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Teaching Certificate I Program:
The Sheridan Teaching Seminar - Reflective Teaching

Please add your name to the 2013-14 WAITLIST if you are interested in the program.

Program Description:

In Certificate I, members of the Brown teaching community develop and reflect on their teaching practice.  Participants are introduced to the fundamental components of reflective teaching:  careful planning and continuous refinement of one’s practice; establishing learning goals and gauging your students learning; engaging learners and acknowledging one’s audience.  Finally, using a rhetorical lens, participants will refine the persuasive communication skills that are fundamental to every academic career.

The program is organized into 5 modules, each of which contains a lecture and a hands-on workshop, and a teaching observation. 

  • Module 1: Reflections on Teaching and Learning
  • Module 2: Developing Student Learning Goals: the Syllabus & Course Design
  • Module 3: How Students Learn
  • Module 4: Grading and Evaluation: Gauging Your Students' Learning
  • Module 5*: Rhetorical Practice: Teaching as Persuasive Communication

*Module 5 contains a micro-teaching opportunity for participants to present a five-minute introduction to a topic of their choice and receive feedback on their communication practices.

  • The Teaching Observation allows participants to reflect on their students’ learning experience and to gain constructive feedback from the Sheridan Center trained Teaching Consultants on achieving their individual teaching goals.

Learning Objectives:

Upon completing the Certificate I program, participants will be able to:

  • Reflect on their teaching;
  • Articulate learning goals, and describe how they can be used in course & syllabus planning;
  • Apply what we know about how people learn in their teaching and assessment strategies;
  • Recognize a variety of assessment approaches and their alignment with course learning goals;
  • Reflect on the rhetorical choices they make as a teacher.

Program Requirements for Certificate I:

  1. Completion of all 5 Modules.  Each Module includes:
    1. background readings
    2. a lecture (click here for lecture descriptions)
    3. an assignment
    4. a workshop
    5. a feedback form
  2. Participation in a Teaching Observation
  3. Submission of a Final Program Evaluation at the year’s end

Program Policies & Procedures:

Detailed program policies & procedures are presented in the Certificate I Course Packet and on the Canvas Site.  Please note that this program requires attendance at each of the Workshops and Lectures.  Under extenuating circumstances only one lecture and only one workshop may be missed provided they are not from the same module.

 

Teaching Observations:

  • All Certificate I participants must complete a Teaching Observation as part of the program. The collaborative discussion and constructive feedback created through your teaching observations is an invaluable opportunity for reflection, and form a fundamental component of the Certificate I program.
  • During a Teaching Observation, the Sheridan Center’s trained Teaching Consultants observe and videotape your presentation (e.g. a lecture, lab, discussion section, recitation, etc.). You arrange for your Teaching Observation by filling out an online request form at least two weeks prior to the observed session. After your Teaching Observation, you will have an opportunity to view the video, and then meet with the Teaching Consultants to discuss their feedback on your teaching methods and techniques. The final component of a Teaching observation is the Follow-up Questionnaire.
  • N.B. If no teaching opportunity can be found during the current academic year, the teaching observation may be completed in the following academic year if all other requirements are completed.
  • The Teaching Observation request form asks you about your pedagogical (teaching) goals and objectives. The Sheridan Center consultants will provide you with feedback in the context of these goals. For help or guidence on articulating these, please see the Sheridan Center form: Elements of an Effective Teaching Style.
  • If a teaching opportunity cannot be arranged during the academic year, and you will be teaching during the summer for the Brown Continuing Education program, you may complete your teaching observation during the summer if you:
  • Inform your students of the Teaching Observation process before it happens.
  • Inform your students of the purpose of the filming (it's really not about them!) and the DVD is given only to the instructor (no one else will see it!).
  • Let your students know that if they are uncomfortable with it, they may sit close to the camera person so that they are not in the film.

 

Final Program Evaluation:

  • The implementation of feedback mechanisms is imperative for success in teaching.  Therefore, each Teaching Certificate I candidate evaluates the entire program at the end of the academic year.  The final requirement for Teaching Certificate I is the completion and submission of the Program Evaluation form.  Evaluation forms will be available on the Canvas Course Site at the program’s end.

Please Note there can be NO EXCEPTIONS to these rules.