Teaching Skills

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.

The Graduate Division and the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning are proud to announce our first Digital Badge: Teaching and Instructional Development Level 1: Syllabus Construction!  

Learn strategies and tips for student engagement, assignment planning and instructional design!  

Teaching and Instructional Development Level 1 digital badge and will equip instructors with essential skills in educational practice. They will learn effective teaching strategies to deliver engage lessons, curriculum development to design cohesive course content for diverse learners, and management of classroom environments. Additionally, they will learn tips for designing meaningful assignments that promote critical thinking and assess student learning accurately. These skills will prepare them to excel as effective educators. 

For registration and more information: https://masoncpe.gmu.edu/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=2895869&courseTitle=teaching-and-instructional-development-level-1  

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.

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)

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.