UCLA’s approximately 1,000 postdoctoral scholars are critical in advancing the university’s research mission as well as its instructional excellence. In recognition of UCLA’s Postdoctober Fest, the Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) is spotlighting the important work postdocs contribute to teaching and learning. With its partners at the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL), the TLC will be hosting From Postdoc to Professor on October 24, a multi-session program that supports postdoctoral scholars preparing for teaching-focused academic careers.
To better understand the important connections between research and teaching, we sat down with Valeria Dominguez, Postdoctoral Researcher for the TLC’s Holistic Evaluation of Teaching (HET) Initiative. She shared her perspective on the value of educational innovation across research and instruction, as well as teaching advice for fellow postdocs.
Tell us about your research.
My research background is in organizational change and teaching evaluation. Right now, my research aims to help the Teaching and Learning Center better understand how we can improve teaching evaluation practices across UCLA and make them more meaningful. I am particularly focused on our growing Holistic Evaluation of Teaching (HET) Initiative and its effectiveness in transforming teaching evaluations into more evidence-based, reflective, and holistic assessments.
What do you enjoy most about teaching?
I think the most meaningful part of teaching is watching students have what I like to call “aha moments” — when they make connections between the course content and their own processing. You can almost see it in the students’ faces as they make those pieces fit together, and they gain newfound confidence in themselves and their skill sets. Every student has this ability. I think, as instructors, it’s our job to facilitate those connections and reach students so they can feel really confident in their ability to learn.
My background is in education, and I once taught a class on curriculum design and the importance of inclusive curricula that feature diverse perspectives and backgrounds. In this class, the students designed a course and presented different representational examples in every aspect — these were future K-12 instructors, so some were going to teach math, some language arts, and some languages. The class demystified what we call a “traditional” curriculum and really helped students understand how their lived experiences and prior knowledge fit into the course design. Having them piece together examples that used different identities, seeing a newfound representation in the curriculum, and really upholding the strength of diversity made that a really, really meaningful class.
How does your research inform your approach to instruction?
As researchers, we’re trained to follow these steps, which we call our methodology, to support our conclusions. We either test a hypothesis or we observe different data points, and then we use our training to come up with a “finding.” That said, whenever I think about teaching, I engage in a very similar process through reflective practice. I gather information – whether that’s through classroom observation, student input, or non-evaluative assessments – to really understand whether I am effectively implementing interventions that support the course learning outcomes and, most importantly, student learning. People often think that teaching and research are two different things, but in reality, they’re closely interconnected. It’s a scholarly process. We have to be really reflective of our practices and think about our teaching as often as we do our research. That also means learning as much as we can about new approaches and not being afraid to “test” what we learn in the classroom.
Existing research helps us identify effective practices that positively impact student learning. I work with faculty to help them articulate how they implement these practices in their teaching and to better document their efforts to improve their teaching through self-reflection. We also know that one effective practice does not fit all: not only do students have different learning needs, but a large lecture will require a very different engagement strategy than a small seminar. We work with faculty to design evaluation tools that account for differences in instructional approaches. Through the HET rubrics, we aim to help faculty showcase a breadth of skills they want to highlight or reflect on, that may not otherwise be captured in a singular classroom observation or through Students Evaluations of Teaching (SETs).
What do you see as the value of teaching excellence for postdoctoral scholars?
I think learning about teaching excellence at the postdoc level really helps us prepare the next generation of educators. I personally wish we had more time to learn more about teaching excellence earlier in our doctoral careers, because that’s when we begin working with students–as teaching assistants–and can have a huge impact on students at that stage of our career. I think by the time we reach our postdoc years, many of us don’t get the chance to teach, and that’s because we’re often focused on our research. But that doesn’t mean that we cannot, and should not, continue to learn about teaching excellence and its value.
Teaching can continually be modified, especially in the fast-paced educational environment we’re seeing today. By the time a postdoc returns to the classroom as an instructor after years of postdoc training, they may be working with a completely different generation of learners. I think it’s critical that we keep up with and stay connected to changes in student learning.
How would you define “educational innovation”?
I mentioned earlier this idea of instructors being responsible for making those “aha moment” connections. I think education innovation happens when instructors continuously find new ways to make those connections for students and foster their confidence as learners. It’s instructors who take time to reflect on their teaching, who are not afraid to try new strategies and interventions in the classroom, and who are also willing to work through potential mistakes or lessons that go wrong. Sometimes we think we have this really brilliant idea for how to convey a complex topic, and we get in front of students and just receive blank stares — and that’s okay. Innovation in that moment is receiving that signal, being able to pivot and connect through a different approach, and really adapting to meet the situation. I think being innovative means having this diverse toolkit of teaching strategies that you can open at any time, draw from, and use to support student learning in the classroom and beyond.
What teaching advice have you gained that you hope to share with other Postdocs?
Learning to master the craft of teaching takes years, and even the most experienced and excellent teachers look for ways to tweak and improve. Our students are constantly changing, and the best instructors recognize that they must adapt to meet their needs. I think that at any stage of your career as an instructor, asking a colleague or another teaching expert for advice or feedback is a sign of strength — it’s not a weakness–and that’s because teaching is a scholarly and always-improving practice.