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Preparing Professional Faculty Program (PPF)

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Program Description

Many universities are offering courses designed to prepare graduate students for the responsibilities and duties they will encounter as new faculty and to strengthen their preparation as teachers of undergraduate students. Much of this activity is taking place as a result of the Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) initiative, developed by the Council of Graduate Schools and The Association of American Colleges and Universities and funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts. TA training on most campuses is offered at the beginning of a graduate student's career and is generally designed to enhance and support undergraduate education on each particular campus. PFF, on the other hand, introduces graduate students to a wider range of faculty responsibilities and provides for the long-term professional development of the new professoriate, while still maintaining its central focus of strengthening the graduate student's background and expertise in college and university teaching.

The Center for Teaching Development's program encompasses the basic elements of both types of activities. It is modeled on information disseminated at national conferences by PFF participants as well as information collected from many universities across the nation that provide extensive TA training and future professoriate programs for their graduate students. This was piloted in Fall Quarter 1997 as a CTD mini-course for interested graduate students. Initially over 75 persons requested information about participation and we had to limit the number who could attend.

CTD is now offering this program, PREPARING PROFESSIONAL FACULTY, once each academic year with an additional intensive summer session.

There are several levels of participation. Students can participate in the entire program or select areas of emphasis based on interest and circumstance. They can develop syllabi, curricula, and materials for courses they expect to teach early in their careers as new faculty or choose to prepare partial or complete courses to be offered before graduation to fulfill a teaching requirement in their own departments or they can decide to select options to begin collecting material for a teaching portfolio.

In order to provide coordination with academic departments, each graduate student will be encouraged to work with a mentor faculty member in his or her department. The case study method, used widely in law, medical, and business schools, will be utilized, along with micro-teaching, discipline-based small group sections, multi-media activity, teaching portfolio preparation, and independent study.

Graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and mentor faculty interested in learning more about this opportunity should contact Dr. Streichler at 534-3958 or email ctd@ucsd.edu for reservations.

Seminar Descriptions

Cognitive Strategies
As you make instructional decisions, would it help if you knew more about how people learn? Research about memory and information processing provides the framework for this workshop which will focus on how information is perceived, processed, and organized. Bring your own subject materials.

Course and Syllabus Design
Introduction to developing the complete curriculum for a course you are planning to teach or for a current course you would like to revise. Basic steps in course design will be presented, supplemented by handouts and checklists. Syllabi from a variety of disciplines will be available for critique based upon guidelines you develop that are appropriate for your discipline. For maximum benefit, bring a syllabus from a course that you are teaching or have taken.

Preparing Teaching Portfolios
As job markets shrink and teaching experience is weighed more heavily in employment decisions, it is important to develop an effective teaching portfolio which conveys to prospective employers your special qualities as a college teacher. This workshop introduces you to items commonly included in such portfolios with examples and models from several disciplines. After you have had an opportunity to review the materials, you will develop some materials for inclusion in your own portfolio. Individual assistance in refining and revising your portfolio will be available by appointment after you attend the workshop.

The Art of the Lecture/Classroom Management Principles
Planning and implementing effective lessons follows naturally after you organize and develop plans for your course. This seminar deals with lecturing, teaching and learning styles, establishing positive conditions for learning, resources to enhance instruction, and issues of classroom management.

Using Instructional Technology in the Classroom
We will provide an overview and working demonstration of the topics listed below and will arrange for an individual follow-up consultation so that you have an opportunity to prepare your own course page or one of the other projects.

  • Introduction to Instructional Technology
  • Technology in the classroom
    • AV tools
    • Computer-assisted grading*
  • Technology outside the classroom
    • e-mail
    • listserves
    • web page construction/content
    • on-line discussion tools

PPF Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Who can participate in the PPF program?
Postdocs, graduate students, junior faculty, adjunct faculty, as well as experienced faculty interested in mentoring in their departments may participate. Also faculty interested in setting up a similar program within their departments are encouraged to check out the program.

Can I earn academic credit?
In previous activities similar to this one, we have cooperated with the students' departments to provide academic credit if requested by the participant. Credit has been given by the department (generally, this has involved the student's advisor) under several titles (Special Projects, Independent Study, Grad Research). Depending upon the activities you choose to engage in, you can receive from 1 to 4 units of credit. We will provide a course description and syllabus to your advisor (or whoever will be granting credit) and we will send grades to the registrar.

How much time will I need to commit?
Because the course will be individualized to your needs, you actually will decide the time commitment. If you choose to develop a complete course, but not actually teach it, you would commit less time. If you participate in the full range of options, it will take more time. If you want to audit or sit in on different sessions, but only agree to produce a teaching portfolio as your project, the time commitment and credit arrangements will reflect that. One reason for this flexibility is that most of you are at different stages of your teaching careers. Some have never taught, while others have had more teaching experience. Time commitment will also vary according to how you choose to achieve competency in the different areas (see Activities). If you do not wish to commit to completing any assignments and just want to sit in on the seminar sessions, that is OK as long as you let us know when you will be attending.

Must I complete the entire program in one academic year?
Several persons asked if the course preparation could be done in one year and teaching done in a succeeding summer or academic year. The answer is yes. Depending upon your own time frame and obligations, you could make a partial, limited commitment each time the program is offered.

What are the requirements?
If you wish to qualify for the CTD certificate in college and university teaching, attendance at the seminars is required. Other requirements for the certificate include:

  • developing the curriculum/syllabus for a new course or revising a current course and syllabus
  • at least one teaching observation with feedback from CTD or your department mentor
  • developing a teaching statement for a teaching portfolio
  • constructing a course web page (following participation in the PPF group session, you will be able to arrange for an individual follow-up appointment with CTD's instructional technology specialist)

What kind of activities will be included?
This will be a professional, competency-based program. You will be able to use a variety of modes of learning to achieve competency in a specific area. For example, if you have never actually lectured to a large class and choose not to attend the session on effective lecturing, you may borrow and view a videotape on "Making Large Classes Interactive" and/or visit an award-winning professor's lecture. You would then provide a critique--what worked, what did not work, suggestions, etc. Or read one of the several written sources we have on effective lecturing (by the way, we have discipline-based sources such as The New Professor's Handbook: A Guide to Teaching and Research in Engineering and Science and Good Start: A Guidebook for New Faculty in Liberal Arts Colleges). Then you would make arrangements with either your mentor or with the PPF instructor to observe you in a lecturing situation. Videotaping can also be arranged. If you are not actually teaching a course, you could offer to provide a lecture session for your advisor or another professor in your department. We will try to provide a variety of options for each competency. We will include faculty participation, particularly in the sessions on faculty roles and responsibilities, ethical considerations, and preparing for promotion and tenure.

You can design your participation to fit your needs and interests. For example, you could:

  • outline and prepare materials and a lesson plan for a complete one-hour lecture for the course you design
  • arrange to do class observations at a small liberal arts college or a local community college
  • arrange for an internship at a local postsecondary institution
  • arrange an internship as a TA consultant at the Center for Teaching Development
  • visit and critique several classes in your discipline (or another) at UCSD
  • experiment with a new teaching technique or develop a classroom activity using the internet and prepare an article for publication
  • work with your mentor and assist in developing an activity for his/her class

These activities are limited only by your imagination, the cooperation you can receive on campus, and the time available. After the first meeting, Dr. Streichler will be arranging individual appointments so that you can plan a program that will be individualized to your needs.

An e-mail announcement will be sent out each week to persons on the PPF list describing the topic to be covered in the seminar for that week so that you can make decisions about participation.

One of our goals is to provide documentation of program completion so that participants can better represent themselves in the job market. Therefore, the activities are carefully planned so that when you decide whether you wish to participate, you will be aware of the minimum requirements that will earn a certificate of participation. However, that does not mean all participants must work toward that goal. As stated earlier, you can choose any level of participation.

When is the optimal time to enroll?
If you are questioning the timing in relationship to your years as a grad student, it probably is helpful if you have already had one year of graduate work completed; however, that is not a prerequisite--it just gives you a better idea of the questions you want to ask and the kind of answers you are seeking. The second year is not too early to start this program.

How much does this cost?
There is no cost for participation. You do not need to purchase texts. We will provide handouts and have developed a complete reserve library list of books and videotapes available at the center for use here and in some cases, for checkout from Thursday afternoons through Monday morning.

Do you have any discipline-specific sessions?
We have had requests for separate sessions on portfolio prep for different disciplines. I have presented portfolio prep workshops for different departments upon request, but the scheduled PPF session will be for all disciplines with the opportunity to break out into small discipline-based groups in the activity part of the session. If you would like to arrange a discipline-specific workshop within your department, you can contact rstreichler@ucsd.edu.

Note: Please contact us prior to any event to request any necessary reasonable accomodations to enable your access and participation.

Sign Up / Request More Information

If you'd like to learn more about the PPF Program, please fill out the form below as completely as possible. If you are interested in signing up for the program, please let us know WHICH QUARTER you want to sign up for.

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Center for Teaching Development
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093-0030
Phone: (858) 534-6767
Fax: (858) 822-0318