How Do We Train Our Future Faculty to Teach? A Multidisciplinary Comparison of Graduate-Level Pedagogy Courses Offered at a Large Midwestern University

ABSTRACT

This study examines and documents graduate pedagogy courses offered at a large Midwestern research university. Thirty-three graduate pedagogy course instructors from 32 departments (a majority of those offering courses) completed an online survey. We report on enrollment demographics, preparation of faculty to teach such a course, and how a statement of teaching philosophy is presented to the class. This research connects the analyses of individual pedagogy courses with the few national studies on teacher training, outlines assumptions about an emerging field, and lays groundwork for a comprehensive study of the landscape and outcomes of graduate pedagogy courses nationwide.

KEYWORDS:

• Graduate pedagogy course
• graduate student instructor
• graduate students
• preparing future faculty
• scholarly teaching
• statement of teaching philosophy
• teacher-scholar
• teaching assistant

Acknowledgments

Preliminary results from this research were presented at the 2015 Lilly Conference on Excellence in College Teaching, the 2016 Experimental Biology meetings (O'Loughlin et al. 2016), and the conference of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. This research was funded, in part, by a 2015 SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) grant. We thank the faculty and staff who participated in this research. Indiana University IRB approved study #1504357724.