Introduction
Welcome to the Yale Poorvu Center Teaching How-To guide for incoming graduate instructors!
Whether you’re a Teaching Fellow (TF) or a Part-Time Acting Instructor (PTAI), this guide will help you start your semester with a strong foundation in pedagogy and teaching principles. Inside, you’ll find strategies for designing and leading effective courses, sections, and labs, maximizing student engagement through student-centered, equitable, and objective-driven teaching practices.
Pedagogy, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is the “art, science, or profession of teaching.” Pedagogical research, educational scholarship, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) underlie the teaching practices and principles we will define in this section and refer back to throughout this guide. These concepts are also key in the Fundamentals of Teaching and CIRTL MOOC workshops that count towards the Certificate of College Teaching Preparation (CCTP) for graduate and professional students, as well as postdoctoral trainees at Yale University.
Teaching, like learning, is an iterative and ongoing process. We encourage you to experiment with integrating these principles and approaches into the learning environments you create with students. Some strategies will run smoothly, while others may need some adjustment.
Reflecting on how and why something happened—and what can be improved next time—is a normal (and expected) part of the teaching process. It can be easy to default to teaching others in the same ways we were taught, but this guide will show you how a reflective and equitable teaching approach moves the academy forward in new and meaningful directions.
Each TF and PTAI experience will vary depending on factors such as course topic, department, head instructor, class size, student demographics, and classroom space. These variables may influence your level of autonomy over decisions related to course goals and objectives, assessments, course content, learning activities, and more.
Regardless of your degree of control, as a TF or PTAI, you become the primary point of contact for students, shaping their learning experience through regular interaction and direct support. Additionally, you’re in the unique position to advocate for the needs of your students to the faculty or department. While TF and PTAI advocacy for better teaching and learning practices may not always create immediate change, developing the habit of noticing and reflecting on the impact of your teaching choices will serve you well throughout your career and lead to a more welcoming and productive environment for all parties involved.
What You’ll Find in This Guide
This guide is structured to provide both foundational principles and practical strategies for your teaching. In the following chapters, we’ll cover:
- Core teaching frameworks, including student-centered and equitable teaching practices.
- Course and section planning, foregrounding learning objectives
- Fostering student engagement and designing active learning experiences.
- Assessments and grading, with strategies for designing equitable evaluations that align with course goals.
Each chapter is designed to be actionable, with concrete examples and reflection prompts to help you apply these concepts in your own teaching. Whether you’re preparing for your first day in the classroom or refining your approach mid-semester, this guide serves as a resource to support your growth as an instructor.
Reflection questions are included at the end of specific sections to help prepare you for your experience as a TF or PTAI.
Key Practices, Principles, and Terms:
- Learner-Centered Teaching
- Equitable Teaching
- Hidden Curriculum
- Backward Design
- Bloom’s Taxonomy
- Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
- Active Learning
- Metacognition
- Teaching Persona
- Teaching Values
- Assessments
- Feedback
References and Additional Resources
Many parts of this guide include a “Works Cited” section at the end that lists referenced sources. These citations acknowledge the research that informs this guide and provide a starting point for those who want to explore the scholarship on teaching and learning in more depth.
At the end of each chapter, you’ll find an “Additional Resources” section. These aren’t works cited in the text, necessarily, but rather a curated selection of readings and other materials that offer further insight into the topics covered. These resources draw from a range of perspectives, including from both K-12 and higher education SoTL, as well as public and private institutions. Many cutting-edge pedagogical approaches emerge from research done outside of private higher education learning environments like Yale. As you engage with these resources, consider both the similarities and differences between these contexts and your own teaching environment. While institutional structures, resources, and student populations may vary, the core principles of effective and equitable teaching remain relevant. You may be surprised by what translates well, and even when differences come up, how they don’t have to prevent you from adapting new strategies to your own classroom.
For more information on graduate TF funding, levels & types, requirements, and policies, please visit the Teaching Fellow Program Website.
By the end of this chapter, you’ll be able to…
- Describe the principles of student-centered and equity-focused instruction.
- Recognize the value of teaching as an iterative process informed by reflection and research.
- Understand how this guide is structured and what support it offers for your teaching journey.