Teaching Resources for Graduate Student Instructors
Find information on this page regarding lesson planning, running discussion sections and labs, fostering and maintaining student engagement, collaborating with supervisors and peer TAs, and accessing the campus resources available to support you as individuals and as instructors.
The GSD Program is an initiative of the Office of the Provost, the Graduate School, and the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). We support graduate students in preparing for intellectual leadership in future careers, in designing engaging learning experiences for their students, and in advancing an energetic culture of teaching and learning at UT. GSD provides opportunities to advance graduate students’ and postdocs' pedagogical, academic, and professional progress, including support for crafting a teaching statement; drafting a diversity, equity, and inclusion statement; and creating a teaching portfolio as they prepare for their future teaching careers.
Graduate Student Development Programs and Services
Consultations on Academic Job Market Documents Related to Teaching
We offer one-on-one consultations for teaching statements and other academic job market documents related to teaching for graduate students and postdocs preparing for their future teaching careers. Our consultants at the Center for Teaching and Learning are ready to support you to prepare your documents with such positions in mind. In ou consultations, we will review your statement(s) and discuss how to communicate your student-centered goals, values, and experiences in these documents.
In order to maximize our time together, we require you to upload a draft of your teaching and/or other documents at least 48 hours before your appointment.
For more information about teaching statements, please review our resources on drafting teaching statements and creating a teaching portfolio.
- Visit our Consultations page to learn more and schedule an appointment with one of our consultants.
Teaching Preparation Series
In collaboration with campus partners, which include the Counseling and Mental Health Center, Office of the Ombuds, Title IX Office, Sanger Learning Center, and Services for Students with Disabilities, the Center for Teaching and Learning facilitates a series of active learning sessions each semester that are open to all graduate students to develop skills specific to their teaching roles. Graduate students have the opportunity to learn about, observe, practice, receive feedback on, and reflect upon teaching techniques.
Complete three sessions for a "Teaching Preparation Certificate," or seven sessions and submit a qualifying teaching statement for an "Advanced Teaching Preparation Certificate."
GRS 097: Fundamentals for TAs
Each fall, in collaboration with the Graduate School, the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Natural Sciences, and Undergraduate Studies, GSD offers a semester-long, zero-credit hour, professional development seminar aimed to support first-time Teaching Assistants (TAs) in their instructional duties. In this seminar, TAs will learn strategies for leading effective discussions/labs and receive personalized support to become more confident and effective instructors. Graduate students become part of a community of TAs interested in brainstorming and troubleshooting with each other.
Inclusive Course Design Institute
The Inclusive Course Design Institute (ICDI) is a two-week intensive interdisciplinary intensive designed to help new and experienced Assistant Instructors (AIs) design a course from the ground up. Over the course of two weeks in July, selected participants will work synchronously via Zoom and asynchronously via Canvas on a variety of collaborative and self-reflective activities as they learn to integrate accessible and inclusive teaching practices to promote community and belonging throughout each stage of course design. By using principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and best-practices from other evidence-based course-design frameworks, participants developed a syllabus for a new course using strategies to maximize success for all students in their classrooms.
Graduate Teaching Showcase
Each spring semester, graduate students compete for the chance to present quick, compelling talks about teaching at the Graduate Teaching Showcase. This event brings together graduate students, faculty, and staff to hear about exciting approaches about teaching and learn about issues graduate students are grappling with in their own teaching contexts. See all of the presentations here.
Visit our webpage for more information.
General Teaching & Learning Consultations
GSD staff are available to support and coach you on all aspects of teaching such as syllabus and instructional activity design, effective classroom management, and motivating your students to learn. Our staff can also assist you with obtaining and interpreting feedback from your students, including designing mid-semester feedback surveys, planning formative and summative assessments, creating rubrics, analyzing exam questions, and interpreting mid-semester feedback and course instructor survey (CIS) results.
Contact us
Location:
PCL 3.349
Contact Us:
Online Form
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