After accumulating 18 graduate credit hours, graduate students with assistantships usually teach one undergraduate course, such as pre-calculus, per semester. In order to enhance their teaching experience, graduate students who teach attend departmental or Graduate School teaching seminars each semester. In addition, faculty teaching mentors are utilized to help develop effective teaching pedagogy.

Ph.D. CANDIDATE COMMENTS

Graduate students have the opportunity to teach in a classroom setting and are the "teacher on record" for the class that they teach. They get a stipend and valuable teaching experience at a nationally recognized university. This experience is particularly useful for Ph.D. candidates with little teaching experience and who want to teach in an academic environment.

Dywayne Nicely has had this experience and became an instructor of record. "You get valuable teaching experience here," Dywayne says. "I can be confident as I'm interviewing for assistant professorships right now."