Teaching Undergraduates about Teaching Undergraduates: A Capstone Course

Abstract

In this article, we describe a senior-level capstone course on the profession of college teaching. Taught in a seminar fashion, the course required students to discuss various issues associated with college teaching (e.g., lecturing, grading, and cultural diversity), which were introduced through various outside readings, and to engage in some form of “teaching experience” during the semester (e.g., tutoring or presenting a minilecture). In addition, students observed faculty members¹ lectures. We sought to combine the goal of providing undergraduates a capstone experience with the goal of attracting our better students to the teaching profession. The course also provided an unanticipated vehicle for obtaining important feedback about the way we teach undergraduates in our department and for aiding faculty development in the area of teaching.

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