Peer teaching for math tutors
Undergraduate course
- ECTS credits
- 5
- Teaching semesters
- Autumn
- Course code
- MNPED102
- Number of semesters
- 1
- Teaching language
- English
- Resources
- Schedule
Course description
Objectives and Content
This course is intended for students teaching or mentoring other students (peer teaching), specifically math tutors in the faculty of mathematics and natural sciences. We welcome advanced bachelor-level students and master-level students. Emphasis will be placed on preparing students to teach using student-active, evidence-based instructional strategies.
The course will involve students in two, four-hour classes before the semester starts. Additional requirements include 50 hours of praxis (5 hours per week) and a praxis-associated research project, divided into three assignments throughout the semester. Note that the praxis can not overlap with paid teaching assignments (employment as a teaching assistant).
Course goals:
- Provide peer teachers in The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences with a unified training experience
- Clarify roles, responsibilities and expectations associated with peer teaching in the faculty
- Give peer teachers a toolkit of resources for facilitating inquiry, addressing common challenges, soliciting and responding to feedback, grading assignments, and fostering a sense of belonging in their teaching roles
- Gain experience as a peer instructor by tutoring introductory-level students in one the faculty¿s math-tutoring spaces
Learning Outcomes
At the conclusion of the course, the student will be able to:
- Articulate their own priorities for teaching
- Explain the expectations for their specific teaching roles
- Use student active teaching methods instead of traditional, lecture-based teaching methods
- Describe how to handle common challenges that arise in teaching
- Develop and implement strategies for inclusive teaching
- Solicit and respond to student feedback in a constructive manner
- Construct a plan for future teaching that builds on past experience
- Tutor students struggling with common challenges in introductory-level math courses
- Design, implement, and report on an education-research project involving introductory mathematics challenges
ECTS Credits
Level of Study
Semester of Instruction
Required Previous Knowledge
Access to the Course
Access to the course requires admission to a programme of study at The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.
MNPED102 is open to students planning to serve as tutors in the math-tutoring spaces at the faculty. To join this course, you will need instructor approval, contingent on an interest in math tutoring and minimum B grade in one or more introductory-level math courses.
Teaching and learning methods
The course will involve students in two, four-hour classes before the semester starts. These will be facilitated using evidence-based teaching methods designed to involve all students (e.g., group discussion, formative assessment, in-class presentations, and in-class assessment for learning).
1. Pre-class preparation: 2 hours
2. Class time: 8 hours
3. Praxis: 50 hours (5 hours per week in the tutoring spaces)
4. Individual work on three assignments: 60 hours
Assignments will be handed in via the course mittUiB page, and graded in a timely manner via rubrics, which will be shared with the students prior to the assignment deadlines. These assignments will center on a small research project that will relate to teaching and learning in the math-tutoring spaces.
Compulsory Assignments and Attendance
Two 4-hours classes and three assignments.
5 hours praxis as math tutor per week assisting their peers with math (50 h total).
Forms of Assessment
Portfolio based on three assignments.