Open to faculty members, contract instructors, lab coordinators, or anyone working in an instructionally focused position with a recent, current or upcoming teaching assignment at Carleton (i.e., within the next year), the Certificate in University Teaching (CUT) is a blended 10-week program designed to help you further develop your understanding of pedagogy and enhance your teaching skills. The sessions will give you an opportunity to:
- Explore traditional and innovative forms of instructional delivery
- Develop a framework to help design class lectures and activities
- Identify ways to enhance student engagement in your classes
- Receive feedback from course facilitators and participants
- Benefit from in-depth conversations with fellow colleagues
- Arrange for individual consultations throughout the year with facilitators
- Create a deliverable you can use in your course(s) and/or teaching dossier
Each of the sessions will include discussions and learning activities that reflect a particular theme. Specific themes for the program will include:
- Planning effective course design and instruction
- Exploring teaching methodologies
- Building effective assessment practices (including designing analytic rubrics)
- Managing classroom dynamics
- Establishing a sense of community and effective communications
- Addressing issues of student diversity
- Writing a teaching philosophy statement
The goal of the program is to provide participants with a safe and supportive environment to enhance their appreciation of sound pedagogy, strengthen their teaching skills and explore new approaches to instruction. Together these three areas will contribute to helping you become more efficient, effective and confident in enhancing the learning environment for your students.
2023-2024 Cohorts
This year, TLS is offering two cohorts of the program, one in the Fall 2023 term and another in the Winter 2024 term. The schedule for those cohorts are as follows:
- Fall 2023: Wednesdays, 1 – 3 p.m., September 27 – December 6
- Winter 2024: Tuesdays, 1 – 3 p.m., January 16 – March 26
Registration for the Winter 2024 cohort is now closed. Registration for the 2024-2025 cohort(s) will open in August and/or November 2024.
Recently revised, the blended program features weekly asynchronous online lessons and weekly activities, synchronous meetings, and two assessments (a microteaching demonstration and a project of your choosing). The weekly synchronous meetings are in person: the program cannot be completed 100% online.
Program Learning Outcomes
By the end of this program, you will be able to:
- Assess teaching materials/demonstrations using a series of fundamental educational concepts (e.g., constructive alignment, Bloom’s taxonomy, universal design for learning, formative and summative assessment, and so on)
- Plan and deliver a teaching demonstration (microteach) that implements learner-centred approaches
- Design and create a deliverable that you will be able to use in either an upcoming job application/tenure and promotion review or an existing or future course you are teaching
Program Requirements
To earn the certificate, participants are expected to:
- Arrive on time
- Actively participate in all* sessions, both synchronous and asynchronous
- Complete all online learning modules
- Provide constructive feedback to peers
- Complete the required readings
- Prepare and submit two assignments by the indicated due dates
- Assignment 1: Microteaching Demonstration & Microteaching Reflection
- Assignment 2: a Final Project of Your Choice
*Please note: This program is based on a high degree of interactive learning; absences from class meetings or failures to complete the online learning modules will affect your ability to contribute to forthcoming sessions. If you miss one session, you must contact the facilitator immediately so that an alternative assignment/activity can be negotiated. If for any reason you are absent from two sessions or fall behind on two of the online modules, you will be removed from the program.
Apply for CUT
Note: all applications are vetted carefully to ensure suitability for the program. In particular, candidates should expect to have their applications evaluated on the basis of the following criteria: teaching status for the term in question, availability and other workload commitments, access to other training opportunities better suited to interests, and the stage of career at Carleton.