Teaching Support Structures at UC Davis
Contributed By: Gabriel LaHue
We took a slight detour from our quarter theme this week,
and rather than looking at what teaching opportunities exist outside of UC
Davis, we focused on structures to support teaching here on campus and the
Center for Educational Effectiveness (CEE) in particular. Education Specialist Dr.
Patricia Turner gave us an overview of CEE and the Associate Director of the
CEE, Dr. Kem Saichaie, followed up by speaking in greater detail about specific
CEE initiatives and where the CEE is headed. Broadly speaking, CEE covers three
main areas: Learning and Teaching Support, Educational Analytics, and Instructional
Research and Development. This latter area conducts research to improve
teaching and learning, and the focus of educational analytics is on-campus data
analysis to support instructional effectiveness. The first focal area of the
CEE, Learning and Teaching Support, is the specialty of both Patricia and Kem
and that is what we spent the most time discussing.
The Learning and Teaching Support focal area includes twelve
programs designed to improve learning and teaching in UC Davis classrooms. Our
very own Graduate Teaching Community, the Teaching Assistant Consultant
Program, the Seminar on College Teaching, and TA Orientation are geared toward
helping TAs and graduate students in general become more effective teachers,
with varying levels of commitment required on the part of the graduate
students. Faculty workshops, faculty consultations, Mid-quarter Inquiries (MQIs),
classroom observations, and faculty learning communities are focused on aiding
faculty in their quest to become better teachers. Lastly, the CEE also helps
with online course development, sponsors grant programs, and conducts workshops
for departments.
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