CTL 501: Scholarly Approaches to Teaching and Learning PLEASE NOTE: CTL 501 will not be offered in Fall 2023. This 12-week course is open to graduate students from all disciplines who have taught (or will teach during the seminar semester) at Princeton. The course engages participants in critical discussions of current scholarship in the fields of learning and pedagogy, with opportunities to apply new pedagogical approaches in their own teaching practice. Participants will refine their understanding of teaching as they reflect meaningfully on the approaches and critical skills gained in their own disciplines as part of a liberal arts education. Course Objectives Through reading and seminar discussions, participants in the seminar will engage with current research and debates on teaching and learning. Participants will assess how pedagogical literature can inform the goals and strategies for effective teaching in their disciplines in ways that enhance their students’ learning. Participants will expand and refine their own language for analyzing and reflecting on their teaching practices and their students’ learning, particularly through the lens of inclusive teaching. Participants will generate focused course goals, create a syllabus, plan assignments, exams, and assessments and consider how new digital and online tools can enhance learning. Outcomes By the end of the seminar, graduate students will produce: a syllabus for a new course, including an assessment plan that focuses specifically on student learning outcomes; and a statement of teaching philosophy. Applicant Requirements Teaching experience (AI or similar) at Princeton before or during the seminar semester If accepted, applicant’s advisor must approve participation in the seminar Application PLEASE NOTE: CTL 501 will not be offered in Fall 2023. Applications will not be accepted until further notice. Applicants will need to describe the potential impact of the seminar on a course they plan to teach or assist in teaching and the value of this experience for their professional development, and must also include a short essay (up to one page) describing a significant teaching moment and what made it important for them as a teacher. In a cover letter, applicants should describe the potential impact of the seminar on a course they plan to teach or assist in teaching and the value of this experience for their professional development; The application must also include a short essay (up to one page) describing a significant teaching moment and what made it important for you as a teacher. FAQs about CTL501 When will this course be offered again? At the moment the course is offered once a year, in the fall semester. Who takes this seminar? The seminar began as an informal, non-transcripted course (then known as the Teagle Seminar) in the 2010-11 academic year, and was first offered as CTL 501 in fall 2016. Over 200 graduate students and faculty members have participated over the years, coming from almost every academic department at the university. Can I take the course if I am in dissertation completion status (DCE)? Yes, with permission of the Graduate School DCE students are permitted to enroll in CTL 501. Can postdocs take this course? We’ve learned from the Dean of Faculty that postdocs are not able to register for courses. However, it has occasionally been possible, when there has been space, for postdocs to informally audit CTL 501. This requires them to commit to attending and completing the work, although they can’t get transcripted credit for it. What’s the difference between McGraw’s Teaching Transcript and CTL 501? The two are not mutually exclusive. Both offer ways to signal your interest in and commitment to excellent teaching, as well as to deepen your preparation to teach well wherever you go next after Princeton. The seminar offers you a chance to be part of a cohort, meeting weekly across a semester for interdisciplinary conversations informed by the scholarship on teaching and learning, producing teaching materials in dialogue with the work of the class, and to signal completion of this accomplishment on your official University transcript. The Teaching Transcript offers a less formal and more flexible set of opportunities to advance your thinking about teaching, which you can then communicate to employers on your CV. Seminar participants may count their participation in the seminar for the pedagogy workshop component of the TT, and in the end, many students chose to complete both programs. How much work is this course? It is difficult to quantify exactly since like any course, the amount you get out of it will depend in part on the amount you put into it. For each class meeting, there will be some reading and thinking to be done in advance, and then we’ll meet to put the ideas in dialogue and apply them to our teaching practices. Most participants have reported finding the workload manageable and the assignments highly relevant, thought-provoking, and useful. How are students in CTL 501 graded? The grading scheme is */NC, which means that students who complete the course on time and in a satisfactory manner receive a * on their transcripts, and those who do not (and fail to withdraw before the deadline) receive NC.
