1. PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT

A 1 to 2 page statement of your philosophy regarding teaching in a postsecondary educational setting. You might want to consider the role of the instructor, role of the student, how to influence learning, what approaches to use. The statement should reflect your personal feelings about teaching in a postsecondary institution.

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2. FACULTY INTERVIEW REPORT

You should interview a faculty member (full-time) in your discipline/field who teaches in the postsecondary institution type where you want to teach. Basically, you should attempt to discover the following information from the faculty member:

1. Best preparation for the position
2. Roles undertaken in the position
3. Challenges/successes in the position
4. Generalizations about students she/he teaches
5. Ways the faculty member improves her/his teaching

You will also want to get some basic information about the faculty member such as; degrees earned, # of years of teaching experience, #of years in present position, etc. You can present your report in a Q/A format or a summary of responses to the questions you ask.

Your report should conclude with a discussion of what you learned that can be applied to you as you launch and develop your career. This is a very important part of the assignment.

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3. PROFESSIONAL GOAL PLAN

This assignment consists of 2 parts. Part 1 is a 5-question professional needs assessment, which will be given to you in class. Part 2 is the Plan. Using a format given to you in class and working from your professional needs assessment, you will develop a plan to accomplish your professional goals, either short and/or long range goals.

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4. RESUME

You should prepare a resume as if you were applying for a position in postsecondary education. Your resume should contain, at least, the following:

• Career objective
• Personal information
• Educational background
• Professional (Work) experience
• Accomplishments
• Special skills

You resume should not exceed 2 pages. Pay attention to layout and professional presentation.

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5. TEACHING OBSERVATION

You will conduct a formal evaluation of 3 teaching situations, using the forms provided. One of the evaluations will be of your own teaching segment videotape. The other two evaluations should be of different instructors, teaching different subjects, preferably in the kind of institution in which you want to teach (community college, proprietary school, adult education center, university, etc.). Most importantly, you should include a conclusion where you explain what you learned from each observations.

You must submit your hand written notes of each evaluation along with the formal evaluation report.

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6. REFLECTION JOURNAL

In order to further develop higher order thinking and written communications skills, you will reflect on various aspects of your learning during the semester. These reflections require that you think as deeply as you can about your own personal beliefs and feelings about what you are learning. Superficial reflections are not acceptable. As the semester progresses, you should try to become more reflective and strive to improve the quality of thought and writing.

Your reflections can be handwritten in a notebook (providing you have a legible handwriting) or word-processed on separate sheets of paper, which will eventually be bound together.

Topics for reflection include the following and should be included in your journal:

1. A. Good teaching is ....... Poor teaching is ....... (Due 2/27).
2. I learn best by ........ (Due 2/27).
3. Students' responsibility for learning includes .......
   Instructor responsibility for learning includes .......(Due 2/27).
4. Readings. (Due 2/27, 4/24)
   You must discuss each Section in McKeachie and each Chapter in Palmer as follows:
   In this Section/Chapter I learned ....... and here is how I can apply it .......
5. Classroom Activities (Due 2/27, 4/24)
   You should have some reflective thoughts about each class session you attend and how you can use what you are learning. Some classes might produce few thoughts while others may be more fertile.
6. In this course I have changed my opinions or beliefs about ....... to ....... (Due 4/24)
7. After this course I intend to ....... regarding my professional career (Due 4/24)

Your Journals will be perused by me 2 times during the semester according to the dates on the Class Schedule in the Course Syllabus. I will write some reactions to your thoughts and reflections.

7. LESSON PLAN

This will be a lesson designed for teaching a class in a subject matter, which is familiar to you. You are to prepare material for a 50 minute, 75 minute or 2 1/2 hour lesson. You must designate which time period you have selected. Materials, which can be included, could be some or all of the following:

1. Lesson Plan (required)
2. Audio/Visual Materials
3. Handouts
4. Pre-test/Quiz/Post-test
5. Student In-Class Exercises
6. Laboratory Exercises
7. Demonstration Materials
8. Models

You should briefly describe the course or subject matter within which this learning experience will take place. You should describe, in more detail, the specific lesson plan you have developed. Be sure to include your objectives for the experience.

It is very important to indicate exactly what the students will be doing at various times/points during the lesson, which are associated with the objectives.

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8. INTERNET REPORT

The Internet contains many, many useful web sites for educators. You will visit and report on 3 web sites related to your discipline/field, which can be used by your students to help increase their learning.

Your report for each web site should not be longer than 2 pages. Here is what your report should contain for each site:

1. Name and purpose of the organization that developed the site.
2. Overview of the type of information contained on the site.
3. List some Hot Links on the site to other sites, which could be beneficial for your students.
4. Explain how you can use this site in your teaching. Be specific.

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9. LEARNING SUMMARY

This brief Learning Summary (3 to 4 pages) should capture your major learning in the course. It will be a part of your portfolio. You can take a few major concepts/practices you have learned and discuss them. Indicate how your learning should help you in your professional career.

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