2020 Teaching Conference

We look forward to your participation in the 2020 Teaching Conference on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2020. The Teaching Conference is a required component of Graduate Orientation and trains you to be a TA at Caltech. It is also a valuable professional development activity whether you will formally teach at Caltech or not, as it addresses aspects of professional teaching, mentoring, and communication that are more broadly applicable. All incoming graduate students should plan to participate in the Teaching Conference. 

The 2020 Teaching Conference has three components:

1) Complete the online module about Caltech's teaching policies.

Instructions to self-enroll in Online Policies Module:
a)     Using Firefox, Chrome or Internet Explorer, with pop-ups enabled, log-in using your Caltech credentials here. (The MyLearn application is also available via access.caltech.edu, under the "Self Service" heading).

b)    From the MyLearn homepage, enter part of the course name (e.g., "teaching") in the search box in the upper right hand corner of the window.

c)     Click on the "Launch Course" button next to the course name (which is Caltech Policies for Teaching Assistants). Note: instructions with screenshots can be found here.

2) Watch these videos before the Teaching Conference

• Inclusive Classrooms (Video, PDF of Slides, Video Transcript)
• Effective Recitations (Video, PDF of Slides, Video Transcript)
• Leading Successful (and Popular!) Office Hours (Video, PDF of Slides, Video Transcript)
• Fair Grading and Effective Feedback (Video, PDF of Slides, Video Transcript, Bonus Handout)
• Life as a (Remote and/or In-Person!) Lab TA (Video, PDF of Slides, Video Transcript)
• Engaging Students via Active Learning (Video, PDF of Slides, Video Transcript)
• Classroom Communication for International TAs and Others (Video, PDF of Slides, Video Transcript)

3) Attend the Teaching Conference live on September 23rd, 10am PDT

• 10am - Welcome from the Center for Teaching, Learning and Outreach (CTLO) and Caltech Project for Effective Teaching (CPET) and Panel Discussion with Professor David Hsieh, and Graduate Teaching Assistants Caitlin Lacker and Marcus Lee
• 11am - Small Group Discussions with Upper Year Graduate Students and Teaching Assistants
• 6pm  - Only for those in time zones not amenable to attending the morning PDT sessions, please complete this form to request to participate at 6pm PDT on Wednesday, September 23rd
• Note: Zoom links for access will be shared with you via email.

Resources for Teaching Assistants and Graduate Students Interested in Teaching:

• 2020-2021 TA Short Guide to Key Resources
• Remote Teaching at Caltech: resources, guides to technology and tools, many more videos!
• Remote Learning at Caltech: resources, guides to technology and tools
• TA Handbook: an official guide.
• Caltech Project for Effective Teaching (CPET): Find out more about CPET, a group of graduate students and postdocs dedicated to improving our own teaching skills and helping others to do the same.
• CPET Certificate Programs: Find out more about the CPET Certificate of Interest in University Teaching and the CPET Certificate of Practice in University Teaching.
• E110 Principles of University Teaching and Learning in STEM:  This graduate course examines the research on university-level STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) teaching and learning.

Thank you! The CTLO would like to thank our dedicated team of graduate students, post-docs and faculty who contributed to the 2020 Teaching Conference. These include the following, who served as session facilitators, panelists and small group discussion facilitators:

Hannah Allen, Rebecca Gallivan, Dr. Stephanie Kong, Valere Lambert, Marcus Lee, Harrison Parker, Raj Tarafder, Olivia Harper Wilkins, Sophie Miller, Sadie Dutton, Dr. Dave Hsieh, Caitlin Lacker, Matthew Langley, Brian Lee, Zeynep Turan, Mark Zhang, Camille Bernal, Dr. Kimee Moore, Jennifer Sun, Daniel Guth, Gavin Heim, Leah Stevenson, Heidi Klumpe, Lily Dove, Mia de los Reyes, Danika Nimlos, Stephanie Breunig, Kathryn Plant, Dr. Leah Sabbeth, Simon Toedtli and Peishi Cheng. Thank you!!!