Preparing the Future Professoriate Certificate Coursework

The course content will included contemporary and foundational theory and research on teaching and learning processes with emphasis on applications in agricultural education and communication. Subject areas include critical and creative thinking, learning styles, experiential learning, behavioral and cognitive psychology applications, development and learning, instruction theory, information processing, and motivation. Students will be required to read extensively in and about teaching and learning methods.

Professional Development was created to give students in the PhD program an opportunity to create a dissertation committee, develop a dissertation proposal, learn about publishing and funding opportunities, and engage in discussions about some of the expectations and issues facing members of the academy today.

This discussion-based graduate seminar will address some of the challenges facing academics as we try to balance our academic positions with other important life responsibilities. We will be primarily discussing family-related issues, and particularly motherhood, although many of the topics we will cover apply to other situations as well.

This course examines communication theory and learning theory as they influence classroom instruction. Students will explore and personalize the philosophy and practice of pedagogy─including course design, classroom delivery strategies, and assessment─for interactive communications courses. Students will contribute to class meetings by making presentations and sharing resources. Individuals will also explore possibilities for the design of a particular course and will develop components of a course design across the semester.

Drawing from case studies at the intersection of engineering, science, and public policy, this course examines the cultural and moral dimensions of engineering and scientific practice through the prism of ethical theory. It explores professional, institutional, and political values underlying the production of knowledge and shaping regulatory solutions to real-life problems, and identifies tensions that can arise between "expert" and "non-expert" perspectives on matters that can have serious and large-scale societal consequences.

Readings, class discussions, and projects help students identify the engineer's, scientist's, and policy maker's broader scope of professional responsibility from a strictly technical to a moral domain that encompasses diverse values and sometimes contested views about what is "real" and "right." Challenges associated with doing "good" science and creating "good" policy, even under the best of circumstances, are also examined.

Course requirements include weekly readings, class participation, a group project, and an individual final report. Students completing this course will not only have a better understanding of ethics in theory and in practice, but will also be sensitized to the ever increasing importance of ethics in the modern workplace.

This is a graduate seminar course covering advanced topics in software support for on-line teaching and learning. The course will involve a combination of reading/discussing current paper in the relevant research literature, and group projects that involve developing or extending tools for on-line education.

Possible topics to be discussed include:

• Background on educational theory and the basics of instructional design
• Course management systems (e.g. Moodle, Sakai, Blackboard, etc.)
• Tools for on-line learning (e.g. curator, web-cat, etc.)
• Tools for communication in an educational context (e.g. email, listservs, discussion forums, wikis, peer review tools, collaboration tools, etc.)

The purpose of this course is to allow students to investigate, analyze, and implement practical and empirical findings regarding the teaching and learning process. These findings and practices will be interpreted and applied to human learning and instruction in higher education in order to bridge the gap between theory and practice.

This seminar is designed to introduce you to literature and film that address aspects of higher education as a mature institution in American society in hopes of accomplishing the following aims:

• To explore how colleges and universities have evolved and fit in modern society.
• To discuss how universities are (or should be) organized and to what ends the organization is aimed.
• To explore the role of the teacher/faculty member and begin to relate what that means to your own personal and professional identity.
• To examine new approaches to learning and consider the implications for teaching and curricular practice.

This cross-disciplinary graduate seminar incorporates consideration of ethical dilemmas in research from a variety of different disciplinary perspectives, including education, human sciences, engineering education, industrial systems engineering, sociology, psychology, public policy, agricultural education and fields doing medical research involving human subjects. Ethical issues that arise during the design, data collection, analysis, and/or publication phases in quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, and evaluation research will all be considered.

Class members will invite researchers to class to interview about an ethical dilemma they experienced, the alternatives they considered, and the process used to resolve it. As a final project, each participant will write a case narrative of one of the participants interviewed in class. These could be used the basis for a proposal for a roundtable at a professional conference.

The final product will be a case book of narratives of the real life experiences of researchers working today and a cross-case analysis of similarities and differences across inquiry traditions and disciplines.

Developing instructional plans, delivering and evaluating instruction, and evaluating learner performance for career and technical education

This course will examine the major theories of human development with particular emphasis on college student development. For each theory, we will explore: the conceptual framework; research conducted that employs that framework; instrumentation currently available to assess development vis a vis that framework; and, how the theory relates to practitioners who work with college students. Recent criticisms of developmental theory and its role in student affairs administration will also be examined.

An overview of higher education in the United States with special emphasis given to diversity among and within institutions. Perspectives on historical developments, policy, governance, finance, faculty, changing demography of the student body, accountability, quality, and current issues will be examined. One of our major purposes this term will be to expand your understanding and appreciation of the great variety of settings in which students learn, how these are organized and managed, the profile of students attracted to various kinds of settings, and how faculty have shaped the learning experiences to which they are exposed.

This course addresses foundational principles of engineering education through relevant theories of teaching and learning, curriculum development, assessment, and student development. Broad categories of engineering courses (laboratories, design courses, and lectures) are examined with respect to course design, learning objectives, instructional methods, and assessment and accreditation. Students will learn to apply research- and theory-based educational methods to develop course materials and assess learning consistent with engineering accreditation standards.

Pedagogical theory and practice for incorporating communication skills in engineering courses. History of communication instruction in the disciplines; the current research on workplace communication; and theories of student learning in writing and speaking. Theoretical and practical approaches to assessment, especially creating and maintaining a cycle of continual improvement between learning objectives, instruction, and assessment in written and oral communication.

In this course, we will explore the intersections between theory and practice specifically, between the theories of engineering education you've learned through coursework and the practice of engineering education as you implement it in your own teaching. Over the course of the semester, we will combine class activities with articles that are both theoretical and practice- oriented. Having successfully completed this course, the student will be able to and/or will have experienced:

• Articulate the relationship between a given set of course learning objectives and the design of the syllabus
• Use engineering education theory to prepare effective lesson plans
• Effectively conduct classes in a variety of formats (e.g., lecture, small group, discussion)
• Design and conduct assignments and assessments appropriate to the course learning objectives
• Productively reflect on their teaching practices to enhance or improve the student learning environment
• Perform peer reviews of other students and faculty and discuss their performance

The Engineering Education Graduate Seminar extends the learning begun in EngE 5014: Foundations of Engineering Education by providing an opportunity to continuously expand your knowledge of the field and to develop professionally. This opportunity to engage in what we commonly call "lifelong learning" offers access to a range of issues and approaches to help you reach beyond both the core concepts you explored in your required courses and the narrow boundaries of your own research. At the same time, the course provides a chance to enhance your professional skills, particularly in terms of developing academic networks and communicating engineering education research and practices to a variety of audiences. Toward these ends, the seminar has two learning objectives: by the end of the semester, you should be able to: experienced:

• Demonstrate increased understanding of issues, research areas, research methods, and/or teaching approaches central to engineering education as both a field of intellectual inquiry and a complex set of classroom and curricular practices; and
• Demonstrate increased ability to communicate effectively about engineering education research and practice.

As a training course for international teaching assistants, this course consists of two main parts:

(1) guidelines for teaching at the undergraduate level in the U.S., including (a) an orientation to classroom patterns and expectations and (b) an introduction to effective communication techniques in the class and laboratory; and

(2) practice in presenting classroom material at the appropriate undergraduate level. In addition to giving short first-day segments of a course students will eventually teach, each student gives six 10-20 minute talks on material within the syllabus. Individual consultations with the instructor, including videotape playback, follow each presentation.

Practical training in teaching composition at the university level. Required of all Graduate Teaching Assistants in English.

MA and MFA Students:Practical training in teaching composition at the university level. Required of all Graduate Teaching Assistants in English.

MA and MFA Students:

• Partnering as a classroom mentors in 1105. You will be assigned to a partner during the first class period. This requires that you attend the class at least once a week. You will be helping with group work, sometimes presenting in or teaching the class, reading over student writing, consulting on grades and/or responses, and keeping a teaching/tutoring refection notebook.
• Tutoring 1 hour per week in the Writing Center. (You might want to meet with students in the class you are partnering with during this time, but you should also be prepared to tutor any students who come in during your hour.)
• Writing a syllabus and assignments for English 1106
• Meeting for the Practicum Course
• Attending Composition Program Speakers Series
• Statement on teaching writing

Ph.D. students will be teaching one section of 1105, working with 2-3 classroom mentors from the MA or MFA class and tutoring 1 hour per week in the Writing Center. You will also keep a teaching/tutoring refection notebook, meet with the Practicum, attend the Composition Speakers Series, prepare a syllabus and major assignments for English 1106, and turn in a final statement on teaching writing.

This course reviews modern strategies for teaching college natural resources-related courses. Teaching strategies from learning science and creating an inclusive and equitable classroom environment.

This course provides an overview of the role and responsibilities of Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTA's) at Virginia Tech. Experienced faculty and GTA's provide informational sessions on topics such as principles and strategies for teaching and learning, effective use of technology, professional ethics, inclusivity in learning environments, effective classroom and laboratory communication and management, contemporary pedagogy, and more. Pass/Fail only.

The purpose of the course is to provide graduate students with an understanding and contextual knowledge of the professoriate and current issues facing higher education. These topics include faculty roles and responsibilities, changing demographics and nature of students/learners, the impact of technology upon higher education, diversity and inclusiveness, paradigm shifts in the academy, ethical issues and professional standards, global perspectives on higher education, and external forces influencing the college/university.

This seminar engages participants in an interdisciplinary exploration of pedagogical practices for different courses taught in different contexts. The course examines teaching to diverse groups with inclusive pedagogy, integrating global contexts with innovative e-learning components, and using problem-based learning across the disciplines. Participants will discover ways to negotiate the changing demographics of contemporary teaching sites, and undertake an overview of the uses and benefits of electronic portfolios both as a teaching tool and as a professional development tool.

This course helps graduate students understand the print and electronic library general and subject-specific information resources and enhances students' knowledge of information retrieval and management skills through database management and searching techniques. Participants create personal databases using commercial database-management programs; demonstrate and evaluate websites and demonstrate an understanding of electronic thesis and dissertations. On-line course.

Practice-based pedagogy techniques for effective communication about scientific, technical, and health research. Application of communication techniques across public and professional audiences, and across a variety of oral and written communication contexts.

This course is focused on understanding the value of being a citizen-scholar, elucidating the connection between scholarship and citizenship in contemporary global society, and encouraging engagement in "public scholarship" - scholarship in service to the community, the state, the nation and the world.

Research on diversity and inclusion for a global society from a multidisciplinary perspective. Examination of popular misconceptions about diversity and inclusion, benefits of diverse and inclusive organizations, legal requirements, international perspectives on diversity and inclusion, and applications to research and professional practice.

This course provides Virginia Tech graduate students with an opportunity to explore trends and issues of global higher education, faculty roles and responsibilities in higher education from a global perspective, organization and structure of higher education, student demographics, academic programs and more. Participants will attend seminars and visit selected partner universities in Europe. Graduate study abroad opportunities are also available beyond the PFP Global Perspectives.

Overview of the methods and procedures for developing competitive grant proposals. Students learn basic grant writing skills that include identifying and seeking funding sources, preparing fundable grant proposals, building a budget, and managing a funded project.

This course is designed to demystify writing skills necessary for success in academia. It also will address skills that will help graduate students both secure academic positions and be happy and successful once they are hired. The instructor also will discuss the academic culture and the expectations and demands surrounding it.

Macromolecular Writing and Literature will focus on writing technical research and/or review manuscripts. Students will work individually, then as a group to write, critique, and revise their manuscripts. Students are required to submit at least one technical manuscript to a refereed technical journal to complete the course. Thus, only students who have sufficient data to write the manuscript should enter the course. The objective of the class is to learn writing skills leading to effective, concise, and interesting manuscripts. Grammatical and spelling errors will not be addressed in this course except for minor proofing. Thus, students should plan to bring manuscript sections to class without such errors. It is reasonable and advisable to ask a proofreader to correct grammatical errors prior to class.

Ever since the "Scientific Revolution" of the late 16th to early 18th centuries, experimentation has become the major tool used by scientists to uncover some of the secrets of the natural world. Despite the wealth of data and the impressive advances that have resulted, experimentation also raises a number of serious ethical, social, and public-policy concerns. Though scientists have often maintained that their work is value free, they are now increasingly required to factor in ethical, social, and even legal responsibilities as they plan and conduct their programs of research.

This semester, we have three main goals, each arising from a specific ethical and social perspective.

• First, we will examine the professional values originating from within the scientific community that define the norms of science and set the standards for the proper conduct of scientists.
• Next, we will examine the official mechanisms that have been imposed on scientists from the outside to protect the many different types of subjects of their research. These mechanisms include institutional review boards, biosafety committees, animal care and use committees, and federal advisory bodies.
• Finally, we will explore the issues that arise once scientific advances leave the laboratory and enter our lives in medical and other settings.

Any in-depth understanding of contemporary bioethics requires that these three perspectives─with their associated ethical frameworks and oversight mechanisms─be understood.

The genre of academic memoir offers us the opportunity to read the reflections of feminist academics on their own experiences as teachers, scholars, and administrators in higher education around the world. In this course, we will read the memoirs of avowed feminist academics from a variety of backgrounds, with an eye toward reflecting on our own experiences as feminist academics. The readings comprise mature feminist discussions on issues that are central to the feminist project in university education: equality of women and members of other marginalized groups, gendered power within academic context, single-sex and mixed-sex education, women in administrative positions, the intersection of gender with race and class discrimination, and egalitarian pedagogical practices.