Teaching and Mentoring
Teaching and mentoring are important skills to acquire and hone as they are essential to success both within academia and beyond. GradPathways partners with the Center for Educational Effectiveness to provide teacher training. GradPathways also offers engaging mentoring workshops for both mentees who would like to get the most out of mentorship and those who wish to learn how to mentor.
Skill Review
Review these skills, and consider if you have already developed the skill enough for your future career plans, expect to develop the skill as part of your program, or need to find additional resources to support developing the skill:
- Understand and practice evidence-based pedagogical methods
- Adopt and communicate a reflective teaching philosophy
- Design courses, syllabi, lesson plans, and assignments
- Demonstrate and facilitate active learning
- Mediate interpersonal and intellectual conflict in the classroom
- Use instructional design principles to develop and/or leverage educational technology
- Adapt pedagogical methods to hybrid and online learning spaces
- Co-teach or team teach with another instructor
- Promote student well-being in all instructional settings
- Assess student learning and skill development
- Assess the effectiveness of teaching and mentoring activities
- Design a formative assessment plan and adapt my instruction method based on the results
- Establish a respectful and inclusive learning community
- Build and maintain productive relationships as a mentor
- Build and maintain productive relationships as a mentee
On Demand Content
The Center for Educational Effectiveness offers an array of Just-In-Time Teaching (JITT) resources to provide a range of strategies that instructors can readily use in their classrooms. In addition, they have developed a range of On-Demand Modules for self-paced learning on topics such as Academic Job Market Teaching Statements or Generative AI. For those wanting to learn about teaching and program assessments, the CEE has also developed an on-demand Canvas course, the Assessment Canvas Training. Lastly, the CEE also hosts the campus TA's Guide, a handbook for TAs about their role, teaching practice, student engagement, assessment, and continuing development.
Videos are available on the GPI YouTube channel from prior offerings of the Mentoring Up Course:
Mentoring Up introduces students to strategies for being an effective mentee and influencing your relationship with your mentors
Communicating with your Mentor explains communications tools to structure and enrich your mentor interactions
Building Mentorship Networks explains the why and how of building a network of mentors to aid your personal, professional, and career development
The UC Davis Library Resources for Faculty and Instructors is a curated list of readings for those interested in the scholarship of teaching and learning
Developing Your Teaching
The Center for Educational Effectiveness leads TA Orientation each year to help graduate students succeed in their role as TAs at UC Davis by introducing them to the principles and practices of effective teaching. In-person sessions emphasize practical teaching skills and strategies, and include topics such as establishing a positive classroom atmosphere on the first day, leading effective discussions, presenting information clearly, and grading efficiently. TA Orientation is offered annually just before Fall quarter, and is required in order to serve as a TA. Make-up TA Orientation is also offered just after the end of Fall quarter each year.
The Center for Educational Effectiveness also offers regular workshops and events for continuing development in pedagogy, as well as EDU 396: Seminar in College Teaching, a comprehensive course on teaching, learning, and self-development.
In addition, the Center for Educational Effectiveness is host to the Graduate Teaching Community, a collaborative, interdisciplinary group of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars who come together on a weekly basis to explore effective teaching practices. The CEE also trains an annual cohost of Teaching Assistant Consultants (TACs) who promote and facilitate professional development programming for graduate student instructors and postdoctoral scholars. Lastly, the CEE also offers a variety of consultations to provide feedback and coaching to instructors.
Developing as Mentee and Mentor
Because mentorship is at the core of research and academic training, activities in mentoring are in their own section of this website. Graduate students and postdoctoral scholars can gain a wide range of valuable support from the mentor and mentee resources on the GradPathways website. These resources are designed to strengthen mentoring relationships and help trainees navigate graduate school and their broader career journeys by offering practical tools, workshops, and guidance tailored to their needs. Through mentee resources, students and postdocs can access structured advice on choosing the right mentors, building and managing a mentorship network, and setting expectations. Complementary mentoring training and workshops also help mentees communicate effectively with advisors, clarify goals, and cultivate confidence in research and career planning. By engaging with these resources, graduate students and postdocs can enhance their ability to form productive mentoring relationships, proactively direct their own mentorship development, and better prepare for future academic or professional opportunities.