Micro-teaching
New faculty members or teachers in some departments may be required to participate in micro-teaching workshops, especially in a teaching-focused department. These may be a required rite of passage for new professors, language teachers, or teaching assistants.
These workshops may be conducted by a facilitator - a professor or professional staff member from a teaching_and_learning_center, a.k.a., a CTL (center for teaching and learning). The purpose of the micro-teaching workshop is primarily for the benefit of new teachers. It is designed to help them reflect on their teaching, to become more aware of what their teaching is like, and to receive feedback and advice on strengths and areas for improvement. The workshops should provide a safe environment to practice and observe one's own teaching, and where teachers can benefit from giving each other feedback and teaching tips. A typical workshop as conducted by a CTL or teacher trainer is described below.
1 Procedure
Typically, each teacher delivers a 10-15 minute presentation. This could be a portion of one actual classroom lecture, or an abbreviated version of a lecture. The lectures are often recorded for review and discussion.
Teachers may deliver a mini-lesson from any part of one of their courses or lectures, and they may demonstrate any teaching method that they normally use, such as lecture, lecture-discussion, or group activities. However, it should be reasonably organized, and the goals or purpose of the presentation should be clearly stated. Most professors like to bring a PowerPoint file for their lectures, though this is not necessarily required.
Generally, several teachers present 5-15 minute mini-lectures to each other. They are then asked to reflect on their own lectures, give and receive feedback to the other presenters, and then receive feedback from the session facilitator.
After all have presented, an informal feedback session follows. Portions of the lecture may be played back, and the presenter is asked to reflect on the lecture. Comments from other professors will be elicited (and each will comment on the others' lectures); then the facilitator will provide specific feedback on the presentations. The feedback from this session will help them to see their strengths, and what they could do differently; helpful advice is to be provided on how to modify their teaching and improve their lecturing skills. Feedback topics can include presentation skills, organization, delivery, lecture contents, PowerPoint usage, poise, audience interaction, or any others.
