My Journey as Graduate Consultant

Amitesh Singh reflects on his year at CETL

Amitesh Singh, CETL Graduate Consultant

When I first saw the email from the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) about the Graduate Consultant position, it filled me with a sense of curiosity and excitement! Was this the opportunity I had been waiting for? My Graduate Program Coordinator and Dr. Bin Xiao, my mentor and the professor I had worked with as a Physics TA in student-centered classrooms, both recommended that I apply for this position.

So I prepared my teaching statement, my resume and other supporting documents and applied. It was the first time CETL had hired for such a position, so getting selected for the role wasn’t just a win; it was a blast of motivation and excitement, signaling the start of a significant chapter in my professional and personal development.

This semester, I have worked closely with Dr. Emily Donahoe in organizing workshops and learning communities to support teaching excellence. Whenever I feel I am out of ideas, she comes with her experience and we have nice discussions on teaching strategies.

One of the highlights of my experience was when I co-facilitated a workshop on active learning with Dr. Derek Bruff, Visiting Associate Director of CETL. He has immense experience in the pedagogy and research of teaching, and I really enjoyed helping him create cool activities with the participants. The participants gained insights on how to make use of their students’ collaborative work and utilize the power of their diverse skillset to enhance their learning experience. They also got ideas about teaching their topic through experiments and demonstrations. Throughout the workshop, we emphasized the value of student-centered learning approaches. The workshop was in part designed to prepare instructors for teaching in a new building (The Jim and Thomas Duff Center for Science and Technology Innovation) which will feature a number of active learning classrooms. 

Another standout moment was leading a workshop on active learning for TAs in STEM. I got a lot of support from Emily, and it was an absolute thrill to share my knowledge and strategies with eager participants. We did a couple of intriguing hands-on activities educating the participants about being an TA in a student-centered classroom.

As a part of my responsibilities, I have also been involved in co-facilitating discussions among two major communities, the Graduate Reading Group and the Fundamentals of Teaching community. As a part of the former, we read a book about pedagogy and/or supporting materials and discuss and critique what we learn from the texts.

The first book titled The Missing Course: Everything They Never Taught You about College Teaching explores the challenges academic institutions face in training instructors in pedagogy and suggests remedies for that problem by encouraging instructors to be proactive and enhance student engagement in their teaching roles.

The second book titled How Learning Works: Eight Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching delves deeper into research on learning combined with concrete examples of the daily challenges of teaching and clear practical strategies for instructors. It is a good read on understanding students’ learning approaches and where they are coming from.

The Fundamentals of Teaching community is the first part of a 3-tiered teaching credential program designed by CETL to accredit graduate TAs and instructors. In the Fall of 2023, we discussed a diverse range of questions and topics, such as inclusive teaching, efficient grading, and student engagement. The discussions, the debates, the shared discoveries—every moment was a step towards a deeper understanding of what it means to teach and learn effectively.

This position has been a game-changer for me in so many ways. Interacting with fellow grad students and seasoned instructors opened up a whole new world of perspectives and opportunities. Diving deep into pedagogy and critically analyzing various texts not only broadened my horizons but also fueled my passion for teaching and learning. I also got to witness my peers’ advancement towards excellence, and it gave me a lot of satisfaction. 

My time as a Graduate Consultant has deepened my love for teaching and opened my eyes to the impact of creating effective learning environments. The CETL community has been an incredible source of inspiration and support, and for that, I am profoundly thankful.

Looking ahead, I hope to gain more experience in organizing workshops, and collaborate more with graduate TAs and instructors, encouraging them to pursue active-learning based strategies in their courses. I myself want to use some of the effective teaching strategies I learned throughout this experience so far, into my future courses. This experience will surely give me a boost in my professional journey as a future possible course instructor or designer. I am committing to keep evolving both as an educator and a learner. Here’s to more adventures, and more growth!