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This course is intended to enrich and structure the teaching experience of graduate students and postdocs who will be teaching this year, and to provide a foundation for their development as teachers throughout their careers. It will introduce and demonstrate techniques, theories, and practices that underlie effective science teaching at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Participants will practice and receive feedback on their use of new teaching techniques.
This course is open to second-year graduate students in the Life Sciences and Pharmacy who will be Teaching Assistants in 2009-2010 and to students and postdocs enrolled in the PFF Teaching Apprentice Program (PFF-TAP), MUHAS teaching and curriculum development project, or IRACDA Scholars program. If you would like to take this course but are not in one of these groups, please contact Cynthia Fuhrmann describing your interest and need for this course.
Course Instructors:
Cynthia Fuhrmann, Tracy Fulton, Kathy Hyland, Rebecca Smith, Bruce
Alberts
Course objectives (At the completion of this course, participants will be able to):
- Identify traits associated with effective teaching.
- Identify challenges in teaching students with varied backgrounds.
- Describe techniques used to assess students' backgrounds and teach groups of students with varied backgrounds.
- Describe implications of learning styles for teachers and learners, and how knowledge of learning styles can be used for curriculum development.
- Demonstrate how to organize and present a lecture effectively, using PowerPoint or chalkboard.
- List and demonstrate methods for motivating and actively involving learners.
- Define the terms formative and summative assessment, and compare and contrast several techniques that can be used for each.
- Describe the use of Bloom's taxonomy in writing learning objectives and assessment questions.
- Construct a good short answer and multiple-choice question.
- Design and use a grading key for scoring a short answer problem.
- Describe and follow a method for grading exams that allows for the most consistent and objective approach.
Instructions for Enrollment:
Pre-registration is required for this course (deadline January 6). Pre-register
here >
If you previously took the course and need to make-up a portion, Sign up here >
If you are a UCSF student, then you can receive course credit for the BEST course (Biochemistry 212). To receive course credit on your transcript, include Biochemistry 212 (faculty=Tracy Fulton) on your Fall 2010 quarter study list.
Course Schedule:
- Day 1: Teaching and Learning (including PFF-TAP meeting, 11:15-11:45 a.m.)
- Tuesday, Jan. 12, 9-11:45 a.m., Room GEN-S204, Mission Bay
- Day 2: Learning Styles and Leadership in the Classroom
- Wednesday, Jan. 13, 9-11 a.m., Room GEN-N114, Mission Bay
- Day 3: Planning a Lecture
- Thursday, Jan. 14, 9 a.m.-noon, Room GEN-N114, Mission Bay
- Day 4: Microteaching Workshop
- Option 1: Tuesday, Jan. 19, 9 a.m.-12 p.m., Mission Bay (room TBA)
- Option 2: Thursday, Jan. 21, 2-5 p.m., Mission Bay (room TBA)
- Option 3: Friday, Jan. 22, 9-11:30 a.m., Parnassus (room TBA)
- Day 5: Summative Assessment: Designing Exams and Writing Multiple Choice Questions
- Wednesday, Jan. 20, 9 a.m.-11 a.m., Room HD-160 (Helen Diller Family Cancer Center Building), Mission Bay
- Day 6: Summative Assessment: Writing and Grading Short Answer Questions
- Thursday, Jan. 21, 9 a.m.-11:15 a.m., Room GEN-N114, Mission Bay
The BEST course is offered via a collaboration between the Office of Career & Professional Development and the Department of Biochemistry.