As I have mentioned before, college teaching is an unusual profession in that most of us have received very little training in how to teach. Graduate school focuses largely on doing original research (writing a dissertation that will hopefully become a book) and attaining a certain level of knowledge in several historical fields. Of course that knowledge can be passed on once one starts to teach. But very few of us are trained in the art of teaching itself, how that knowledge is to be conveyed. Who has not suffered through a lecture from a brilliant professor who knew a given subject backwards and forwards but who did not have a clue--or any evident interest in--of how to convey that knowledge. Or perhaps you are fascinated by the lectures or readings and then surprised to learn that the final exam bears little relation to what you studied.
Given the above, it has been exciting and humbling to learn more about course design, how to think about teaching from a student's point of view. The key principal here is alignment. Start by deciding what skills you want your students to learn, then align the rest of the course behind those skills so that every aspect of the course contributes to acquiring those skills. Those skills may need to be learned gradually. If, for example, your ultimate goal is for students to write a sophisticated essay that is supported by diverse evidence and is sensitive to counter-arguments, then break that daunting task into smaller components. Make sure that everyone knows how to write a clear thesis statement. Then work on supporting that thesis with evidence. Then move on to incorporating or addressing counter arguments.
Most professors have very sophisticated research plans. Few of us approach teaching with the same thoughtfulness.
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