Teaching Mentor Program

DESCRIPTION

The Teaching Mentor Program is a cohort-based hands-on learning experience, wherein participants work with a group of 4-5 interdisciplinary graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to observe and offer feedback on one another's teaching. Groups will meet multiple times over the course of the semester, to act as students in one another’s teaching demonstrations. At the end of the program, students will have letters of recommendation from their colleagues as proof of completion.

Outcomes

As part of this program, participants:

  • receive written and verbal feedback on their teaching from their peers
  • provide constructive, specific, written, and verbal feedback to their peers.

Participants are also encouraged to:

  • apply great teaching strategies that they observe to their own teaching
  • reflect upon the feedback they receive
  • incorporate positive colleague written feedback into their teaching dossier.

What to expect

Participants are placed in small groups to engage in reciprocal teaching observations and to provide both verbal and written feedback to one another during a final meeting.

Program Information

Upcoming Organizational Meeting

The next organizational meeting for the Teaching Mentor Program will be on Wednesday, February 5th from 1-2:30PM (online).

Audience

Current graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.

Registration

Registration for this event will open in January 2025.

Instructions for the Organizational Meeting

Note:

  • This program is in high demand. If you anticipate any reason for not being able to commit and attend the mandatory organizational meeting, participation in all of your group’s teaching demonstrations, and in the final feedback meeting, please do not register to avoid taking the spot of another student who could benefit from this program.
  • TMP is reserved for students who have not already completed TMP.
  • TMP Registration closes on January 29 by 8:00AM.
  • At the mandatory meeting, TMP participants will be introduced to their assigned groups and will begin scheduling peer observations.

Here are the steps to register for TMP:

  1. Login to Western Connect using your Western username and password.
  2. Go to the Event Calendars section and select the Centre for Teaching and Learning calendar.
  3. Select the event you wish to register in. Details and a description of the program will appear.
  4. Select the Register on Waiting List button. You will receive an automated confirmation email to your Western email account.
  5. To complete your registration to be considered for enrolment, complete the registration form found in your automated waitlist confirmation email. If we do not receive a completed registration survey by the fall deadline, you will not be considered for enrolment.

Due to limited enrolment, we are not able to accept everyone who completes the registration process. If a spot does not become available for you, we encourage you to register for the next round of TMP.

If you have any questions or problems registering for this event, please consult our help guide or contact ctl@uwo.ca.

Prerequisites / Recommended Preparation

None (active TA duties not required)

Completion Requirements

To complete the program, students must attend the organizational meeting (one hour), observe a one-hour teaching demonstration for each group member (three-four hours), engage in a final feedback discussion and provide each group member with written feedback (one hour).

Offered

Typically twice per year (organizational meetings are held Jan/Feb and Sept/Oct).

Applies to the following certificate

Western Certificate in University Teaching and Learning

 

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Testimonial from past participant

“I enjoyed attending the lectures/tutorials of my group members and learned about various active learning strategies used in different departments. The flexibility of the TMP made the program very unique and stress-free for graduate students with a lot of things on their plates. The constructive comments I received from my group members will help me design my future lectures.”