The Basic Skills for College Teaching Program requires successful completion
of at least six (6) approved learning "units" including three
required online modules worth one unit each.
Once you
are registered with FaCET, the online modules will be accessible from the
Blackboard 'My Organization' website
(https://ecourses.wku.edu/) throughout the year. They are available from September
1 to July 31 and may be completed at your own pace. At least three additional
units must be earned by completing approved elective activities.
Program
events generally average one hour in length but may be longer. Units are
awarded for the successful completion of an activity, not by the actual
amount of time involved. Some activities may be valued at more, or less,
than one unit of credit.
Once a
total of six approved units (including the three required online modules)
have been earned, an enrollee is awarded a Certificate of Completion
by FaCET.
Successful completion
of the BSCT is one component of earning the WKU
Graduate Teaching Associate (GTA) designation.
This designation signifies
that a graduate teaching assistant has met all University requirements for
serving as the official teacher-of-record in lower-division courses (courses
numbered 100-299).
Once this designation
is achieved, an additional stipend is awarded for each course (up to two
courses per semester) in which the GTA is the
official teacher of record.
Achieving the Graduate
Teaching Associate designation is an honor and an excellent
opportunity for those graduate assistants who aspire to a teaching career
in postsecondary education or who wish to excel in their graduate program.
Please consult the appropriate
online GTA documents (http://www.wku.edu/graduate/gta.htm)
or contact
the WKU Office of Graduate
Studies and Research,
207 Wetherby Administration Building
1906 College Heights Blvd. #11010
Bowling Green, KY 42101-1010
(Ph: 1-270-745-2446, graduate.studies@wku.edu)
for complete information.
Note: Only
those graduate students who have earned the GTA designation may serve as
teacher of record for a course!
A.
Individually Paced Online Learning Modules
The first
three instructional modules are core requirements of the Basic
Skills for College Teaching Program. Each one takes about an
hour, with another 1 to 2 hours devoted to assignments and assessment. We
advise you to complete one module per week.
Note:
The individually paced online modules are accessible from Sept 1 to July
31, may be started any time, and may be completed at your own pace. They
are NOT available during August each year.
Your work
is expected to be original. Copies of prior participants’ materials
are retained in case of dispute.
We do recognize
that some of the courses you will teach have a shared syllabus or state
certain common requirements. We encourage you to work with a departmental
mentor but to respect that mentor's original materials, get permission to
use them, and give proper credit for them.
What
about an instructor for the online modules?
Besides a departmental
mentor, the faculty and staff of FaCET will assist you by answering questions
and reviewing your work with you individually. We want you to succeed. Visit
the Staff Link to meet your instructors.
How to get
started:
1. Contact the Faculty
Center for Excellence in Teaching to register for the Basic Skills for College Teaching Program (270-745-6508; facet@wku.edu)
and for more details.
2. For the individually
paced online modules you will need only:
• a recent Internet browser and reliable Internet access
• a way to save documents in formats readable in MS Word
• the ability to send email, work through webpages, and enter information
in webforms.
For Western-affiliated
individuals taking the course, the computers in the WKU Student Technology
Centers are available, with a 24-hour lab in MMTH.
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3. When you
are ready, select the Module link to the left. We recommend you do the
modules in the following order:
- Organizing
for Teaching (required)
- Activities
for Learning (required)
- Assessment
for Learning (required)
Bibliography for
workshops for more information. |
B.
Electives and Other Curricular Requirements of the BSCT
In addition to successfully
completing the three (3) required online modules above, you must earn at
least three (3) additional units chosen from an approved list of elective
activities.
These may include face-to-face
workshops, seminars, and videos among others.
The approved curriculum
changes each semester so it is important that you view the most current
version of the Curriculum Guide (http://www.wku.edu/teaching/events.htm)
available from FaCET.
Particular requirements
for the approved elective activities
1. You must complete
at least two units of face-to-face activities such as seminars and workshops.
2. You may include one
approved instructional video, viewed at FaCET, with reflective follow-up
essay required or one Curriculum Guide
approved FaCET online seminar, with reflective follow-up essay required.
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a) If you choose
the additional online seminar, you must also post at least two meaningful
comments during the email discussion portion of the session.
b) The original
essay required for the video and additional online seminar must be
submitted within one week of the
end of the session. It will be evaluated by FaCET staff and must demonstrate
an acceptable level of effort and personal reflection in addressing
these basic questions:
What was the
most important part of the video/workshop and why?
Give an example
of how this might apply to your teaching.
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3. Substitutions: Occasionally
there will be a suitable activity sponsored by the university, your academic
department, or professional organization that you will wish to substitute
as an elective unit in the BSCT.
In this case, your written
request, brochures, and any other explanatory material must be presented
at FaCET at least two weeks before the date of
the proposed activity.
A committee at FaCET
will decide if a substitution can be made and assign an appropriate "unit"
value to it. Only one (1) substitution will be accepted for credit.
Please contact FaCET
with any questions you may have about the Basic Skills for College Teaching Program.
Faculty Center for Excellence
in Teaching
1906 College Heights Blvd. #11095
Bowling Green, KY 42101-1095.
Or visit 1783 Chestnut
(Directions at http://www.wku.edu/teaching/map_directions.html)
Ph: 1-270-745-6508,
facet@wku.edu
