The Office for the Advance of Teaching & Learning supports graduate students who serve as Teaching Assistants and instructors across the University of Rhode Island. As part of our mission, we do this to provide graduate students with support to develop their teaching philosophies, as well as pedagogical approaches, and enhance their teaching skills.
ATL Programming for Graduate Students
Strategies & Tools for Graduate Students – ATL hosts a series of dynamic workshops crafted to empower your teaching journey each semester.
ATL Walk & Talk – Looking for a way to connect with colleagues that’s also a bit of a break from the stresses of faculty life? Come walk with us! New to ATL’s suite of programming to support faculty wellbeing and vitality, this opportunity gives URI instructors an informal way to engage with peers, take a leisurely stroll/roll around campus, and discuss teaching and learning topics that are top of mind. Bring a colleague or join on your own!
Practicing Democracy CoP – This community of practice is for those who are fostering democratic conversations in the classroom this semester. As a community of practice, the goal of this group is to provide a forum for those who are engaging students in democratic conversations, assignments, class activities to come together and share experiences, stories, and lessons learned with one another. This group is for you, if you are interested in leaning on your colleagues while also leaning into fostering democracy in the classroom this fall!
Faculty Vitality & Well-Being Workshop Series – Are you feeling overwhelmed? Looking for some revitalization? Instructors face many challenges and pressures that can lead to burnout or decreased well-being. This two-part workshop series is designed to empower faculty with the knowledge and tools necessary to recognize the signs of burnout, understand the importance of various types of rest, and create a personalized plan for achieving greater well-being and vitality.
Leveraging Disciplinary Methods for SoTL – Explore a range of research methods in SoTL, and learn how you can use your disciplinary foundations to better understand your students’ learning. Come with unanswered questions about your teaching practice and students’ learning, and leave with multiple approaches for answering those questions. You do not need prior experience or a current project in SoTL to participate in this session.
Practicing Democracy with Nick Longo – This participatory workshop presented by Nick Longo, PhD, will offer a framework and practical strategies for embedding civic engagement across the curriculum.
Fall Symposium – What are you doing with AI in your classroom? Since ChatGPT sprung onto the scene, this is the question that we have all been grappling with. Join us on October 30th as we will dig into this question collectively. During this Symposium, you will be able to learn from your peers about how they have been incorporating AI into their classrooms and also have time to explore AI for yourself. This day is for you if you have been asking yourself “What is everybody else doing?”
URI Resources for Graduate Students
University of Rhode Island Graduate School – Visit URI’s Graduate School to learn more about all the resources available to support you on your journey to graduation. Below are several of the resources and opportunities that they offer.
Individual Appointments. 1 hour coaching sessions with graduate students on job application materials, job search strategy, digital presence, mock interviews, salary negotiations.
Career, Professional Development, Skill Building Programs and Workshops. The university’s Graduate School runs scores of programs each semester and over the summer. In addition, the Graduate School speaks with individual classes and grad programs on various career and professional development topics (~25 visits this Fall). They also cosponsor an annual Teaching at Teaching Intensive Institutions conference run by UMass Amherst for students interested in faculty positions at those types of institutions. Additionally, the Graduate School hosts a panel program with students who have accepted faculty positions.
Graduate Writing Center. In just 5 years, the GWC, has become a much relied upon and beloved center by students and faculty. In addition to individual appointments with trained peer writing consultants, the GWC runs its own set of writing training programs and makes regular class visits. The GWC also runs Writing Groups, including an Accountability Writing Group every other week, an annual Fulbright Writing Group, 2 NSF GRFP Writing Groups, and 3 Proposal Writing Groups each year. The GWC also runs Teaching Statement Writing Groups. For 2 years prior to the pandemic, the GWC partnered with Bridgewater State’s previous Arts and Sciences Dean, who hosted our students for a daylong program, including shadowing and individual mentoring.
Graduate Success Coaching. The Graduate Schools hosts a peer model to support our graduate students’ ability to succeed in their programs through individual coaching and workshops on issues related to executive functioning (i.e., scheduling, planning, testing, anxiety, motivation, time management, managing advisors).
Graduate Diversity Badge Programs. The Graduate School offers a nationally renowned Diversity and Inclusion Badge Program. More recently, we are also offering an Equitable and Inclusive Teaching & Pedagogy Badge program for TAs and instructors of record interested in improving their own teaching as well as grad students interested in seeking faculty positions. The last EITP workshop in the series is a Writing Teaching Statements workshop run by Dr. Colleen Mouw, Associate Dean of the Graduate School, and our GWC TA Coordinator.
Annual Graduate TA Training. This is a 5 Part Program: (a) Mental Health First Aid Training for Grad TAs (run by the Psychological Consultation Center); (b) Know Your Instructional Tech Tools: Brightspace Intro & Refresher; (c) Brightspace Modules containing videos and information on FERPA and other issues; (d) Daylong TA Training Workshop (see website/slides for agenda); and (e) TA Breakfast. TA Training runs the week before Fall classes. Graduate programs generally schedule around these events.
Graduate School News & Info Newsletter. The Graduate School publishes a newsletter 2x month that includes notices about deadlines, upcoming events, jobs, fellowships, grants, career and professional advice.
External Fellowships and Grants. In addition to maintaining a database of external funding, we partner with the National Fellowship Office on programs and opportunities, and also run programs on identifying and writing grants with the Research Office and the Corporate and Foundation Office.
3 Minute Thesis. Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is an exceptional opportunity for URI doctoral and research master’s students to hone their research communication skills and compete for recognition and prizes. Participating in URI’s 3MT competition will sharpen your ability to convey the central point of your research findings to a general audience in a vivid, cogent, and jargon-free style.