Training for Classroom Teaching

All UNC clinical students are required to serve as a teaching assistant or independent instructor of their own course at some time in their doctoral studies. Many clinical students' initial teaching experience comes as a Teaching Assistant in the undergraduate laboratory methods (Psyc 50), abnormal psychology (Psyc 80), or introductory personality (Psyc 28) classes during the first or second years. Most students choose to teach their own undergraduate class as a Teaching Fellow during the fall and spring semesters of their third year in the program. Before they do this they complete a one-hour course, Laboratory in College Teaching, typically during the spring of their second year. This course is taught by Dr. Joseph Lowman, author of Mastering the Techniques of Teaching (Jossey-Bass, 1995) and noted researcher on various topics in college teaching. Dr. Lowman is a popular lecturer on college teaching to faculty groups at universities in the United States and elsewhere and the UNC clinical program is fortunate to have someone with his expertise on our faculty to work with our graduate students on their teaching. Dr. Lowman's course covers the major topics in college teaching with special emphasis on the skills needed to stimulate and involve students, to motivate them to work outside of class, and to evaluate them accurately and fairly. All graduate students in the UNC Department of Psychology must complete Dr. Lowman's course before teaching independently.

Clinical students are supervised directly by Dr. Lowman during the two semesters they teach their own courses (either psych 80 or psych 28) as Teaching Fellows. They meet weekly as a group to discuss their teaching and receive special help in designing their tests and paper assignments. Each clinical Teaching Fellow is also observed in their classroom by Dr. Lowman once each semester. Finally, a video-tape sharing and analysis session is held near the end of each semester where each of the clinical Teaching Fellows shows and discusses a brief taped segment of his or her teaching.

After completing their two semesters of independent teaching, many clinical students choose to teach during additional semesters, usually changing to another course, including Psyc 10, Introductory Psychology. Some advanced students are also selected to serve as an Assistant Teaching Supervisor with Dr. Lowman and accompany him to weekly supervision meetings and classroom observations.

Graduate students desiring an academic career can be assured they will receive exposure to the published literature on college teaching and explicit training in the essential skills of college teaching, including the option to gain supervisory experience with other instructors. We believe that our students are well-prepared for the classroom teaching duties associated with an academic career. As evidence of their level of skill, several of our clinical students have won departmental and university-wide teaching awards in the past.