Applying Teaching Skills Beyond the Classroom

Developing Effective Teaching Skills

Where does learning and teaching happen? In this module, you’ll review how learning and teaching occur in many contexts outside of the classroom. You’ll describe effective teaching skills, understand how they are applicable in multiple professional scenarios, and reflect on the value of applying these skills in the workplace.

Course Module Introduction

Learning Objectives

Reflect on how learning and teaching occurs in multiple workplace environments;
Describe a key set of effective teaching skills that are applicable in multiple workplace environments and apply to several professional scenarios;
Develop an awareness of strategies and construct an approach to apply teaching skills to a career-related activity in one’s own context;
Reflect on the benefits and value of applying learning and teaching skills in the workplace.

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Activities

Reflecting on Learning and Teaching in Different Workplace Environments

open activity

Where Does Learning and Teaching Happen?

Activity: Reflecting on Environments

Using this Reflecting on Environments grid, describe situations where you are currently facilitating learning as a postdoc. For some of you, this may be the classroom, but for others, this may be part of your research, outreach, service, or other types of activities. Also, describe who the learners are in that particular situation – it may be one person, or a group, to a general audience or experts in the topic. Next, write about what you hope they learn – essentially, what are your learning goals? Finally, describe the strategies you use to make the learning happen successfully.

Self-Reflection Prompt

Which situations haven’t you thought of as teaching situations before?

Where Does Learning and Teaching Happen? Postdoc panel discussion
Key Set of Effective Teaching Skills
open activity
Keep the following in mind while watching this video:

Reflection on self- and on audience characteristics (identities, needs, motivations, expertise, and expectations).
Intentionally developing and infusing inclusive learning approaches, acknowledges that learners are different and are learning and working within systems that are structured such that learners are differentially advantaged and disadvantaged.
Identifying learning objectives and aligning those with activities, outcomes, and assessment.
Using collaborative and active learning approaches to engage diverse learners and support their learning.
Introducing the Four Effective Teaching Skills
Expanding on Effective Teaching Skills

Introducing Reflection on Self Characteristics

Introducing Reflection on Audience Characteristics

Introducing Intentionally Developing and Infusing Inclusive Learning Approaches

Active Learning and Backwards Design

Interviews with Career Professionals from a Wide Range of Careers

Teaching Moments in the Workplace

Activity

Career Professional Interview Bios
Applying Teaching Skills in Your Career
open activity
Applying Teaching Skills in Your Career

Activity

We have provided common professional scenarios in this grid, capturing situations you might encounter in the context of your current postdoc as well as situations that may come up in your future professional career. Please select one of the scenarios we provided, or provide your own, and work through the grid to think through how applying teaching skills would be helpful in this context. Then you will reflect on what you learned from this activity.
Self-Reflection Prompts

In the previous activity, you explored how you can apply core skills in teaching and learning to various professional and personal scenarios. Consider the following prompts as you reflect on this activity:

Which core teaching skills did you find yourself considering in greatest detail or depth? Why did you find that approach to be particularly valuable for the situations you chose?
Of the scenario options listed in the drop-down menu, were there any that you hadn’t previously considered to be a “teaching opportunity”? How might you approach that kind of scenario differently in the future?
Development of effective teaching skills takes time and practice. Through this activity, did you identify any areas where you’d like to further develop your skills? If so, what might be some of your next steps towards that goal?