Many Ph.D. students take a semester-long Professoriate or Teaching Practicum course as part of their doctoral coursework, yet most courses of this type do not provide the student or postdoc a significant opportunity to develop and refine their skills as a teacher in the classroom. The objective of the Teaching Scholars pilot program in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Arkansas was to train a postdoctoral researcher and a graduate student on pedagogical techniques, developing effective lectures, course management and organization, and timely delivery of subject related material such as class notes, grades, homework, tests, etc. using MEEG 2303: Introduction to Materials as a learning vehicle. Common pedagogical techniques included communication and presentation skills, body language and tonal variation for engagement, preparation of information rich slides and explanation which helped the graduate student and postdoc provide a spherical learning experience for students. In this pilot program, the mentees learnt five key aspects of modern teaching: (1) dedication and empathy towards students, (2) engaging and exciting the students in the class for the subject matter and self-motivated learning after-class, (3) giving and receiving constructive feedback, (4) learning how to learn and teach, and (5) connecting the dots between classroom learning and real world applications. We assessed this program informally during tests, projects, and an industry visit during the first semester, and then formally via an online evaluation in the second semester of the program. This manuscript presents the outcome of the teaching mentorship experiment. Our approach could provide a pathway for new engineering faculty to become effective teachers and successful mentors.
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