No more teachers’ dirty looks; new faculty to receive training
New teachers at USU have found themselves once more taking on the role of students. As of fall 2007, all new assistant professors who have not previously taught are required to take a course that will teach them how to teach.
Noelle Cockett, dean of the College of Agriculture, originally proposed the idea, looking for a way to improve undergraduate education in the College of Agriculture. With the help of Nat Frazer, dean of the College of Natural Resources, and the Provost’s Office, the program was expanded to include all colleges in the university, Cockett said.
“I wanted a way to start the faculty out right and set them on a path of excellence,” she said.
The new Teaching Academy meets once a week throughout the semester, with three seminars in August prior to the start of the semester. Each week, a professor believed to have a good reputation is invited to demonstrate good models of teaching.
Cockett said since graduate students only take classes within their field of interest, new professors have had no opportunity to learn teaching methods unless they are in the College of Education.
She said students benefit from the program because it provides them with confident, knowledgeable professors, even if it is a professor’s first semester teaching.
“The hope is that the quality of teaching will go up… by expanding teaching beyond the textbook and the lecture,” said Dick Knight, professor emeritus and instructor for the course.
Vigorous discussion, case studies and highly mediated (or high-tech) lectures all benefit the student by providing greater variety and more interesting classes, he said.
“I’ve learned a lot about different models of teaching which I’d never learned about before,” said Ethan White, a biogeography instructor for spring semester. “(I’ve learned to) engage (the students) in material other than a flat, straight lecture.”
Knight said the Teaching Academy also provides a means for new faculty to get to know each other and develop a feeling of camaraderie that may eventually lead to cooperative research projects.
“It’s nice to come and debrief and socialize with the other faculty,” special education instructor Michel Orosco said.
Another benefit of the academy is that new professors are each assigned a mentor teacher, or teaching coach. The teaching coaches are professors from a different department who are known as strong teachers and whom the new professor has never met before, Cockett said.
She said the teaching coaches observe the new teachers in the classroom and provide feedback but aren’t there to evaluate or supervise. They are there to answer questions and provide support.
The response to the Teaching Academy has been a good one so far, Cockett said. She said there hasn’t been one person who’s heard about the academy and wasn’t enthusiastic.
“Most universities say they value teaching but don’t always provide the means or the resources,” Assistant Provost Michelle Larson said. “At USU, we wanted to put our money where our mouth is and provide a resource so we could help our faculty become truly successful teachers.”
-kate.r@aggiemail.usu.edu