Following a successful launch, the LAS Academy for Educational Excellence looks forward to continuing its New Faculty Teaching Program to help new faculty members and instructional staff improve and develop teaching methods.
The new program, which kicked off last fall, was attended by 25 LAS faculty members from 17 departments who were in their first or second year working in the College of LAS. They included both tenure-stream and specialized faculty members, and they met eight times during the fall semester for interactive sessions on foundational teaching practices, including student learning outcomes, student engagement, assessment, lesson planning, grading student work, and reflective teaching practices.
The new LAS Academy of Educational Excellence is dedicated to redesigning the student experience for today’s world by supporting and empowering faculty members and instructional staff in their teaching. With teaching occurring throughout more than 50 academic units in any given semester, LAS possesses a broad range of classroom experiences across science, social and behavioral sciences, and humanities. Organizers said that the Academy is intended to help that expertise grow, connect, and spread.
Cassandra Rosado, assistant director and senior lecturer for the English as a Second Language Program, was recently appointed LAS Dean’s Fellow for the Academy. She served as organizer and also a mentor for faculty members who were new to teaching.
“I learned so much from the series, especially at a broader level—seeing teaching through new lenses across disciplines, course formats, and pedagogical approaches,” Rosado said. “The discussions with such a diverse group of teachers pushed me to reflect on and articulate my own pedagogical values and practices. I ended the series feeling that experienced faculty benefit just as much from participating in a group like this that actively explores teaching values and practices.”
The program was assisted by Educational Excellence Mentors, a group of experienced LAS faculty members who served as both mentors and presenters, offering their expertise in a variety of teaching practices: Amy Clay, (Department of French & Italian); Julie Deeke, (Department of Statistics); Avital Livny, (Department of Political Science); and Christian Ray, (Department of Chemistry). The program also included several guest speakers who shared insights on effective teaching strategies, inclusive pedagogy, and learning and assessment.
Feedback from the program was strong. Tayzhaun Glover, a new professor of history, said he learned strategies around course design, assessment, and student engagement that he’s excited to put into action.
“I found the LAS New Faculty Teaching Program was a wonderful, and very timely experience,” Glover said. “Last semester was my first time designing and leading a course on my own. The conversations I had with other new faculty members, many of whom were also new to teaching, eased a lot of my anxieties around how my course was unfolding in real time. I left every session having learned something new about teaching and feeling more grounded in my style of teaching, which gave me more and more confidence in the classroom.”
Jiayin Dong, a new professor of astronomy, said the program “came at just the right time” and helped her refine her teaching.
“The lectures were very helpful for building good teaching practices, such as writing clear learning expectations, incorporating in-class activities to make lectures more interesting and keep students engaged, and finding good ways to receive student feedback,” Dong said. “I was adjusting my lectures along the way as I was learning these skills.”
Dong added that she appreciated the program’s interdisciplinary nature, which gave her insight into different styles of teaching. Her sentiment was echoed by Smitha Pillai, a senior lecturer of chemistry, who said that she enjoyed the program and found it incredibly valuable.
“I appreciated the mix of speakers who taught in both small and large class settings, which made the sessions relevant and inclusive. Hearing faculty share their personal experiences, including what worked, what didn’t, and how they navigated challenges, was especially meaningful,” Pillai said. “Even though I came in with prior teaching experience, I learned many practical strategies that I am already using this semester and plan to continue using in the future.”
Boxuan Zhao, a new professor of cell and developmental biology, said he would recommend the course to others who are developing their teaching. He learned about incorporating active learning elements to better engage students, using standardized rubrics for in-class presentations, and building in structured reflection and evaluation to continuously improve the course.
“The program gave me practical strategies I could apply right away,” Zhao said.
