I have assembled a dossier that documents my teaching methods and their effectiveness. Several appendices follow below:
• Selected Course Materials
The syllabus for this class as well as more detailed guidelines for the first assignment illustrate my methods of course construction, in particular my philosophy of openness about goals and expectations. Also included, my rubrics for assessing midterm and final projects convey their component requirements to students while making grading maximally fair and transparent.
• Materials for Teaching Writing
An overview of composition resources that I developed as a Teaching Assistant, demonstrating my commitment and approach to cultivating writing skills.
Additional online resources of interest include videos of my lectures and reading lists for my comprehensive exams.
I would be delighted to provide any of the remaining records upon request:
• Letter of Reference
Assistant Professor Bob Rehak has graciously provided an evaluation of my guest teaching at Swarthmore College in March 2008, comprising a presentation for his class "Fan Cultures" and a public campus lecture.
• Student Evaluations
As evidence of the success of my pedagogy, I offer a selection of feedback from my Teaching Assistantships and full evaluation responses from my Teaching Fellowship.
• Selected syllabi from Teaching Assistantships
- Introduction to Modern Culture and Media
- Introduction to Digital Media
- Television Studies
• Documentation of Sheridan Center Certificate I program
- Individual Teaching Consultation evaluation
- Teaching Certificate
• Samples of student work with comments and assessment
The syllabus for TV on the Internet is an original curriculum of my own devising for an undergraduate seminar that I taught at Brown University in Spring 2007. I revised this document after the conclusion of the course to reflect small changes made throughout the semester. The additional materials, also from my course TV on the Internet, demonstrate my approach to assessing student work. For each assignment, I provide explicit guidance as to my expectations and the criteria for evaluation [seminar presentation guidelines]. My objective is to make the goals and the process for success clear rather than focusing exclusively on the end product. When it comes to the finished version, I create a rubric that makes the criteria for assessment transparent and distribute it in advance [midterm project evaluation form]. Such a framework renders the grading procedure less mysterious and helps students see at glance where they need improvement. I have provided one example of the kind of feedback I offer students with a filled-in rubric [sample final paper evaluation].
• syllabus: TV on the Internet
• seminar presentation guidelines
• midterm project evaluation form
• sample final paper evaluation [available by request]
As a Teaching Assistant, I was unsatisfied with the minimal guidance about composition provided to students. On my own initiative, I sought out resources to aid in developing their writing skills. Below, I have listed the contents of four packets I assembled to hand out along with their four assignments. My intention was to help students break down the writing process into constituent steps and focus on improving one at a time, as well as to offer them a more concrete benchmark for how their work would be evaluated.
SUMMARY OF HANDOUTS
concise structural guidelines
This one-page overview of the crucial elements of academic writing, authored by Eugenie Brinkema and myself, is among the materials I created for students as a TA. It covers: outline, thesis, argument, conclusion, citations, and critical reading. [available by request]
1. organizing your ideas
2. constructing your argument
3. refining your mechanics
4. revising your work
representative essay
I solicited an exemplary paper as an illustration for students, and annotated it to assist them in understanding its structure, as well as where it succeeds and where it could be improved. [available by request]