The Graduate Certificate in Online Teaching is a practicum curated for graduate students within the College of Arts and Architecture. It is facilitated by Anna Divinsky and supported by the Innovator in Residence Grant from the Center for Pedagogy in Arts and Design [C-PAD]. The practicum has been offered in the Spring and Fall of 2011. It consists of 7-10 synchronous zoom sessions and is open to graduate students assigned to concurrently teach or assist with online/hybrid courses. Each session addresses new topics, strategies, and resources. The main technologies utilized in the practicum are Canvas, Kaltura, Zoom, and Qualtrics. This semester speakers included guest faculty from Visual Arts and Architecture, TLT, the Schreyer Institute, and graduate student alums. With every semester, the practicum changes to adapt to the graduate students’ needs. It has become a great platform for collaboration, idea sharing, and fostering a graduate student community.

In addition to attending weekly zoom meetings, graduate students enrolled in the practicum are asked to create two presentations demonstrating their personal approaches to effective student assessment and student engagement. Perspectives from Art Education, Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Architecture, and Landscape Architecture make these presentations especially unique. The efficacy of the practicum is measured through anonymous surveys completed at the beginning and at the end of the practicum, where graduate students rate their confidence level at providing assignment feedback and student engagement. They also rate all presentations and share overall feedback for the topics covered. Upon completion, graduate students are awarded a Graduate Certificate in Online Teaching.

Based on the collected feedback, the next offering will include presentations on rubric building and providing assignment feedback with technology. Current graduate students will be invited to present as well as engage in group activities. We hope to explore new resources and opportunities to share our work within the University. This model of graduate teaching training is a great platform for fostering a graduate community of practice, self-efficacy in teaching, and professional development. We welcome new students this Spring 2022!