Learning how to give a good presentation or to become a more confident instructor can be difficult. It takes time and practice to know how an audience experiences a presentation and to understand how to sound and appear confident and engaging.
To help presenters see themselves more clearly, the Center for Teaching offers a service called “Micro-Teaching” for graduate students and post-docs who are new to teaching, who want to try out a new lesson or lecture, or who are on the job market and would like feedback on their “job talk.”
Micro-teaching is a low-stress, low-stakes way to try out new classroom material or to improve lecturing skills. Participants present a 10-15 minute segment of a lesson or talk and receive feedback on a variety of presentation aspects such as pace, volume, style, use of technology, audience engagement and organization.
This is also an opportunity for those who are on the job market to practice their research talks or teaching demonstrations to help them feel more confident on their interviews. Meng Li, former UI graduate student and current Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Loyola Marymount University-Los Angeles, says that “Micro-Teaching eased my nerves before [my] actual interview. It was a great help!”
Graduate students and post-docs can take advantage of this service in two ways. Individuals can record themselves teaching a lesson or giving a talk in the new One Button Studio in Hardin Library or the Main Library. Simply follow the easy instructions in the studio and save your recording on a flash drive. Then sign up for a feedback session to watch your video with Center for Teaching staff and receive detailed feedback about presentation style, organization, audience engagement, and more.
We also offer small-group sessions for departments or student groups in which individuals will teach a 10-15 minute segment and get immediate oral and written feedback from the other participants and Center for Teaching staff. We can tape these sessions so presenters can see themselves on video and receive additional feedback.
These events can be scheduled at any time during the year. To schedule a small-group event, email teaching@uiowa.edu .
“Micro-teaching eased my nerves before [my] actual interview. It was a great help!”