Addressing GSI Concerns
Vice Provost and Graduate Dean Lisa Garcia Bedolla addresses the most pressing questions GSIs have conveyed to us
Instruction FAQ for Instructors – Fall 2020
Berkeley Academic Senate: Instruction FAQ for Instructors – Fall 2020
Understanding Social Welfare Comparisons without Math Anxiety
by Carly Trachtman, Agricultural and Resource Economics Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2020 A key concept taught at the beginning of any development economics course is the social welfare function, as many poverty and inequality measures are examples of such functions. Specifically, a social welfare function is a function that takes…
Collaborative Learning in Times of Remote Instruction
by Jonas Teupert, German Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2020 In my Advanced German courses, students learn about German culture and improve their writing and discussion competencies. The combination of content and language instruction overcomes curricular bifurcation and can increase learning effectiveness. Ideal for this approach are collaborative group projects, which…
Conquering the Top 10 Algorithms of the 20th Century
by Andrew Shi, Mathematics Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2020 In Math 128A/B, students get their first exposure to mathematical problems that lack exact answers, where only approximate answers can be found. The course goes beyond just finding these answers; it emphasizes the design, comparison, and implementation of algorithms that find…
Inviting Students In: Improving Diversity by Increasing Participation
by Kate Pennington, Agricultural and Resource Economics Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2020 Economists have an outsized impact on the policies that shape our society, but they don’t tend to be very representative of the people who comprise it. At Berkeley, women make up a smaller share of the faculty in…
Lowering the Entry Barrier to Build Inclusive Lab Spaces
by Seiya Ono, Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2020 My first ever college class I walked into was a discussion section for EE16A, the introductory course into electrical engineering. Back then, I had no idea how challenging it was to introduce circuit design and analysis, concepts…
Task-Based Language Games: A Solution to Incorporation of Culture in Grammar Lessons
by Maryam Moeini Meybodi, Graduate School of Education Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2020 At the first day of my Persian 11 series classes, designed specifically for heritage speakers, I ask my students what has motivated them to learn Persian. Ninety-nine percent of the time learning about the Persian culture/history is…
Revolutionizing Classroom Problem-Solving to Mimic the Real World
by Haefa Mansour, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2020 Throughout my own experiences as a student, I’ve always been troubled by the seemingly gaping chasm between the problems taught in engineering classes and the real-world challenges they are supposed to emulate. Typical assessments of students’ understanding involve…
Social Theory as Puzzle: Piecing Together Conceptual Definitions
by Samuel Kieke, Sociology Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2020 Challenge: Over the past three semesters that I have taught social theory, I have noticed that most students come into the course with the expectation that they will not be able to understand the texts. Most recall horror stories from their peers…