UCLA offers many opportunities across campus for graduate students and post-doctoral scholars to further their teaching and learning scholarship. The following centers and programs offer workshops, certifications, courses, as well as opportunities for graduate students to develop and teach their own course. Please see below for additional details about the variety of opportunities available to you as a UCLA graduate student. Contact information for each program can be found at the bottom of the page.
Past Events
This recognition ceremony on Thursday, June 8 honored graduate students who have completed teaching and learning professional development programs and/or certificates (including the CUTF, TAC, Clusters, Graduate Certificate in Writing Pedagogy, ASPIRE, CIRTL, and EPIC STE programs) A happy hour followed to celebrate the teaching and learning accomplishments of our graduate student community!
Workshops and Courses
Featured Opportunities for Fall 2023
Graduate Student Professional Development 496A: Introduction to Evidence-Based Undergraduate Teaching
Tuesdays 12-1:50pm PT
Grad PD 496A is a learning community focused on Evidence-Based Teaching. This year Grad PD 496A is being offered remotely, but we plan to have some in-person events to help build community and connection. This course is open to graduate students and post docs from ALL disciplines who are committed to teaching inclusively. This course satisfies some requirements for the CIRTL@UCLA Associate level certification pathway. Graduate students should also officially register on my.ucla.edu.
The Graduate Certificate in Writing Programs is offering a wide range of GCWP-eligible courses this fall. You can find the full fall schedule (including course descriptions). Many courses require enrollment by PTE, please get in touch with the instructor, or follow the additional guidelines listed in the course description.
TA Training Foundations Series
CAT’s TA Training Program provides teaching support to graduate students and post-docs through a variety of workshop opportunities throughout the year. All of our workshops are held in small-group settings, with hands-on activities and time for questions and discussion. The Foundation Series is a series of 5 workshops that aim to support new TAs in developing their teaching toolkit and are offered at least once per quarter. Please see here for our upcoming workshop offerings: https://teaching.ucla.edu/gradstudent-programs/ta-workshops/
TA Training Inclusive Teaching Series
The TA Training Program’s Inclusive Teaching Series is a 3-part series on inclusive and equitable teaching in the classroom. Participants will walk away with concrete strategies they can use to actively create classroom spaces where all students have the opportunity to thrive. The workshops build on one another so we highly encourage participants to take them in order:
- Creating Inclusive Classrooms
- Interrupting Bias to Cultivate Inclusivity
- Teaching Hot Topics
Find upcoming offerings and register here: https://teaching.ucla.edu/gradstudent-programs/ta-workshops/
Annual TA Conference
Each year the Center for the Advancement of Teaching’s TA Training Program organizes our annual TA Conference, designed to provide pedagogical training and role-specific support for both new and continuing TAs. Currently in its 48th year, this event is open to all graduate students, whether or not they will be TAing during the upcoming school year. The Conference is held in September each year to help graduate students and post-docs prepare for the upcoming year.
The aims of the conference is to give you the opportunity to:
- Build a foundational pedagogical toolkit, including inclusive teaching practices, active learning strategies, and assessment best practices
- Practice pedagogical strategies for responding to challenging situations in the moment
- Prepare your section syllabus, technology, and techniques for the first day of class
- Learn best practices from experienced members of the teaching and learning community at UCLA
- Get tips for leading dynamic discussion sections remotely
- Network with graduate students and faculty across UCLA
- And more!
To learn more about the TA Conference, please see our website: https://teaching.ucla.edu/?page_id=6652#annual-ta-conference
Creating Connections Symposium
The Creating Connections symposium is an annual event each spring that brings together UCLA instructors (graduate students, faculty, and all others interested in undergraduate education) from around campus for conversation around teaching generally, and writing pedagogy specifically. Each year, the symposium is organized by students in the Graduate Certificate in Writing Pedagogy in consultation with faculty and staff in UCLA Writing Programs.
To learn more, please visit their website: https://wp.ucla.edu/graduate/wpgradcert/creating-connections-symposium/
CIRTL Workshops
The local and national Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) networks host a variety of different workshops every quarter. To stay up-to-date with the workshops they offer, please sign up for the CIRTL@UCLA newsletter. Workshops include topics such as specific topics in inclusive teaching, career exploration and preparation, community events, info sessions, and more.
Small Changes, Big Impact (EPIC)
Small Changes, Big Impact (SCBI) is a set of workshops on inclusive and equitable teaching practices for TAs and faculty in the humanities, history and musicology. Workshops are open to all upon registration. Learn more here: https://epic.ucla.edu/current-initiatives/small-changes-big-impact/
Ready, Set, Teach! (EPIC)
Ready, Set, Teach! is is one of EPIC’s signature initiatives on inclusive and equitable teaching open to TAs and faculty in the humanities, history and musicology upon registration. It is held quarterly as well as a part of the Humanities Divisions’s yearly fall kick-off, the Humanities Welcome. Learn more here: https://epic.ucla.edu/current-initiatives/ready-set-teach/
EPIC-Lang Workshops
EPIC-Lang is a set of new EPIC initiatives that expands EPIC’s language pedagogy programming to include more workshops, new grant opportunities, and access to resources on language instruction. It is open to faculty and TAs in the humanities, history, and musicology. Prior experience with language instruction is encouraged.
Certificate Programs
Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL)
The CIRTL program supports the professional and career development of graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and current faculty who are engaged in teaching.
Who is eligible to participate? Graduate students and post-docs interested in academic professional development and inclusive pedagogy.
Requirements: There are three levels: Associate, Practitioner, and Scholar. Associates requires taking an approved course on evidence-based teaching and 20-25 hours of additional professional development, which can include other UCLA programs. Practitioners and Scholars must participate in an additional 2-course series and complete a teaching as research (TAR) project.
Other information: Participants who complete the associate level are required to complete an additional 20 hours of professional development, which can include other UCLA programs.
Graduate Certificate in Writing Pedagogy
The certificate in writing pedagogy, which functions like a graduate minor, provides opportunities for UCLA graduate students to enhance their teaching abilities, theoretical knowledge of language and composition pedagogies, and their job market potential.
Who is eligible to participate? All graduate students who are interested in teaching writing and language are eligible to participate.
Program Requirements: The certificate requires 16 units of coursework and at least one quarter teaching language or writing (ESL, language, first-year composition or Writing II). The teaching requirement can be satisfied by teaching a CUTF or Clusters course.
Other Information: Admission to the program is on a rolling basis. Some coursework overlaps with the CIRTL program and can be used toward both. Consultations are available for anyone interested in learning more. Please contact wpgradcert@ucla.edu.
Course Design and Teaching Opportunities
UCLA offers several opportunities for advanced graduate students to design and teach or co-teach their own course. Please click the tabs below to learn more about these programs.
