In this small-group discussion, join experienced TFs in the humanities and social sciences to discuss questions like, how do you prepare to lead a discussion-based section? What kinds of things can you do in class to keep students engaged? How do you give feedback? Participants will leave the session with tips and strategies for teaching in discussion-based sections. 

This session is part of the Fall Teaching Conference, which is designed to prepare new and experienced graduate student teachers for their roles as Teaching Fellows in the FAS. Pre-registration is...

Rebecca Miller Brown, Assistant Director, Graduate Student Programming, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning
Jen Thum, Assistant Director of Academic Engagement and Assistant Research Curator, Harvard Art Museums

A Dutch landscape drawing to investigate climate change. Interwar prints to consider the lives of noncombatants. A Buddhist sculpture analyzed by medical students. Each semester, classes from disciplines across the university—on topics ranging from environmental science to poetry—engage with original works of art at the Harvard Art Museums...

*Part of the Communication Track

Marlon Kuzmick, Director of the Learning Lab, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning
Christine D'Auria, Assistant Director of the Learning Lab, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning

How do you use visuals to help your audience develop a schema to understand your work? How can students use visuals as they develop their academic skills? In this session, you will explore how to communicate your work visually, and how visuals communicate structure to help your audience understand the...

*Part of the Communication Track

Marlon Kuzmick, Director of the Learning Lab, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning
Pamela Pollock, Director of Professional Development, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning

What makes communication effective and engaging? What components of communication are important to consider as you teach, give presentations, or share your research with different audiences?  How do you prepare what you want to say and how you want to say it? In this session, we will explore...

*Part of the Professional Development Track (for experienced TFs)

Ashlie Sandoval, Assistant Director for Equity and Inclusion, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning

Though an increasing number of faculty search committees ask candidates to submit diversity statements, guidance about how to compose an effective statement—indeed, even about what they are and why they can be valuable to institutions and candidates’ own professional development—remains scarce. How can you approach writing a diversity statement,...

*Part of the Professional Development Track (for experienced TFs)

Adam Beaver, Director of Pedagogy, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning

Are you on or near the job market? Enthused or concerned about the prospect of assembling a teaching portfolio or writing a teaching statement, diversity statement, or syllabus? While Harvard hopefully has given you opportunities to practice and receive feedback on your teaching, it is often the case that your career as a TF is shaped by forces beyond your control: that is to say, that you’ve...

Pamela Pollock, Director of Professional Development, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning

We may wonder or worry about how we’re doing as teachers - but how do we know?! As scholars, we are always developing our research, but how do we think about learning and growing as a teacher? In this session, we will consider the nature of feedback as well as strategies for collecting it and using it to improve our practice. We will explore Stephen Brookfield’s lenses for reflective teaching - 1) self, 2) students, 3) colleagues, and 4) scholarship - to consider...

Ashlie Sandoval, Assistant Director for Equity and Inclusion, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning

Equitable and inclusive teaching requires that we (1) identify how social dynamics and systemic inequality pose barriers to advancing student learning and well-being and (2) develop practical strategies to address these dynamics in our classrooms and pedagogical approaches. In this session, we’ll start by considering common challenges to fostering equitable and inclusive learning environments. Then, we’ll explore an array of strategies to...

Jonah Johnson, Assistant Director for Writing Pedagogy, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning; Head Preceptor in the Writing Program

Is giving feedback on papers totally new to you? Or have you graded a thousand papers and need some new ideas? Are you worried about how much time you spend on comments and grading? Or how to ensure that your feedback is accurate, consistent, and useful for your students? In this session we’ll discuss best practices for responding to student writing, which will help you give feedback and grade more efficiently and effectively. We’ll...

Tamara Brenner, Executive Director, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning

What can you do with your students during section to keep them engaged, thinking, and learning? How can you help them feel welcome and ready to learn?  In this session, we will explore the value of active learning in STEM classes, and model examples of how different types of activities can be used to teach various concepts.  Furthermore, we’ll examine how active learning can foster a more inclusive classroom, where all students can participate, feel welcomed, and develop...

Eleanor Finnegan, Assistant Director, Faculty Programming, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning

As a graduate student, you may be asked to teach a course outside of your primary area of expertise—whether in a department or program different from your own, or in the Program in General Education. This can be a daunting prospect, but effective teaching ultimately is not just (or even primarily) about mastering or communicating a specific body of content. It is about rendering transparent to students the rules of the disciplinary game(s) they...

Adam Beaver, Director of Pedagogy, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning

What is a scholar in your discipline actually doing when they are “reading"? How did you learn to perform all of the moves that an effective reader performs? How can you help your students learn to do the same? In this session we will break down what it really means to “read” across our scholarly disciplines. We’ll deconstruct our own disciplinary reading practices, and brainstorm how students new to a discipline can learn to become more skilled readers in it. We’ll consider what novice...

Tamara Brenner, Executive Director, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning

How do students construct and organize knowledge? What strategies help students retain information and apply their knowledge to new situations? What factors influence student motivation? In this workshop, we will explore key ideas about what we know about how students learn and discuss strategies that you can apply to your own teaching.

This session is part of the Fall Teaching Conference, which is designed to prepare new and experienced graduate student teachers for...

Robin Bernstein, Dillon Professor of American History and Professor of African and African American Studies and of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality

What is the relationship between teaching and learning? How can you learn from...