Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Certificate Program Requirements

The GSI Teaching & Resource Center is accepting enrollments in its Teaching Certificate Program from UC Berkeley graduate students beginning Fall 2012. All preparation-for-teaching activities that qualify for Teaching Certificate requirements must commence in Fall 2012 or later.

Certificate completion records are reflected on your Engage Path page. For guidance on how to check your certificate progress, you may review this guide.

General Requirements

Teaching Portfolio Requirements 

One of the required Workshops on Teaching provides guidance on the components of a teaching portfolio. A complete teaching portfolio for the certificate includes:

  • List of teaching experience as would appear on your CV. Include a bulleted list (or similar) for each course that includes job title, course title and institution, and a brief summary of your responsibilities. If it is not apparent from the title, state what type of course this was, for example, an upper division course for majors, a senior thesis course, etc. Do not lead with course numbers as they vary across institutions.
  • Statement of Teaching Philosophy. The required Workshops on Teaching provide guidance for writing your statement. Your statement should be no longer than 1-2 pages (single spaced, size 11 font). Common components of a teaching statement include: 
    • Goals for student learning in your discipline
    • Beliefs about how learning takes place and your values as an educator
    • Examples of teaching activities you use to promote learning 
    • Evidence of student learning/how you know if your students are learning
    • Details of the classroom environment you strive to foster and your approach to working with students
  • Original syllabus for a full-semester, credit-bearing course you have taught or plan to teach. At minimum, the syllabus should include a course description, list of learning objectives, course policies, basis for evaluation, and week-by-week course schedule with readings and major course assignments. 
  • Comprehensive feedback on your teaching 
    • Mid-Semester Feedback:
    • End-of-Semester Course Evaluations:
      • Two complete sets of end-of-semester evaluations from two different semesters (appendix).
      • Reflection on and summary of end-of-semester evaluation results: What did the feedback indicate and what did you learn as a result? What changes did you/will you make as a result of the feedback?
    • Results of GSI classroom teaching observation by a faculty mentor:   
      • Detailed lesson plan for what was taught during the observation. Copy and use the Lesson Plan Template. 
      • Reflection and summary of faculty classroom observation. This should include the process used (meetings, brief lesson description etc.), what you learned, areas for potential improvement, and steps to work on in each area.
  • List of teaching development activities as would appear on your CV. Include 375 Pedagogy Course, workshops, activities completed for certificate, and other teaching improvement activities with semester, year, and brief descriptions as needed.

*Portfolio and Checklist must be submitted as one PDF document by November 15 for review in the fall semester and by April 15 for review in the spring semester. Portfolios will only be reviewed twice a year.

If you are a graduate student at UC Berkeley and want to begin the Certificate Program, please complete the Certificate Program Enrollment Form.

(It is important to note that the UC Berkeley Certificate of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education is not a primary or secondary teaching credential. For information on educational credentialing, please refer to the programs offered by the Graduate School of Education.)

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