All faculty members have recently received a small brochure describing activities coordinated by the Teaching Resource Network (TRN).
The brochure is intended to highlight the variety of teaching resources available to MIT faculty and other teaching staff-including the day-long orientation workshop for all new faculty and graduate teaching assistants; the classroom videotaping and review program, where faculty meet with a consultant after having their class videotaped; and the IAP seminar series, led by experienced and successful faculty members and TAs on a variety of teaching topics.
Also outlined in the brochure are English language resources available to teaching staff whose native language is not English. The brochure also describes other general teaching consultation resources available to individual faculty as well as groups of instructing staff.
For example, the TRN is available to sponsor and lead "microteaching" sessions, said Peggy Enders, associate dean for curriculum support. In this activity, members of a teaching staff make short presentations based on class material and then receive feedback from their colleagues.
During IAP, Dr. Lori Breslow, a lecturer at the Sloan School who also serves as the classroom videotape consultant, led a microteaching workshop for many of the 18.02 recitation instructors. A more recent activity is a Faculty News Letter column, "Teach Talk," by Dr. Breslow.
The Teaching Resource Network is coordinated by Offices of Undergraduate Academic Affairs and the Dean of the Graduate School. In addition, faculty and staff from around the Institute-including a number of MacVicar Faculty Fellows-serve on an advisory group.
"We are committed to improving teaching effectiveness and to promoting department-based programs that support better teaching at MIT," the brochure emphasizes.
For more information or a copy of the brochure call x3-3561 or visit the TRN in Rm 7-133.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on April 12, 1995.
