Faculty programme: Teaching at ETH

Teaching at ETH
The Educational Development and Technology (LET) centre offers a compact continuing education programme in university teaching which is tailored specifically to the situation and needs of Assistant Professors. The programme imparts and solidifies high-quality didactic skills, which are of increasing importance in appointments and promotions. It is highly compact and takes into account the limited time available to professors for continuing education.

Target group:
The programme is aimed primarily at Assistant Professors at ETH. Other interested ETH lecturers are also welcome, but all participants must, at the time they attend the programme or from the following semester onwards, be teaching a course during which they will have an opportunity to deploy what they have learned.

Form:
The programme is participant-centred and offers a platform for lively exchange of experiences within the group. There is sufficient space and flexibility to address specific requirements. Language: Most of the programme is offered in English. Exercises are completed in the language in the which the lecture is normally held. Additional language assistance for non-German-speakers is available on request.

The programme is structured in two consecutive parts:

• Course 1: Teaching at ETH: Committed and skilled
• Course 2: Research-oriented teaching and learning

In the first course (‘Teaching at ETH: Committed and skilled’) you will become familiar with the basics of university teaching and learn to design a modern, demanding and varied lecture course. You will learn the characteristics of good university teaching and will hone your skills with practical tools – all tested at ETH – which encourage and deepen student learning. The emphases are competence orientation, interactivity with students, and the good alignment of learning objectives, examinations and teaching and learning activities.

The second course, ‘Research-oriented teaching and learning’, builds upon the first and focuses on imparting research competence to Master’s degree and doctoral students. Methods for teaching small groups of advanced students (typical of courses at Master’s degree level, or in your own research group) are emphasised. Didactic techniques for research laboratory practicals are also addressed.

Each course comprises three all-day workshops during the semester break, three further 4-hour (ca.) transfer workshops during the semester, plus a classroom visit (‘hospitation’). Each course must be attended as a whole, and the second course may only be attended after completion of the first.

Attendance of the programme requires both active participation in the individual workshops, and the willingness to deploy what you have learned in your own courses. Critical exchange with colleagues is an important component of each activity. In addition to the workshops and transfer workshops, Course 1 and Course 2 each involve time expenditure of (roughly) two further days (transfer exercises, classroom observation and the associated discussions, and the writing of a short report on how the experience has influenced your own teaching).

Dates and course content:

(Course 1) Teaching at ETH: Committed and skilled, August 2012

(Course 1) Teaching at ETH: Committed and skilled, January 2013

Costs:
The programme is free of charge.

Your obligations:
Your application, if accepted, commits you to attending the three input workshops and the three transfer workshops. The programme also includes a classroom visit with individual feedback from a faculty developer (a mutually convenient date will be arranged).

Certificate:
You will receive a certificate for active participation in the programme. This certificate may be included in the teaching portfolio recently required for the evaluation of Assistant Professors.

Maximum number of participants:
10

Registration:
Registration is conducted on a first-come, first-served basis; however, five places on each course are reserved for Assistant Professors. If you are interested, please contact Katherine Hahn (katherine.hahn@let.ethz.ch), course administration LET, as early as possible to avoid disappointment. You will receive an immediate answer together with the (binding) application form, which will also provide us with more information about you.

Your sent application obliges you to reserve the programme dates and to undertake all programme activities: three input workshops, three transfer workshops, and a classroom observation plus associated discussion. You will be informed as early as possible, and at the very latest by one month before the start of the programme, whether you have a definite place.

Programme director:
Dr. Sarah Shephard
Faculty developer
Toxicologist / Organisational developer

Further information:
Contact person: Sarah Shephard (sarah.shephard@let.ethz.ch)