Teaching Development in Doctoral Education: Where, When, and How?
Jan 25, 2024
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Drs. Benjamin Rifkin, Rebecca Natow, Nicholas Salter, and Shayla Shorter discuss the importance of teaching development in doctoral education. They explore the disconnect between graduate training and classroom expectations, the challenges of implementing teaching development courses, and the need for cultural change in higher education. They also emphasize the importance of making the value of education explicit to students.
Incorporating pedagogical training in doctoral programs is crucial for equipping students with skills to navigate a changing educational landscape.
Evaluating graduate student teaching should focus on developmental growth and employ comprehensive assessments beyond traditional student evaluations.
Deep dives
The Disconnect Between Graduate Training and College Teaching
The podcast explores the disconnect between what graduate students are trained to do and what they are expected to do in the college classroom. The hosts summarize their research on graduate programs in history, psychology, and biology, revealing that only a fraction of them require courses on teaching and learning. While some programs offer voluntary workshops and centers for teaching and learning, others discourage graduate students from engaging in teaching, perceiving it as a distraction from research. The hosts argue that this disconnect is out of sync with the teaching-related issues in higher education and propose integrating pedagogical development as a routine part of doctoral training.
The Need for Pedagogical Training in Doctoral Programs
The podcast emphasizes the importance of incorporating pedagogical training in doctoral programs. It discusses the value of training doctoral students to use evidence-based practices and equipping them with the skills needed to navigate a rapidly changing educational landscape. The hosts stress that higher education institutions should recognize the significance of teaching skills for doctoral recipients, as teaching expertise is increasingly vital. They also address the perception that doctoral education should solely focus on research and argue that teaching and research can complement each other.
Evaluating Graduate Student Teaching and Faculty Evaluation
The podcast explores the challenges and importance of evaluating graduate student teaching. It suggests evaluating doctoral students' teaching from a developmental standpoint rather than solely focusing on their performance. The hosts recommend encouraging reflective practices, planning, and revisions to improve teaching skills. They also discuss the need for comprehensive evaluations that go beyond traditional student evaluations, using a triangulation approach that includes multiple sources of feedback such as peer observations, teaching materials, and student input. Additionally, the podcast highlights the necessity of improving faculty evaluation by using forms of assessment that accurately measure effective teaching.
Making Teaching Development Official through Accreditation
The podcast proposes making teaching development in doctoral programs an official requirement through accreditation. The hosts acknowledge the difficulty of changing the culture in higher education but argue that accrediting bodies can be influential motivators for institutions. They suggest that accreditation standards should reflect the importance of teaching training for graduate students. The hosts highlight the need for a culture shift that recognizes teaching as a valuable component of higher education. They also emphasize the significance of engaging in conversations about the decline in public confidence and the rising cost of education to drive change.
Welcome back to Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning! In our first episode of Season 8, we speak with Drs. Benjamin Rifkin, Rebecca Natow, Nicholas Salter, and Shayla Shorter about their article in TheChronicle of Higher Education titled “Why Doctoral Programs Should Require Courses on Pedagogy” (March 16, 2023). Drs. Rifkin, Natow, Salter, and Shorter make the case for paying far more attention to developing teaching skills in doctoral programs. They share research they conducted to examine the “disconnect between what we are trained to do in graduate school and what we are expected to do in the college classroom,” and offer four next steps to better prepare Ph.D.s to teach.
Benjamin Rifkin is Professor of Russian and Interim Provost at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Rebecca Natow is Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy, and Director of the Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies program at Hofstra University, Nicholas Salter is Associate Professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Hofstra University, and Shayla Shorter is a Clinical Collaborative Librarian and Assistant Curator for the Medical Library at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.