Supporting Doctoral Students to Develop their Teaching Practice
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Transcript of Supporting Doctoral Students to Develop their Teaching Practice
Supporting Doctoral Students to Develop their Teaching Practice
Julie-Anne ReganKirsten Besemer
April 2008
Background• Impetus for change
– RDAP– HERA– Applications for the PG Certificate
• Concerns of PGRs and GTAs– Conflict of interest when supervisor also supporting teaching
practice– Lacking confidence and feeling insecure because no preparation
for teaching– A sense of great responsibility for the learning experience of
undergraduate students they are teaching– No formal recognition of their teaching experience- employability
• The support framework – see handout
Action Learning Groups• Action Learning Groups
– Proven to be an effective approach to professional development
– Facilitated by an academic development specialist
– The role of the facilitator– Managing an ALG– A vehicle for promoting the Professional
Standards Framework and the individual recognition scheme of the Higher Education Academy
Participating in an ALG
• Starting teaching without support– Time consuming – Reinventing the wheel
• Advantages of the ALG– Group support – PhD can be a lonely path– Exchanging information and encouragement– Results are immediate: How the action
learning group helped me make my teaching more interactive
Effects of the ALG
• Professional Development and recognition by the HEA
• Changing the way I think about my teaching– From financial need to professional practice
• Generic PGR training versus Action Learning– Starting from our learning needs
Conclusion• Evaluations so far
– Confidence building– Directly related to practical issues– Possibly more attractive in disciplines where a
cohesive community of research students does not already exist
– A useful compromise to the PG Cert but not a replacement
Take home messages
• ALGs can provide an effective forum for developing early academics
• Appropriate facilitation is an essential feature
• Formal recognition of teaching practice is viewed as career enhancing by early academics