still being created, but will encompass the "institutional cultures" of 5 different departments. Two departments are on the main campus and regularly employ Teaching Assistants to teach undergraduate lab courses. The other three departments are on the health sciences campus, where opportunities for graduate student teaching in the classroom are limited. Other teaching opportunities, however, include mentoring beginning students in the laboratory, making presentations in seminar courses and journal clubs, and interacting in interdisciplinary groups.

Tools and Resources
TA training
Routine out-of-classroom experiences, such as seminars and journal clubs
Mentoring undergraduate research
College Teaching course offered as elective
Yearly research presentations required

Journal Club
A combination of presentation and discussion of upcoming seminar speakers' papers facilitates student interaction with speakers.
Undergraduate mentoring
The undergraduate research programs offer opportunities for graduate students to mentor less experienced researchers.

Goals for Students
Questions students should try to answer for themselves include, "Do I want to teach in a classroom setting?"
Questions that students should get help answering include, "How do I tell a good story with what I am teaching/presenting?"

Program Context
Some students know that they do not want to teach in a classroom setting. However, they still need to develop skills in communicating ideas.
Other students want more opportunities for training in classroom teaching, but opportunities are limited in a medical school setting.

Contact Information
Dr. Nigel Cooper, [email protected]
Dr. Cynthia Corbitt, [email protected]

How Do We Know?
Students who TA are evaluated by their students at the end of the semester. Typically, the written responses to "what were strengths and weaknesses of the instructor and class format?" are more useful than the ratings on a scale of 1-5.
Student presentations receive feedback from mentors and fellow students to help improve presentation and communication skills.

Unanswered Questions
As a new program, we are still developing our ideas and philosophies regarding teacher training. This conference provides a useful opportunity for us to focus on these issues programmatically, rather than just having students blindly enter teaching opportunities with no discussion of teaching philosophy as can tend to happen in research-intensive environments. We invite suggestions aimed at helping us develop a new program that includes targeted training in teaching and communication skills techniques.