Apprenticeship in College Teaching
The Apprenticeship in College Teaching Program is a free, non-credit-bearing program that prepares graduate students and postdoctoral fellows for teaching careers in higher education.
ACT seminars bring participants together across disciplines to engage important pedagogical questions. Classroom observations allow for discipline-specific discussion with faculty mentors in participants' departments. And the final Teaching Portfolio and reflective essay encourage participants to synthesize what they’re learning.
The program can be completed at the participant’s own pace, and successful completion of the program results in a robust teaching portfolio and certificate issued by the Office of the Provost.
In Fall 2025, the ACT Program will transition to two tiers: the Foundations of Teaching Program and the Certificate in College Teaching Program. This will allow participants to choose the level of participation that best aligns with their goals. In brief, current ACT Program components will be transferable to future program requirements. We encourage you to continue attending programming at your own pace, whether you end up finishing before the redesigned program launches or transferring your work into the new program.
You can read over some basics in the FAQ document, and this text and the FAQ will be revised as more information about the new programs is finalized. If after reading the FAQs you have any questions, please reach out to cte-gradprograms@bc.edu.
Please note: to accommodate the ACT Program redesign (described at the top of the page), no workshops will be offered in Summer 2025. Workshops will resume in Fall 2025.
Assignment Design (Required)
Tuesday, January 21, 2025 12:00 - 1:00 PM, In Person (O'Neill 250)
Francesca Minonne, Assistant Director for Graduate Student Programs
Working from a very broad definition of “assignment,” this interactive session invites participants to think through the qualities of an effective assignment as well as strategies for structuring assignments that are meaningful and motivating to students. We’ll also consider how learning science research can inform our thinking about assignment design. Enrollment is limited; please register as soon as possible, but no later than January 14th.
Course Design (Required)
Monday, January 27 2025, 12:00 - 1:00 PM, In Person (O'Neill 250)
Stacy Grooters, Executive Director
At the heart of every successful classroom is a well-designed course. In this interactive session, we will consider the basics of a “backwards design” approach to course development that seeks to align course goals, assessments, and instruction. We’ll also talk about how course structure can impact student learning and classroom climate. Stacy Grooters will facilitate this session. Enrollment is limited; please register as soon as possible, but no later than January 20th.
Creating Effective Learning Environments (Required)
Wednesday, February 5 2025, 12:00 - 1:00 PM, In Person (O'Neill 250)
Kim Humphrey, Assistant Director for Equitable Teaching and Learning
This interactive session provides a practical discussion of how to foster a positive classroom climate that promotes student learning. Participants will discuss strategies for facilitating classroom environments that foster belonging, agency, and transparency through course policies, norms, and habits. Enrollment is limited; please register as soon as possible, but no later than January 29th.
Active Learning (Required)
Thursday, February 20 2025, 12:00 - 1:00 PM, In Person (O'Neill 250)
Sarah Castricum, Assistant Director for Faculty Programs
Hands-on activities such as problem solving and teamwork hold a lot of promise to transform learning, but they can also seem challenging to develop and evaluate. This interactive session will explore ways to structure activities that will meet your learning goals for your students and offer them the support they need to succeed. We will consider how to use active learning in any discipline, class setting and time frame. Enrollment is limited; please register as soon as possible, but no later than Feburary 13th.
Grading for Learning (Required)
Wednesday, February 26 2025, 12:00 - 1:00 PM, In Person (O'Neill 250)
Francesca Minonne, Assistant Director for Graduate Student Programs
Grades can be a significant source of feedback, both evaluating performance and guiding future learning. They can also be a source of doubt and anxiety -- for both students and instructors. In this interactive session, we will consider how learning science and psychology encourage us to think differently about how we approach grading. And we’ll talk about practical strategies -- including the use of rubrics -- for grading more consistently, effectively, and efficiently. Enrollment is limited; please register as soon as possible, but no later than February 19th.
Teaching in the US Classroom (Elective)
Tuesday, March 11 2025, 12:00 - 1:00 PM, In Person (O'Neill 250)
Francesca Minonne, Assistant Director for Graduate Student Programs
International instructors bring valuable knowledge and experience with them to classrooms in the U.S., but they can also face unique challenges. In this interactive session, we will aim to tackle some of these together and foster community growth. Broad goals are to:
- discuss potential issues that one might face,
- identify the kinds of resources that often support international faculty who are teaching in the U.S., and
- specifically highlight Boston College resources for international graduate student instructors.
Enrollment is limited; please register as soon as possible, but no later than March 4th.
Facilitating Critical Conversations (Elective)
Monday, March 17 2025, 12:00 - 1:00 PM, In Person (O'Neill 250)
Kim Humphrey, Assistant Director for Equitable Teaching and Learning
Critical conversations are charged moments in the classroom that can present in a variety of different ways, though they're often focused on questions that bring together topics of difference, power, and justice. Whether a critical conversation predictably breaks out in a discussion of a provocative text or unexpectedly erupts in response to a student comment, they are an opportunity for learning. But these heated moments can also leave instructors scrambling to regain control of the discussion. In this interactive workshop, participants will discuss the factors that can lead to critical conversations and learn strategies to prepare for and facilitate them. Enrollment is limited; please register as soon as possible, but no later than March 10th.
Teaching Students with Disabilities (Elective)
Monday, March 31 2025, 12:00 - 1:00 PM, In Person (O'Neill 250)
Kim Humphrey, Assistant Director for Equitable Teaching and Learning
Recent decades have seen a significant increase in the number of students with disabilities who are pursuing higher education. As a result, faculty find themselves needing to teach to an increasingly diverse range of learners. In this seminar, we’ll explore Universal Design for Learning as a framework for thinking about changes faculty can implement in order to make their courses more accessible to students with disabilities -- and potentially improve the learning environment for all their students. Enrollment is limited; please register as soon as possible, but no later than March 24th.
Encouraging and Evaluating Participation (Elective)
Thursday, April 3, 2025 12:00 - 1:00 PM, In Person (O'Neill 250)
Laura Seaberg, Graduate Programs Coordinator
The vast majority of US college courses count participation towards a portion of the final grade. Even so, instructor expectations of what constitutes participation vary wildly and may not be transparent to students. This interactive session will articulate the benefits of classroom participation and explore different activities that instructors might count as participation. We will also have the opportunity to consider some strategies for grading participation that encourage learning in different disciplinary contexts. Enrollment is limited; please register as soon as possible, but no later than March 27th.
The Apprenticeship in College Teaching Program combines opportunities for group inquiry into important pedagogical questions with individual reflection on teaching practices. Successful completion of the program involves attending at least seven ACT workshops, participating in two
classroom observations, and compiling a teaching portfolio and reflective essay. Although it is possible to fulfill all ACT requirements in a single year, participants can take as long as they need, while they are students at Boston College, to complete the program. While we prefer for participants to complete the program by the time they graduate, we are willing to extend this deadline to two months past their graduation date. Please note that full program requirements are below and participants may enroll at any time.
Program Registration
Registration for the ACT Program is open to all Boston College graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, whether or not they will have any classroom responsibilities while at BC. Registration is on a rolling basis, so
participants can sign up at any time:
- Submit the online ACT registration form by clicking on the “Register” tab above.
- Attend a required brief orientation with the Graduate Programs Coordinator to discuss their goals for the ACT program and to answer any questions.
ACT Program Requirements
Successful completion of the program involves:
- attending seven ACT workshops (five required seminars and two electives);
- participating in two classroom observations (as observer and observed);
- compiling a teaching portfolio that includes a teaching philosophy, sample syllabus, and other relevant teaching materials; and
- submitting a short essay that critically reflects on what you’ve learned in the program.
More information about each of these requirements is available below.
ACT Workshops are meant to introduce participants to key pedagogical questions to guide their practice as well as to concrete suggestions that they can take into the classroom. Participants are required to attend seven workshops (five required and two elective) and may take them in any order.
- Required workshops: Course Design, Assignment Design, Active Learning, Creating Effective Learning Environments, and Grading for Learning
- Elective workshops focus on topics such as Strategies for Effective Lecturing, Teaching Students with Disabilities, and Responding to Student Writing.
Each of the required workshops are offered at least once per semester in the fall, spring, and summer. Elective workshops are each offered approximately once a year. Some of the ACT workshops will be 'flipped', with a limited amount of preparation asked of participants prior to the session. You can track your completion of ACT workshops on the ACT Canvas site. Any suggestions for elective seminar topics can be shared with us at cte-gradprograms@bc.edu.
Please note: due to the limited amount of time we have to conduct each ACT workshop, we ask that attendees plan to arrive early in order to ensure a prompt workshop start-time. We will not award ACT credit to attendees who miss more than ten minutes of a seminar.
Seminar Requirement Exceptions
Participants who can show that they have completed an equivalent to one of the required workshops during their time at BC may request to substitute an additional elective in place of that required seminar. For example, a participant who has attended an Assignment Design workshop in their department may request to take a third elective seminar rather than the ACT’s Assignment Design workshop.
Participants may request no more than two such substitutions. All participants must complete a total of seven ACT workshops.
Classroom observations serve to provide participants opportunities for formative reflection on their development as instructors. Participants are expected to provide written reflections on two observations (one as observer and one as observed):
- As observer: Conduct and write a reflection about your observation of a faculty member’s class (your reflection should make connections between what you observed and your own classroom practices). This observation should take place in a class other than one in which you are currently enrolled as a student.
- As observed: Invite a faculty member to conduct and write up a brief observation of your teaching (the faculty member’s write-up does not need to be formal; it only needs to summarize the key points of your post-observation discussion).
Participants teaching in departments that already require TAs/TFs to be observed by a faculty mentor are welcome to have that faculty member submit a write-up about their observation experience. Participants who do not have classroom responsibilities are encouraged to work with mentors in their department to arrange for a suitable alternative (e.g. giving a guest lecture in a faculty member’s class). If you are having trouble arranging for someone to observe you teach, please contact the Graduate Programs Coordinator (cte-gradprograms@bc.edu) to discuss your options.
Registered ACT participants can find teaching observation resources on the "Modules" section of the ACT Canvas site. Submit your observations using the forms under the “Submissions” tab above.
The Teaching Portfolio and accompanying Reflective Essay are meant to invite participants to synthesize and critically reflect on what they’ve learned about themselves as teachers during their participation in the ACT program. The portfolio itself can also serve as a starting point for developing teaching materials for the academic job market. All participants have the option of creating an online portfolio.
Reflective Essay Requirements
The Reflective Essay serves as a critical bridge between your work in the ACT and the materials you develop for your portfolio. The essay can be brief (between 750 - 1500 words) and informal in tone. We are looking for the essay to do two things:
- highlight two or three key ideas about teaching and learning that you are taking away from the ACT Program (hopefully informed both by the ACT Seminars and your classroom observations), and
- describe how those key ideas informed the choices you made in writing your Teaching Philosophy and constructing your Teaching Portfolio.
The Reflective Essay should be submitted as a separate attachment using the same form for submitting the Teaching Portfolio.
Teaching Portfolio Requirements
See the ACT Teaching Portfolio rubric for detailed information about how portfolios will be evaluated. In general, portfolios should include:
- Table of contents
- Summary of teaching experience
- Statement of teaching philosophy (see the ACT Teaching Philosophy rubric for detailed information about how the philosophy will be evaluated)
- Sample materials to illustrate your teaching philosophy (must include at least one complete syllabus of your own design in addition to other representative teaching materials)
- Evidence of teaching effectiveness
- Summary of professional development activities
Registered ACT participants can find teaching philosophy and teaching portfolio resources on the "Modules" section of the ACT Canvas site. Submit your Teaching Portfolio and Reflective Essay using the form under the “Submissions” tab above. You can expect to hear from the Assistant Director of Graduate Student Programs (francesca.minonne@bc.edu) within two weeks of submitting your portfolio with any requests for revision.
Program Completion
Once you have completed all requirements of the program (including the submission of a portfolio that meets program expectations), the Assistant Director for Graduate Student Programs (francesca.minonne@bc.edu) will contact you about scheduling an Exit Interview to conclude your participation in the program.
All recent ACT graduates are also invited to participate in the annual Graduate Student Teaching Recognition Ceremony, where we award that year’s ACT Certificates. Students who wish to receive their certificate at the end of this academic year should plan to complete program requirements and submit their materials by Friday, February 28, 2025.
Observation And Portfolio Forms
ACT participants are expected to provide written reflections on two observations:
ACT participants are also expected to provide a completed Teaching Portfolio and Reflective Essay:
If you have questions regarding any of these forms, please contact centerforteaching@bc.edu.