By Thomas Lee, Political Science Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2024 Many students in my political theory courses every semester would come to my office hours distressed about how they should go about writing their political theory papers. While the wide-ranging possibilities of political theorizing reflected in the…
Plot the Semester Once you have developed the sequence of course’s instructional units and a sense of the major assignments and learning activities of your course, you can begin plotting these into a semester schedule. This is where instructors can often struggle, as it can feel as if there…
By Douglas Van, Political Science Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2023 The history of political thought is enigmatic. Studying ideas well requires students to take seriously the beliefs and moral commitments of persons from radically different contexts from one another and from themselves. In a survey course like…
By Nancy Freitas, Energy and Resources Group Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2023 Figuring out how to fund your research and education as a graduate student is a daunting task. Most of us know that writing for grants and fellowships can help defray these costs, but learning how…
By Anna Tomi, Scandinavian Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2022 When teaching Reading and Composition, I often encounter a wonderful group of students enthusiastic to display their knowledge and engage with the instructor. But when it’s time for the students to talk to each other, they withdraw into silence. This…
By Dhruva Karkada, Physics Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2022 Physics students often struggle to voice their confusion when presented with challenging material. In my experience, both as a student and as an instructor, this hesitation is often deeply rooted in a sense of shame: asking questions, especially in front…
In any given semester, about 2,000 GSIs work with Berkeley students in studios, labs, and discussion sections. Photo information Previous Slide Next Slide GSIs develop significant professional skills through teaching on campus. Photo information Previous Slide…
by Ella Hiesmayr, Statistics Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2021 One effective way of making content accessible to a wide range of people is to present the material in a variety of formats. It is common to teach mathematical courses by relying mainly on material in text form, but some…
by Ellis Kennedy, Materials Science and Engineering Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2021 Materials Science & Engineering 104 is a laboratory course taken by not only materials science and engineering students, but also international concurrent enrollment students and students from other majors because it offers hands-on exposure to techniques that…
by Chitraang Murdia, Physics Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay, 2021 Remote teaching has come with its own challenges for everyone. One major challenge faced by most instructors is the lack of student participation and engagement. Traditional teaching styles like lectures and supervised problem-solving sessions have not been successful at mitigating…