Teaching Assistants' Training Program

Sasha Kovacs, TATP Humanities Trainer
Alli Diskin, TATP Program Assistant

Recent research (Mowbray and Perry 2015) suggests that poor lecturing and speaking skills “can detract from students’ learning experiences and outcomes.” A substantial amount of current literature offers that public speaking training can improve teaching, foster student topic retention, and support higher learning standards (Andrews, 2006; Felder & Brent, 1999). This workshop draws on recent scholarship about the value of public speaker training for higher education instructors. Participants will recognize the importance of public speaking to teaching; distinguish between models of speech communication; practice exercises that enhance participants’ speaking skills; and discuss popular models that could be leveraged to produce engaging lectures, assignments, and course designs.

References:

Andrews, P. H. (2006). Improving lecturing skills: Some insights from speech communication. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Felder, R. M., & Brent, R. (1999). FAQS. II: Active learning vs. covering the syllabus and dealing with large classes. Chemical Engineering Education, 33, 276–277.

Mowbray, R., & Perry, L. B. (2015). Improving lecture quality through training in public speaking. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 52(2), 207-217.