EALC Teaching Practicum

EASTD 304 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

This course is intended for graduate students in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, who are either first-time teachers or first-time teaching fellows (TF) in the department. While convened by the EALC PF, who will serve as a resource on weeks that are departmentally specific, invited experts trained in each week’s topics will primarily run the course. It will begin by providing students with a tool-kit for effectively fulfilling their role as TF in the remote learning environment. This will include strategies for online teaching, managing and engaging students in the virtual classroom, and effective grading and feedback methods. The course will then transition into more specific topics that may arise in the classroom, and finally expand to consider broader issues that we all face when teaching in East Asian Studies departments.

The course will meet for a total of 9 times. We will meet weekly for weeks 1-4 and bi-weekly for the remainder of the semester, in two-hour sessions. There are a total of 9 sessions, as well as the expectation that participants complete the Bok Center’s self-paced Canvas site before the first course meeting. Students must successfully complete the course before advancing to their general exams. Each meeting will focus on a specific skill and is intended to give students the chance to not only think about how they want to teach, but also the opportunity to put those ideas into practice before stepping into the classroom. Beyond its specific weekly agendas, the course is intended to provide a comfortable space to voice concerns, discuss anxieties, identify fears, and share successes. Students are encouraged to raise issues about teaching and professional growth. The syllabus is flexible and can respond to student needs and concerns as the semester progresses, so please be sure to provide your feedback as we go along.

The course is primarily intended for students currently in the fall semester of their G3 year, although G2 students are also welcome to enroll in the course. For G3 students, this is a chance to use actual materials from your assigned course to prepare for leading discussion sections in parallel with the demands of the semester. For G2 students, who will not yet have a teaching assignment, you will be asked to consult with your advisor about what course you are most likely to teach in the coming year, obtain a syllabus used in previous years for that course, and prepare for class activities based on those readings and potential lecture topics. Class requirements regarding collecting midterm feedback and class observation/recording may be completed during the following academic year without repeating the course.