About CPET

Our goal is to help members of the Caltech community become effective educators through an improved understanding of pedagogy by providing seminars on best practices and practical training and teaching resources on campus. We are a group of Caltech community members dedicated to improving our own teaching skills and helping others do the same. 

Each year we plan a teaching seminar series that includes talks by the best professors at Caltech and other local universities on topics including:  how to design courses, teaching tips, improving presentation skills, and outreach and mentorship (previous seminars). Some seminars are recorded by CPET and posted to YouTube where they can edify the local community for years to come (video list).

CPET also administers two certificate programs for the Caltech community, the Certificate of Interest and the Certificate of Practice in University Teaching. The Certificate of Interest provides students with an introduction to teaching pedagogy and best practices, while the Certificate of Practice allows students to improve their teaching skills with the support of CPET and CTLO. More details can be found of the Certificate home page.

CPET has also originated a Library collection on teaching books and professional development books at the Caltech library.  These books range in topics from the best presentation of quantitative information to research based tips for teaching (full list of library books).  Email CPET if you would like to recommend additions to the CPET library collection.

GET INVOLVED

Mailing List
If you are interested in receiving announcements about CPET events, please sign up for the CPET mailing list

Events
CPET events are listed on the CTLO webpage.

Contact Us
If you have any questions about CPET and ways to get involved feel free to email us at cpet@caltech.edu.

Olivia Wilkins

Daniel Martin 

Rebekah Silva

Kelsey Boyle

Daniel Thomas

Noelle Stiles

Labeed Ben-Galy

Elisa Franco

Read more about our current CPET Student Director below:

Harrison Parker Hello! I'm a fourth-year graduate student studying atmospheric chemistry in the Wennberg group in ESE. Specifically, I am researching how remote sensing techniques can be used to look at air quality. Before Caltech, I earned my B.S. in Environmental Engineering at UC San Diego and spent two years as a researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory. I have spent time teaching at Caltech as a teaching assistant for ESE1 (Earth's Climate) and CH171 (Atmospheric Chemistry). While trying to improve my teaching ability, I took E110 (Principles of University Teaching and Learning in STEM) and found a passion for pedagogy. The CTLO has been such a crucial resource for me. I am excited to, as the CPET student director, help provide resources for the graduate students and post-docs of Caltech in their own pursuit of teaching improvement. When I am not coding or planning CPET events, I am usually walking my dogs, trying different restaurants with my partner, Jackie, or playing some sort of game (video games, tabletop games, sports).