Graduate Teaching
You want to share knowledge, to give back, to change lives. We can help you do that.
SkillCraft: Educating for Impact Community of Practice (SCEICoP)
Graduate Teaching Academy launches SkillCraft: Educating for Impact Community of Practice (SCEICoP) series. This SkillCraft series encourages masters, doctoral and post-doctoral scholars from all disciplines to develop skills that are crucial to the creation of stimulating learning environments in and beyond the classroom. SkillCraft also provides opportunities for graduate students to document their growth and achievements through certifications at several levels. Workshops are repeated every semester, providing graduate students the flexibility to achieve these certifications at their own pace.
Graduate Teaching Badge
The Graduate Division is proud to announce that our Graduate Teaching Digital Badge is coming soon!
Graduate Teaching Academy
Level 1 Essentials: Student Engagement (Fall and Spring Semesters)
These one-hour online workshops introduce the foundations for effective student engagement that can be applied in a variety of educational settings ranging from small-group recitations for teaching assistants to classroom management for graduate instructors of record. Participation in each workshop grants participants access to a collection of curated resources. To earn the Level 1 Essentials Student Engagement Credential, participants complete the Fundamentals of Student Engagement workshop plus three 1-hour workshops and submit the SkillCraft Level 1 Credential Form using the SkillCraft Credential Submission Portal.
| Date | Session Title | Registration Link | |
| September 6th and 10th | Introduction to teaching and communication styles | Coming soon | |
| October 4th and 8th | (ITL Session): Students in a post-pandemic landscape and active listening | Coming soon | |
| November 1st and 5th | Alignment, the relationship between outcomes and assignments and case study | Coming soon | |
| December 6th and 10th | Active and experiential learning, transparent assignment design and case study | Coming soon |
Level 2 Competencies: Teaching Materials (TBA)
These 10-hour hybrid bootcamps help graduate students design teaching materials for courses they teach or hope to teach. The bootcamps combine in-person sessions with asynchronous modules over two weeks and result in a teaching artifact that can be immediately used in a course. To earn the Level 2 Competencies Teaching Materials Credential, participants complete the 10-hour bootcamp and submit a teaching artifact and SkillCraft Level 2 Credential Form using the SkillCraft Credential Submission Portal.
Bootcamps
- Syllabus Design (TBA)
- Assignment Design (TBA)
List of previously held workshops
Fundamentals of Student Engagement: This workshop focuses on the characteristics of students that populate today’s classrooms. Participants will learn relevant learning theories and how to apply them to enhance student engagement. This workshop is required for the SkillCraft Level 1 Essentials Credential.
In-Class Activities: This workshop focuses on how to manage small and large student discussions and other hands-on learning activities during class.
Grading and Feedback: This workshop focuses on the application of grading rubrics and how to handle grading questions from students.
Classroom Climate:This workshop focuses on creating an engaging classroom environment and best practices around managing attendance, late work and AI policies.
New Graduate Teaching Training now available in MasonLEAPS!
This introductory training presents appropriate and relevant instructional support and resources to include pragmatic considerations and tools for graduate teaching assistants, graduate lecturers, and post-doc scholars across Mason's campuses. The Graduate Teaching Training, fitting within a bigger picture of graduate preparation at Mason serves to elevate the overall student experience in the classroom.
Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning
The Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning supports you as an instructor of graduate students and Mason GTAs in honing their skills as instructors, including:
- Establishing your identity as a teacher.
- Designing online, hybrid or face-to-face courses.
- Strengthening and refining your approaches to working with and giving feedback to students.
- Serving as a graduate research assistant on a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning research project.
The center will also help you connect with other faculty and GTAs across the university. Other resources from the Center include:
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Innovations in Teaching and Learning conference: Teaching-related sessions held annually at the end of September; free to graduate students
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Webinars by Stearns Center: Monthly faculty presentations on a variety of teaching topics
Find out more about the Stearns Center’s support for faculty and GTAs, and stay up to date by joining the Stearns Center mailing list and following it on Twitter.