Teaching
Academians have several responsibilities that compete for time against their research. For many at UMass, teaching occupies a substantial amount of their work hours (source: Work-Time, Housework, Carework, and Work-Life Balance). Thus, although our primary mission at ISSR is to offer resources for research, we also offer some teaching resource references here. Ideally, UMass faculty should be supported in integrating their research with their teaching, allowing for more efficiency and effectiveness in one's teaching, thereby providing more time and energy to devote to research.
The Center for Teaching and Faculty Development provides several resources to assist TAs and faculty with teaching. They include services such as individual and departmental consultations, teaching awards and fellowships, grading space for TAs, teaching documentation, etc.
For Graduate Students
Teaching Assistant Orientation
Each year, the Center for Teaching & Faculty Development (CTFD), in coordination with the Provost’s Office and the Graduate School, offers the campus-wide Teaching Assistant Orientation (TAO) program, which provides graduate students an opportunity to meet senior TAs, gain important basic teaching skills, and begin to feel a sense of membership in the larger University of Massachusetts community of scholars. While some departments may schedule their own orientations, the highly-rated campus-wide TA Orientation is the only comprehensive orientation opportunity available to all teaching assistants. The program includes a general overview of teaching at the University of Massachusetts, including workshops on fundamental teaching skills led by distinguished faculty members.
The School of Public Health offers English communication instruction classes in the spring and summer on a space-available basis for TAs who wish to improve their English skills. Details can be found here.
Two regularly scheduled courses that offer instruction on teaching to graduate students are:
1. Sociology 797A - Teaching Sociology
Fall 2012: Th 9:30 am-12 pm
Instructor: Lundquist
2. Introduction to Teaching (595K) provides an introduction to the principles and performance of college teaching through an examination of current research and best practices for higher education settings. For more information, contact Karin Moyano Camihort.