Course in College Teaching
The CCT provides an opportunity for faculty, graduate students, and post-doc instructors from all disciplines to collaboratively explore successful teaching and learning. This highly successful course is designed to allow participants to share ideas and strategies for successful teaching. This free, non-credit course includes discussion and practice based on information drawn from the teaching and learning literature, as well as from the teaching experiences of individual participants. It is offered at least once each academic year.
The Spring 2025 Course in College Teaching (CCT) will be held asynchronously in Canvas from February 3 through March 23. The Canvas course will open on or about January 27 for a preview week.
The CCT is open to Penn State faculty, graduate students, and post-docs with previous teaching experience. See participant eligibility standards below. Those without prior teaching experience should take the Instructional Foundations Series.
The course is not designed to meet the needs of first-time teachers. The CCT draws heavily upon participants’ own teaching experiences to generate discussion and share resources. Participants are expected to be able to connect their previous teaching experience to CCT activities, discussions, and assignments.
Course Objectives
Upon successfully completing the course, participants should be able to:
- apply effective principles of course design and planning to their own contexts;
- integrate teaching and assessment strategies to enhance student learning; and
- reflect on and articulate personal beliefs and practices about teaching and learning by referring to their own teaching experiences.
Participant Eligibility
Teaching experience is required for participating in CCT. Teaching experience is defined as developing instructional plans and/or materials and using those plans/materials to reach multiple learners at once.
The following are examples of teaching experience:
- Serving/served as a teaching assistant (as a graduate student or undergraduate student) responsible for planning and leading a lab or discussion section for a course (online, hybrid, or face-to-face)
- Serving/served as an instructor or co-instructor for a course, including college or K-12 courses (online, hybrid, or face-to-face)
- Providing/provided supplemental instruction for groups of students in which you conduct review or discussion activities (e.g., serving as a learning assistant or supplemental instruction facilitator)
- Developing/developed and delivering/delivered outreach programs for groups of learners (e.g., extension service, informal learning courses, serving as a docent)
- Successfully completed the Instructional Foundations Series
Professional Development Benefits
This course does not result in an official certification. Participants can earn a completion certificate that most participants list in their CVs, teaching portfolios, or annual reviews as evidence of instructional development. To earn the CCT completion certificate, participants must meet all of the requirements listed on the syllabus provided at the beginning of the course.
Successfully completing the Course in College Teaching is one way to fulfill the learning objectives for the Associate level of the Penn State CIRTL Teaching Certificate Program.
To Apply
Apply before January 17 at tinyurl.com/ApplyCCTSp2025. Successful applicants will be notified via email on or about January 24, 2025.
Please review the participant eligibility requirements above before completing the application.
Questions?
Email site@psu.edu for more information about the CCT.
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