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Description
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The Teaching Teams Program
is a grant-funded, faculty-student initiative endorsed by
the University of Arizona's Office of Undergraduate
Education to recruit and train teaching teams consisting of
instructors, graduate teaching assistants, and preceptors
(undergraduate assistants, or peer tutors) who all work
together to provide multi-level support for students in
general education courses. The teaching team approach is an
optional, flexible strategy that instructors adapt to their
courses in order to mitigate the negative effects of large
classes on learning.
The most innovative feature
of the program is the integration of preceptors into class
activities. Preceptors are undergraduate volunteers drawn
from general education courses. The preceptors are highly
visible role models committed to helping classmates through
example and peer instruction. By engaging self-motivated
undergraduates as active players in education, instructors
and graduate teaching assistants acquire pedagogically sound
options for implementing active learning techniques in large
lecture courses. The primary objective of the program is to
enhance delivery of the new, University-wide general
education curriculum through faculty-student collaboration.
This new curriculum emphasizes rigorous treatment of
fundamental knowledge while developing writing, critical
thinking, and problem solving skills. For graduate TAs, the
program provides teaching experience and the opportunity to
mentor younger teaching partners.
http://hal.lpl.arizona.edu/teachingteams/
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