Why aren’t instructors trained on how to teach graduate students?: Opinion

While there is a growing trend to provide pedagogical training to instructors who teach undergraduate students, this opportunity is rarely afforded to those teaching graduate students, opines Leonard Cassuto for the Chronicle of Higher Ed. The author contends that the needs of graduate students differ from those of undergraduates however, and instruction should be reoriented accordingly. More specifically, Cassuto argues that graduate courses should be reframed to meet the students’ needs as “intellectuals and future professionals.” Cassuto encourages instructors of graduate students to actively seek out pedagogical best practices and connect with other professors as resources. Additionally, the author proposes that institutions should convene semester-long colloquiums so that new faculty members teaching graduate courses can learn from one another.