Advancing Your Teaching in the Sciences and Engineering
Are you seeking to advance your teaching in your discipline? The CTL offers programs and services throughout the academic year to help graduate students connect to a diverse array of resources that will help improve their teaching and their students’ learning; apply conceptual frameworks and emerging technologies to innovate their teaching; engage with the scholarship of teaching and learning within a community of peers invested in teaching; and refine their teaching practice and prepare for the job market by participating in the CTL’s teaching observation and individual consultation services.
On this page:
Stay Connected
Sign up for the CTL email list so you’re always in the loop about professional development opportunities.
Programming
Evidence-based Teaching in Science and Engineering
This series of workshops is designed for STEM instructors and explores evidence-based practices in STEM instruction. In this series, you and other TAs will engage with the research of teaching and learning and apply these approaches to better facilitate student learning through the design of an introductory course in your discipline. Learn more.
Teachers’ Lounge
In Teachers’ Lounge, graduate students and CTL staff informally converse over pizza about teaching approaches, drawing from research and one another’s classroom experiences. Previous topics included grading and assessments, inclusive teaching, and international perspectives. Learn more.
Advanced Topics in Teaching
The CTL offers workshops on various advanced topics in teaching for graduate students looking to acquire new pedagogical frameworks and to innovate their teaching. Topics include inclusive teaching strategies, syllabus construction, visual thinking strategies, and public speaking. Learn more.
CTLgrads Learning Communities
By participating in these deeper multi-session discussions of the teaching literature with other graduate student instructors, you will develop new frameworks to innovate your teaching. Past This fall, CTL grads Learning Communities have discussed metacognition, technology, and interdisciplinary approaches to teaching. Learn more.
Lead Teaching Fellow Workshops
Lead Teaching Fellows (LTFs) are experienced graduate student instructors who develop departmental workshops specific to the teaching and learning needs of their departments and can help support you and your peers in your teaching. Check the LTF wiki (log-in with UNI) to see upcoming LTF events.
CIRTL Events
The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) is a consortium of universities who share resources to support the development of future faculty in STEM and Social Sciences. Check out the CIRTL website for online resources, courses, and workshops that can further your development as a STEM instructor. Visit our CIRTL at Columbia page to learn more about on-campus opportunities or check the CTL Events Calendar for upcoming events.
Services
Microteaching Practice Sessions
Microteaching practice sessions provide a venue for you and other instructors to practice your teaching with a small group of peers. Try out new tools and approaches, and receive immediate feedback from peers and a trained facilitator. Learn more.
Mid-Course Reviews
The CTL offers Mid-Course Reviews (MCRs) with trained peer consultants who can help solicit feedback from your students on what they find to be the most helpful and the most challenging aspects of your course. CTL Mid-Course Reviews are confidential, formative, and designed to support you in your teaching practices. Learn more
Teaching Observations
Teaching observations give you an opportunity to receive confidential feedback on your classroom instruction by a trained peer consultant. As you start out teaching at Columbia, sign up to be observed leading your lab or section. Learn more.
Individual Consultations
The CTL meets with graduate students seeking consultation at all points in their graduate teaching career. This includes consultations on teaching statements, professional development, preparing for the job market, and general teaching-related support on a first-come, first-served basis. Learn more.
Opportunities
Inclusive Teaching Seminar
The Inclusive Teaching Seminar is a four-part workshop series that offers an opportunity for graduate student instructors to reflect on their teaching experiences and commit to creating inclusive classroom environments that support all students. In a cohort of peers, participants will engage with scholarship on inclusive teaching, develop concrete strategies for promoting diversity in their classrooms, and create an action plan for teaching inclusively. Learn more.
Innovative Teaching Summer Institute (ITSI)
ITSI is a four-day immersive experience in June during which participants develop an innovative assignment with an interdisciplinary cohort of graduate student instructors. Learn more.
Leading Teaching Fellowship
The Lead Teaching Fellowship (LTF) program is a year-long development opportunity for doctoral students to develop mentorship and liaison skills while producing teaching development activities for their peers. Details about activities and stipends can be found on the CTL website. Learn more.
Teaching Observation Fellowship
The Teaching Observation Fellows (TOFs) are an interdisciplinary cohort of graduate student instructors who assess and reflect on their own teaching through classroom observations throughout the year. Details about activities and stipends can be found on the CTL website. Learn more.
Looking Forward
The CTL also provides support as you approach the job market. While the programs listed above will prepare you to reflect on and speak to your teaching experiences in applications and interviews, you can click here to find workshops and services that specifically target the development of your application materials.
The CTL is here for graduate students.
The Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning provides an array of support for graduate students in both their current and future teaching responsibilities.