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Notes from CIRTL Forum breakout sessions as of November 7, 2003
(additional notes will be added as participant responses are synthesized)

Breakout Summary 1

What are the 2-3 most important outcomes for STEM graduate student participants in a program designed to enhance teaching skills?

Professional Opportunities & Career Knowledge

• Knowledge of institutional differences
• Awareness of options

• Diversity of student backgrounds and learning styles


• Personal connection with students

• Enthusiasm, motivation, confidence, collaboration


• Effective communication

• Ability to assess and evaluate


• Cultivate learning environments

Developing a Broad Intellectual Perspective

• Creativity


• Adaptability and Flexibility


• Depth & Breadth across disciplines, faculty roles

Job placement

• Match job with career goals


• Graduates are valued and get tenure


• Increased placement


• Different tracks

• Skills development (adaptability, integrated knowledge, awareness of diversity issues)


• Attitudes


• Overall satisfaction of experience


• Increased involvement in teaching and learning activities

• Number of awards won


• Product development (portfolio development and use, syllabus development and student feedback mechanisms)


• Holistic evaluation techniques


• Impacts on undergraduates (increased learning, diversity, and retention)

Institutional involvement and cultural change

• Removing obstacles


• Rewards and recognition for participation and achievement


• Increased recruitment to institution because of the programs


• Sustainability


• Increased departmental involvement


• No negative effects/impacts


• Increased diversity of graduates


• Increased learning community development

National changes

Breakout Summary 2

What are the 2-3 most significant factors AND challenges for success in developing and/or adapting programs designed to enhance the teaching skills of STEM graduate students?

Buy-in/Support

• Administration/faculty/graduate students


• Recognition/non-monetary rewards


• Community support

• National/local/private
• Grad student initiative funding
• Faculty initiative funding
• Rewards, recognition

• Balance between teaching and research
• Aligned programmatic values with department/college/institutional values
• Paradigm shift (recognizing teaching is important)

Institutional Infrastructure

• Centralized and decentralized
• Where is the program administratively housed?
• Who is responsible for it? Who maintains it? Who sustains it?

Sustainability

• Funding


• Cultural values


• Infrastructure

Inefficiency of change

• Too much inertia

• Transferability


• Adaptation


• Scaling up


• Generalizability

Breakout Summary 3 - Graduate Student Outcomes

What are the 2-3 most important actions that your university can take to develop and/or adapt programs that enhance the teaching skills of STEM graduate students?

To this question, graduate student participants said they wanted the following:

• to be heard;


• support from faculty and administrators for their teaching;


• support from faculty for various career choices;


• a venue for graduate students to share ideas in teaching and share resources;


• rewards for excellence in teaching;


• expanded dissertation committees to include teaching advisors and service advisors (could post-docs serve in this role?)


• peer mentoring;


• access to faculty development workshops (typically for faculty only);


• to see evidence of success/impacts that can convince other students and faculty;


• internships/opportunities for authentic teaching experiences

To this question, graduate student participants offered the following suggestions:

• Educate deans/faculty/students on issues, professional development programs and their effects.
• Provide information & resources
• web sites
• accessible data & finding
• chat rooms for student sharing
• National & ongoing conversation
• practical conferences
• Fund research (including that by STEM faculty) on doctoral education that produces compelling evidence of impact/success
• Change doctoral student funding (provide more options, such as funding that travels)
• Work with national organizations and disciplinary societies
• Culture change; national priority given to teaching (federal, granting orgs; tenure track for teaching profs)