Religion 401 Teaching
Practicum
M
AB 621
Rebecca Alpert
Associate Professor of Religion and Women’s Studies
617
215 204 7712
Office hours: Monday 1-3
Spring 2004
This course is for students who are beginning teaching of religious studies in a university setting and who wish to think about and develop their teaching skills. The course will help teachers in constructing the syllabus, conducting class discussions, designing lectures, getting the most out of student evaluations, using office hours effectively, creating teaching portfolios, working as a teaching assistant, grading, and problem solving around student interactions. The class will involve classroom visits and peer critiques, practical exercises and discussion about problems as they arise, so students should only enroll during a semester when they are actually engaged in teaching.
Books for Purchase (in bookstore): (also available on reserve at Paley Library)
Stephen Brookfield, Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher (Jossey-Bass, 1995)
Barbara Gross
bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom (Routledge, 1994)
Parker Palmer, The Courage to Teach (Jossey-Bass, 1998)
Useful websites:
http://www.ku.edu/~cte/ (resources/other teaching centers)
Contacts for all
American
Course is available on Blackboard. You can find all URLs listed in this syllabus as external links there.
Assignments:
Weekly:
For sessions 2-11, bring in either examples of good practice (either your own or something you’ve seen) or a (written) “tale from the trenches” from your own experience—or someone else’s if it’s really good.
Eight of these assignments must be handed in. I will accept them the day of the class only.
These assignments, along with active class participation and regular attendance (no more than 2 absences) will count for 40% of the grade.
Project: The Course Portfolio (final versions due on May 3)
Create a Teaching Dossier (Course Portfolio) for a course you are currently teaching as described in Gross, Tools, Chapter 43 (362-366). It will include:
· Course description
· Description of students
· Reflective self-assessment
· Comment on student evaluations
· Copies of course materials
· Evaluation by peer reviewer
· Teaching journal
The dossier will count for 60% of the grade
Session 1:
(January 26) The Portfolio and Reflective
Teaching
Barbara Gross Davis, Tools for Teaching, chapter 43 (362-366)
Stephen Brookfield, Critical Reflection, chapters 1-4, 10
http://www.psu.edu/celt/portfolio.html “Designing a Teaching Portfolio”
recommended: bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress 1-4, 6, 10, 13-14
Note: On February 2 and February 9 I will be out recovering from surgery. Plans for these weeks and make up sessions will be discussed in the first session
Session 2: (February 16) Designing a Syllabus
http://cstl.syr.edu/cstl/t-l/syllabus.htm “About the Course Syllabus”
http://cstl.syr.edu/cstl/T-L/TFBT.htm “Tips for Better Teaching”
Session 3: (February 23) Giving a Lecture/Leading a Discussion
http://bokcenter.harvard.edu/docs/mosteller.html “The Muddiest Point”
http://bokcenter.harvard.edu/docs/TFTlectures.html
“
http://bokcenter.harvard.edu/docs/sectionprep.html “Section Prep”
Session 4: (March 1) Being Evaluated by Students and Peers
http://www.psu.edu/celt/observation.html “Guide to Classroom Observation”
March 8: Spring break
Session 5: (March 15) Issues in Teaching Religion
Note: Items 1) and 2) are available on electronic reserve through the library.temple.edu
Website. Item 3) part a is available on line and through the external link on blackboard, and part b can be found by searching through Academic Search Premier for the full text of MTSR.
1) Reflections on Teaching Religious Studies
Conference Proceedings (1992
Teaching Religious Studies: A
Personal Reflection (7-14); Is Religious Studies Religious? (15-20); Some
Reflections on the Teaching of Religious Studies (21-26); The
Study of Religions: One Field, Many Methods (27-34); The Methodological
Pluralism of the Academic Study of Religion (35-40); Why Secular Universities
Need Religious Studies (41-58); Capturing the Captivated: The Teacher as
Impersonator (59-68); The University: Newman's and Ours (69-80); Are We Ready
for Integration Yet? (81-86); Jewish Studies and Multiculturalism (87-92);Two Ambiguities in Teaching (About) Religion in
2) Teaching religion and incorporating the spiritual and ethical:
Robert J. Nash, Spirituality, Ethics, Religion and Teaching, chapters 5-6
3) Studying the Other: A Case Study of Sam Gill
(Note: skimming MotherEarth and Scholartracking by Sam Gill will help your comprehension of this debate, but is not required)
a) “Teaching Native American Religions” http://puffin.creighton.edu/lakota/teaching.html
b) “Exchange” in Method and Theory in the Study of Religion (MTSR):
Hugh Urban, 5827293 “Scholartracking: The Ethics and Politics of Studying Others” in the Work of Sam Gill” MTSR 13: 110-136;
Sam Gill, Response 7186707 MTSR 14:119-25
Hugh Urban, Response 7186712 MTSR 14: 226-230
(Available on line through Academic Search Premier)
Note: your “tale from the trench” assignment need not be limited to the above questions, but can relate to any problem you’ve encountered in your teaching experience as a religion instructor.
Session 6: (March 22) Interacting with Students
Parker
Palmer, The Courage to Teach
http://bokcenter.harvard.edu/docs/hotmoments.html
Session 7: (March 29) Teaching Writing Skills
Guest Presenter: Keith Gumery, First Year Writing Program
Session 8: (April 5) Experiential Learning
Guest Presenter: Lori Pompa, former Director of Experiential Learning, CLA
Session 9: (April 12) Using Technology
Guest Presenter: Terry Halbert,
Professor,
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/inst/inst.html “Tips for teaching with Technology”
Session 10: (April 19) Designing Assignments and Student Learning
Guest Presenter: Joan Shapiro, Professor,
Session 11:
(April 26) Grading
Guest Presenter: Jay Lockenour, Director of ATTIC
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tsgi.html “Teaching Strategies”
Sessions 12-13: (May 3) Closing Conversation and Portfolio Presentations
Disability disclosure
Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss the specific situation as soon as possible. Contact Disability Resources and Services at 215 204-1280 in 100 Ritter Annex to coordinate reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities.