Invest in Your Career: Take a Summer MOOC on Teaching

An Introduction to Evidence-Based Undergraduate STEM Teaching
Join the CIRTL@UMD MCLC Learning Community

Learn how to implement evidence-based teaching strategies in your university classroom as well as effective methods for assessing teaching and learning. The information, tools and teaching approaches you will learn in this course are applicable to all disciplines not just the STEM disciplines.

For a video introduction about the course CLICK HERE

Click to become a member of the learning community CIRTL@UMD MCLC Learning Community

This eight-week interactive on-line course (starting June 24th) is designed to provide graduate students, post-doctoral associates and faculty with an introduction to effective university teaching strategies and the research that supports them.  The goal is to develop the next generation of 21st century faculty who are effective scholar-teachers and improve learning for the thousands of students they will teach.  This course is FREE and upon successful completion you will receive documentation from the CIRTL-Network and CIRTL@UMD-MCLC that you have completed a course in University Teaching.

The on-line course draws on the expertise of nationally recognized experienced faculty, educational researchers, and staff from different disciplines and universities affiliated with the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL), a network of research universities collaborating in the preparation of STEM graduate students and post-docs as future faculty members.

Although you can do the course on your own, a more effective, efficient and enjoyable way to navigate the course is to be part of the CIRTL@UMD-MCLC (MOOC Course Local Community).  As part of the CIRTL@UMD-MCLC you will meet and share with peers from different disciplines, develop a network for career development and a have access to the facilitator (Prof. Spencer Benson) who has more than two decades of experience in helping graduate students, post-docs and faculty be more effective educators. The CIRTL@UMD-MCLC will have weekly face to face and virtual (75minutes) meeting for discussion, sharing and hands-on learning activities and have a dedicated CIRTL@UMD-MCLC ELMS site.

What you'll learn!

• Key learning principles such as the role of mental models in learning and the importance of practice and feedback,
• Fundamental elements of course design, including the development of learning outcomes and assessments of learning aligned with those outcomes,
• Teaching strategies for fostering active learning and inclusive classroom environments,
• How to capitalize on teaching approaches and expertise from a variety of disciplines.