Teaching Active Learning Strategies to Graduate Students
27 Pages Posted: 2 Feb 2012 Last revised: 15 Feb 2012
Date Written: 2012
Abstract
This paper examines the value of training graduate students in active learning techniques, including Team-Based Learning (TBL). Given the realities of the academic job market and what institutions of higher education are looking for in new faculty, graduate students should be exposed to a variety of teaching methods so they can quickly adjust to the teaching demands of faculty positions. Receiving such instruction early in their academic careers allows graduate students to gain experience with new methods before they even enter the job market. Based on a small-scale graduate student survey conducted in one department, there are reasons to suggest that graduate students who have access to such education will use more active methods and demonstrate an understanding of what works in their own classrooms. It is evident that an enthusiastic audience for innovative teaching strategies exists, and a model of a peer mentoring program focused on teaching is presented as one option to enhance the training graduate students receive without overburdening departmental resources.
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