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Developing
Effective Teaching Skills
Developing effective
teaching skills is a significant focus in the doctoral
program because demonstrating the ability to
teach effectively is becoming increasingly important in
attracting job offers in the academic job market. Doctoral
students are assigned during their first year in the program
to assist a faculty member in teaching his or her course.
The provides an opportunity to work closely with and observe
an experienced teachert to gain exposure to the subject
matter of the field, learn methods for testing, grading, and
providing feedback, and become familiar with different
styles of instruction. At the end of the first year or in
the second year, students are given responsibility for
teaching their own course under the supervision of a faculty
member. By the time students graduate from the program, they
can expect to have taught approximately six courses over a
four or five year period. Every effort is made to allow
students to teach in their area of doctoral
specialization.
Significant resources are
available in the college and on the University of Oregon
campus to improve teaching effectivness. The UO Teaching
Effectiveness Program, for example, regularly offers
workshops on teaching, testing, group projects, grading, and
other related topics. In addition, they are available to
video tape instructors in the classroom and gather feedback
from students on their perception of how a course is going.
Department faculty are also available to observe classes and
provide feedback. The emphasis in such efforts is on
development rather than on evaluation.
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