Certificate of Accomplishment in Teaching
The Certificate of Achievement in Teaching (CoAT) program, run by the NC State Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning is a excellent compliment to the PtP program. While the PtP program covers many issues that university faculty may encounter, the CoAT program focuses strictly on teaching. This program also requires seminar/workshop attendance, as well as teaching and observation components. Appendix B includes the artifacts produced to meet the requirements of this program.
Three of the workshops I attended for this program were especially interesting and valuable. Two dealt with the use of games as learning and teaching tools in the classroom. While I have used games as a basis for homework assignments in programming classes, I had not thought about the possibilities of using games in a classroom setting. Developing a programming assignment around (or within) a game generates more student interest and desire to complete the assignment correctly (so they can play the game). The process is also straightforward: identify those parts of the game that could be implemented using the programming techniques currently being studied and define an appropriate student implementation. I used this approach several times when I taught CSC216, and the student response was very positive. Also, more students successfully completed these assignments than other homeworks that were not game-based.
Translating a game to the classroom, however, is more of a challenge. Using a game necessarily inserts some degree of competition into the classroom environment, and the game must be carefully constructed to minimize dominance by the quicker or more extroverted students. Also, the basic nature of the games used will be different. Programming assignment games are usually user-vs-computer or solitaire-based games, while those used in the classroom must be able to accommodate all of the students in the class. In-class teaching games can also involve different thinking skills, ranging from recall exercises through more complex problem-construction and solving skills and beyond. As with teaching critical thinking, the construction of games for in-class teaching requires extra time and effort, and is probably not something that should be done in every class meeting. However, it does provide another way of capturing and keeping students' attention and interest in the material. I plan on exploring the use of games in my classroom in the future.
The other workshop that was valuable for me was one on the scholarship of teaching and learning. I believe that I have a responsibility to my discipline, to my colleagues, and to my students (present and future) to be the best teacher I can be and to share what I learn about teaching with my peers. This is necessary on several levels. Our students deserve the best possible education and professional preparation possible, not only for themselves, but also for society in general. These students will build and maintain the computer systems of the future, and as computing becomes more ubiquitous and fundamental to every aspect of modern life, they must be prepared to meet challenges and opportunities we cannot even imagine. Some of these students will go on to be the next generation of teachers in the discipline, and they need role models and mentors that understand the importance of teaching and learning.
This workshop also brought out a potential hazard of scholarly teaching and learning: in disciplines outside education, expending effort to research and publish about teaching may work against the promotion and tenure process. One of the papers read in preparation for the workshop discussed the challenges faculty in many different disciplines have faced when they chose to pursue this path. The workshop also offered advice from those who have navigated these waters before. One of the more important pieces of advice I found was the idea of educating colleagues on the value and responsibility we have to engage in the scholarship of teaching and learning. From my own perspective as a (soon to be) new doctoral degree holder and faculty position-seeker, I believe that I should make this personal commitment clear when I am interviewing, and take every opportunity I can to impress upon my interviewers the importance and responsibility we have as educators.
