CONTACT  INFO
The course meets on eight Tuesdays (see schedule below), from 3:30 - 5:20, in Smith Hall 407.  The instructor is Professor JW Harrington, whose office is in 408 Smith Hall, and who can be reached with an e-mail to jwh@u.washington.edu (to ask a question or arrange a meeting).  Lead Teaching Assistant Matt Sothern will facitate discussions.

OBJECTIVES
The course objectives are to:

• provide a time and place for teaching assistants to share insights and information;
• focus on particular, important, practical elements of teaching -- especially those relevant to graduate teaching assistants in Geography;
• develop a sense of critical self-awareness in each participant's teaching practices.

There is one required textbook/resource:  Tools for Teaching by Barbara Gross Davis (San Francisco:  Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1993.  We will explicitly read and discuss seven of the twelve sections of this book;  I have found all the sections (and constituent chapters) to be useful.  I've placed two copies of the book on the "will call" shelf in the Department office, 408 Smith Hall.  In addition, several graduate students in the Department have copies.

Because this course is required annually for graduate teaching assistants in Geography, I've developed three alternative assignments for Geography TAs who have taken the classroom version of Geography 599 at least twice before this year (and who have served as TA for at least two quarters):

• engaging in your own active learning about your teaching (see my brief notes), or
• developing and presenting a teaching portfolio.  This can help you articulate what you want to accomplish when teaching, what you've learned from your experiences, and what you could improve.  There are many guides to portfolio preparation:  I've compiled a very brief overview.
• moderate a topical discussion list for the course participants, and help us learn from the discussions to suggest what elements of teaching need to be explored and developed further (in this course or some other context).

GRADING
This one-credit course is graded with only "Credit" or "No Credit."  Course credit will be given to any registered student who attends all of the scheduled meetings (with some possibility of prior excuse of one session), or who completes one of the alternative assignments above.

SCHEDULE

Tuesday 30 September
Course organization (50 minutes)

Tuesday 7 October
In the Classroom and in the Office
Organizing Excellent Discussion (notes from the 7 October session)
Davis:  Section III (pages 63-95) and Chapters 44 & 45
Classroom challenges in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks

Tuesday 14 October
Lecture Fundamentals;  Motivating Students
Davis:  Chapters 13 & 14 and Section VI (pages 177-203)

Tuesday 21 October
Assessing Student Learning:  Testing and Grading
Davis:  Section VIII (pages 239-311);  also see the UW guidelines on grading and academic dishonesty
>>> direct link to "academic dishonesty"

Tuesday 28 October
The Scholarship of Teaching:  Gathering and Evaluating Information on Your Teaching
Davis:  Section X (pages 345-366) and Chapter 48

Tuesday 4 November
Discussion and dialogue as powerful learning experiences
Guest:  Prof. Ratnesh  Nagda, UW School of Social Work, IDEA
Review Davis:  Section III

Tuesday 18 November
Developing and using learning objectives;  developing a course syllabus
Davis:  Chapter 2

Tuesday 2 December
Assessments of In-Class Practice
Davis:  Section X (pp. 345-367)