C545 is the foundational pedagogy course in the Department of
Communication and Culture. The course broadly introduces graduate
students to teaching, with specific applications to their common
teaching experiences in introductory courses in the department. The
course focuses on such teaching fundamentals as lecturing, leading
discussions, fostering an interactive classroom, using technology to
enhance pedagogy and learning, constructing examinations and other
assessment instruments, offering feedback on oral and written work,
managing instructor-student interactions, and beginning to develop the
teaching portfolio. In addition to addressing these practical matters,
students are also exposed to theory and research on teaching and
learning in areas relevant to their early teaching assignments. Topics
engaged include: cognitive paradigms for teaching critical thinking,
diversity (race, class, and gender), power and empowerment in the
classroom, the place of communication and culture in a liberal arts
education, and the university as the political environment in which we
teach. The goals of C545 are to support graduate students during their
first semester as instructors, to stimulate a critical conversation
concerning pedagogical theory and practice, to offer constructive
feedback on teaching based on in-class observations and consultation,
and to prepare students broadly for their future teaching assignments
in the department and for their lives as teacher/scholars.