Teaching Component
Union College Future Professors Program
You will be afforded opportunities to
teach as you prepare to become a professional educator. At this early
stage you should become aware of the various methods and techniques
used in college teaching. It is the intent of this program that you
understand the value of your talents and how much our society needs
you to share them.
Minimum Requirements
- Work with your faculty mentor on a teaching
project related to at least one of his or her courses. Ordinarily,
you will attend some of the classes taught by your faculty mentor
and will be given the opportunity to teach or give a presentation
to two or more of these classes. [See notes on appropriate and
inappropriate teaching activities, below.]
- Spend at least six hours per week during
the academic year on the teaching project, including time spent
observing your faculty mentor in the classroom or laboratory.
- A typewritten proposal for the teaching
project will be included in the summer report. Please provide an
overview of the project, an outline of your plan for completing
the project, and a list of your specific objectives.
- Each Future Professor must tutor four hours
per week at the Kenney Community Center. If you are selected to
tutor at the Writing Center, in an academic department (ex.:
Chemistry Crisis Center), or in the A.O.P. program, you may
substitute such tutoring but may not receive additional
compensation.
- Participate in a fall-term, half-day
seminar on "Techniques for Teaching at the College Level".
Appropriate Teaching
Activities
- Assisting faculty mentor in
choosing a textbook or readings for course.
- Assisting faculty mentor in
preparing course materials/worksheets/developing lab
experiments.
- Preparing IEF or IEG applications
for activities the class might not otherwise include, such as
visits to museums, concerts, plays, research facilities, state or
national political sessions, and so on.
- Assisting faculty mentor in
laboratory teaching.
- Presenting material to the class
and/or leading discussion during two class meetings.
- Running an extra "recitation"
section for course, with optional attendance for the enrolled
students.
Inappropriate Teaching
Activities
- Grading.
- Teaching course (classroom or
laboratory) in the instructor's absence.
Suggested Activities
- You should be given the opportunity to
review assignments submitted by other students, but should not be
involved in assigning the grades. Discussion with your mentor is
essential to this task for the exercise to be meaningful.
- Attendance at selected Committee on
Teaching (COT) panel discussions and workshops throughout the
academic year.
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Professors Program homepage