Self Teaching College Teaching

Preparing graduate students for a career in academia has become a substantial concern among college educators. A new professor must obtain funding, develop a research program and publish to be awarded tenure. Furthermore, effective teaching techniques should be acquired before embarking on a professorate position, While some schools have begun to develop programs to train their graduates for careers in academia, most college teaching programs in engineering are not well established or non-existent. For a graduate student to acquire the skills and knowledge to be able to begin an effective teaching career, he must rely on his own initiative because of the general lack of guidance in the school system. To aid academia-minded students, an initial guide for the motivated student to begin informal self-training in the art of college teaching is presented. Types of resources for teaching instruction as well as primary focal content for a basic self-taught program is explored. The outline of this process consists of course work and practicing of basic skills followed by a team teaching session. These suggestions are discussed in the context of a fledgling formal training program established by an educational institution. These topics will greatly enhance the next