TEACHING PORTFOLIO (GTL Level 3 ARTIFACTS)
TEACHING PORTFOLIO (GTL Level 3 ARTIFACTS)
What is the GTL?
The Graduate Teaching and Learning (GTL) is a multi-tier program designed by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research (FGSR) of the University of Alberta that prepares graduates students and postdoctoral fellows with the foundations of teaching and learning in higher education. With multi-faceted lectures and assessments prepared in the GTL courses, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows have opportunities to learn, adapt, deepen, expand, and integrate their pedagogical knowledge; furthermore, engage with Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) research and practices. The GTL program is structured by four levels with different scopes as following:
GTL Level 1: Foundations - "What you need to know to be a great TA"
GTL Level 2: Practicum - "Become a better teacher"
GTL Level 3: Pedagogy and Course Design - "Become a principal instructor"
GTL Level 4: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning - "Engage with teaching research and course development"
For my Professional Development in teaching and learning, I completed the GTL Level 1 in February 2021, GTL Level 2 in June 2021 and GTL Level 3 in May 2022, while actively involving in the teaching of undergraduate and graduate students in ENV E 251 and CIV E 609. In addition, I also completed the Scholarship of Pedagogy and Application of Research Knowledge - Engineering Teaching Assistant (SPARK-ENG TA) Instructional Support Program in April 2024. The artifacts included in this web page are the projects completed for the GTL Level 3.
Course Design Project
One of the major scope of the GTL Level 3 is to develop graduates students and postdoctoral fellows as principal instructors through the creation of integrated course design portfolio. Based on my statement of teaching philosophy, I designed a virtual discipline-specific course: CIV E 4## - Introduction of Trenchless Technologies. CIV E 4## was designed as a 400-level undergraduate civil engineering course that discusses various trenchless construction methods. Inspired by CIV E 609 - Underground Trenchless Construction, which is a multidisciplinary graduate-level course designed by my supervisor, Dr. Alireza Bayat, I designed CIV E 4## for undergraduate-level civil engineering students to have an opportunity to be familiar with trenchless technologies, a relatively new branch of civil engineering. Following artifacts are the components of CIV E 4## that were created through GTL Level 3:
Microteaching Challenge
The Microteaching Challenge is the final assessment of both GTL Level 2 and 3 that requires application, integration, and demonstration of foundational knowledge developed through the GTL programs and SoTL principles within a compressed time frame. For the GTL Level 3, I was required deliver two of the five-minute virtual microteaching presentations in front of the GTL Level 3 cohort (including the course instructor, Dr. Kathleen Danser, and colleagues). The microteaching presentation was intended to be the very first five minutes of the first lecture of my course: CIV E 4## - Introduction of Trenchless Technologies.
Although the presentation length was limited to five minutes in total, I was still required to design a lesson plan based on the BOPPPS model, including: a proper Bridge/Hook that can capture the interest of audience, Lesson Objectives/Intended Learning Outcomes using the appropriate verbs from Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy, Pre and Post Assessments for collecting the formative/summative feedbacks from audience, Participatory Learning that encourages active learning of audience, and a Summary that highlights the key concepts audience will take away.
After my first microteaching presentation, I was able to receive feedback from Dr. Kathleen Danser and one of the GTL Level 3 colleague, Rachel Simpson. Including the feedback from two and myself, I modified my lesson plan, presentation slides, and pre/post assessments. Second presentation based on these modifications was delivered one-week after the first presentation. Materials used for the second presentation and the peer feedback letters provided by two GTL Level 3 colleagues: Rachel Simpson and Pegah Firouzeh, are included as following: