Workshops on Fundamental Engineering Skills: A Graduate Student-Led Teaching Initiative

摘要

Graduate programs often fund doctoral students while they complete their thesis research. This funding generally takes three forms: fellowships, research assistantships and teaching assistantships. Depending on the discipline, one type of funding may be more prevalent than the others. For instance, graduate students studying English often have teaching assistantships where they are responsible for developing an entire course. Engineering students more often have research assistantships, and available teaching opportunities can be limited to facilitating a laboratory section without developing its content. As a consequence, engineering students can be left without the curriculum development experience necessary to become the next generation of excellent instructors. Some disciplines have recognized the need for graduate student teaching development; however, these programs are not widespread.