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Graduate students are educators, and of course, many graduate students choose to pursue careers as educators. MIT supports graduate students as they build their array of teaching skills by emphasizing evidence-based teaching practice and assessment. Visit the Teaching and Learning Lab (TLL) for formal training and a wealth of resources. Explore service and leadership opportunities in various contexts to develop and deepen your skills as an educator.
The Faculty Job Search Series (FJSS) supports graduate students and postdocs who are preparing for the faculty job market. The program brings together expertise from around the Institute, including faculty, CAPD, the Writing and Communication Center, the Teaching and Learning Lab, the OGE, and the Engineering Communication Labs.
Build a strong application informed by experts across the Institute via overviews, faculty panels, deep dives, and hands-on-workshops aligned with the timeline of the faculty job search.
MIT’s Teaching + Learning Lab offers many resources for graduate students, including events, workshops, and certificate programs to support professional development in your current and future teaching responsibilities at MIT and beyond.
Attend a Teaching Development Workshop
Earn a Teaching Certificate (2 pathways)
Participate in the TA Days workshop series
This Inclusive Teaching Module is an asynchronous, self-paced, subject-agnostic, online resource for anyone at MIT (Kerberos login required), which was developed initially in the Biology Department.Explore inclusive teaching by articulating the multiple intersecting identities you hold, and reflect upon how identities influence experiences with education. The module critically examines specific teaching practices, which you can then try yourself. The majority of the module includes practice in distinguishing inclusive practices from less inclusive practices through scenario-based assessments with detailed explanations. The online module is capped with an action plan and annotated resources to help participants think through the next steps in their inclusive teaching development.
Many MIT PhD students choose to mentor an undergraduate student in their UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program) project. Serving as a UROP mentor can be an enriching experience and a great way to build skills as an educator. It can even give you a sense of how you might enjoy a career path as an instructor, professor, and/or P.I. Graduate students directly mentor UROP students under the guidance and supervision of their faculty advisors. Talk first with your faculty advisor to make sure the timing is appropriate for UROP mentoring.
• Join a TA Workshop with the Teaching and Learning Lab
• Enroll in the MIT Teaching and Learning Lab Kaufman Certificate program.
• Create your own syllabus
• Teach a practice seminar
• Give a lecture
Teaching Development Fellowship Network – Leadership opportunity for graduate students interested in improving their teaching while promoting pedagogical development and discussion among their peers.
MISTI Global Teaching Labs – Teach high school students in other countries over IAP.
Academic wellbeing resources – Explore methods that might work for your teaching style through DoingWell’s filterable list of ideas that MIT instructors have used to promote wellbeing and engagement for students.
Applications are now open
We are excited to announce that applications are now open for two new professional development certificate programs for PhDs and postdocs for AY 2023-2024: the Research Mentoring Certificate and the Grant Writing Training Certificate. Applications for …
By Jay Howard
Learn how to structure your course and particular class sessions in ways that will get students actively participating — and will enhance their learning:
Why Discussion Matters
7 Strategies to Change the Norms of Class Discussions
How to Keep …
Sandi Miller | Department of Mathematics | March 30, 2022
Millions have fled the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and for those who are staying, schools are closed. While refugee-supporting programs focus on immediate needs, the Department of Mathematics’ MIT PRIMES program plans to …
Are you a graduate student who considers English to be your second (or third, or fourth…) language? Join the ESL TA Peer Mentoring Program.
The program is open to all ESL grad students, whether you are an experienced teacher who …
Terri Park | MIT Schwarzman College of Computing | MIT News
The Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing publishes a collection of original pedagogical materials developed for instructional use on MIT OpenCourseWare.
Read the full article on MIT News.
To explore methods that might work for your teaching style, use DoingWell’s filterable list of ideas that MIT instructors have used to …
The Council of Graduate Schools has created a social justice and anti-racism resource list intended to help support reflection, dialogue, …
Getting Ready: Checklist For Constructing Better Tests
Well-constructed tests help motivate students and reinforce their learning while enabling instruc- tors …
Check out University of Michigan’s resources for life after grad school: Getting Ready for an Academic Career: Preparing Future Faculty …
Founded in 2010, the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity is an independent professional development, training, and mentoring community …
Read Manya Whitaker’s article “The Job Market: Picking Apart Your Application,” which discusses professor job application strategies.
