Doctoral students at CEU have the opportunity to develop their knowledge and practice of teaching in higher education through courses (taken individually or as part of the Certificate of Teaching in Higher Education), hands-on experience (e.g., the mandatory Teaching Practicum or paid TA-ships), as well as thematic events, workshops, one-to-one consultations, and more.
Discover more about the Certificate of Teaching in Higher Education and teaching-related courses below.
How do I find courses and register for them?
Please find here a complete list of courses and times for the academic year.
Students should generally register for courses through the normal SITS registration process. Most Elkana Center courses can be found in the SITS menu under Extracurricular Courses (YELC - Yehuda Elkana Center for Teaching, Learning, and Higher Education). For some doctoral programs, one or more courses count towards the degree program, and can be found alongside other courses. Please consult your departmental coordinator in programs where Elkana Center courses count as mandatory courses or as electives.
Course registration is open during the normal registration periods, and students who have general restrictions on their general registration in SITS will need to resolve these to register.
What is the Teaching Certificate?
The Certificate of Teaching in Higher Education is a comprehensive and practical set of courses, comprising 7 US credits (14 ECTS). The knowledge and materials students you create in it (e.g., syllabus, teaching portfolio, sample lessons and assignments) are designed to help you in your teaching experiences at CEU, prepare you for academic jobs, and document your credentials.
What do I need to do to complete the Certificate?
Beginning in academic year 2024-25, the Certificate consists of 4-5 courses (7 US credits) and the submission of a portfolio, as follows:
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YELC 6001 - Getting Started as a TA or Teaching at CEU (a 1-credit, practical introduction to classroom management, teaching with technology, grading, accessibility, and more). N.B. If you previously took Foundations 6101/6103 for three credits instead of two, this requirement is waived.
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YELC 6101 – Foundations of Teaching in Higher Education (a 2-credit introduction o teaching, structured around designing and teaching a lesson or session, including elaborating one’s teaching philosophy, setting goals and learning outcomes, planning and creating materials, and observing and reflecting on the experience)
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YELC 6105 – Learning by Design (a 1-credit, intermediate guide to course design and assessment, centered around student learning). Foundations (YELC 6101) is a prerequisite.
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Electives - 2 credits worth of intermediate-level courses on specialized topics, each 1 or 2 credits
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Submission of a teaching portfolio, revising the materials you created in the previous courses.
What is new in 2024/25?
We have reduced the number of credits necessary to complete the certificate and generally simplified the requirements. Beginning in fall 2024, the following changes are in effect:
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Foundations of Teaching in Higher Education (YELC 6101) has become a 2 credit seminar instead of 3 credits (previously, a 2-credit seminar and 1-credit practicum). This change makes scheduling simpler.
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Getting Started as a TA or Teaching at CEU (YELC 6001), a 1-credit course, has become an integral part of the Certificate to better support students in their TA-ships, teaching practica, and other hands-on experiences. (In many ways, this replaces the extra credit of the Foundations course. Both 6001 and 6101, together, serve as the introduction to teaching and to the Certificate, but they can be taken indepedently of each other.)
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The number of required credits of electives remain unchanged. The actual courses offered each year differs, based on interest and availability.
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The portfolio course (YELC 6107) has been partially eliminated. Over the past few years, most requirements of the porftolio (e.g., the teaching philosophy statement or course syllabus) have been incorporated into other courses. We believe that the portfolio remains valuable for job applications (and is the standard form of evaluating teaching qualifications), but that this can be accomplished without additional coursework. Therefore, students who have completed Learning by Design or are taking it will be given access to a Moodle site where they can learn more about the Portfolio components, receive support, and upload it when complete.
What if I started courses in previous years?
Two general principles apply when changes occur:
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Students receive credit for teaching development courses they previously took at the Yehuda Elkana Center or the Center for Teaching and Learning towards the current form of the Certificate and
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Students are not unnecessarily disadvantaged by changes in the Certificate structure.
Further details and examples follow:
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CEU doctoral students who successfully completed CTAL6007 (Foundations of Teaching in Higher Education) prior to July 2022 may elect to follow the previous certificate program structure, in which, after Foundations, they need to complete two credits of electives (or Learning by Design) and submit a teaching portfolio.
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Students who completed other CTAL-prefix courses, such as electives, but not CTAL6007 (Foundations), must follow the new program structure.
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Students who completed YELC 6003 prior to summer 2024 (when Foundations consisted of a 2-credit seminar and 1-credit practicum) can count YELC6003 to replace YELC6001 (Getting Started) or count it as one of two electives.
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For students who took CTAL6007, they may Learning by
Which course should I take first (and when)?
We highly recommend taking Getting Started as a TA (YELC 6001) in the term in which you first TA (e.g., during the mandatory teaching practicum) and ideally Foundations of Teaching in Higher Education (YELC 6101) at the same time. The Getting Started course provides “survival skills” for the TA-ship, while Foundations provides a step-by-step approach to designing and teaching your own session (and to teaching, more generally). That said, they can be taken in toher terms and the two courses can be taken independent of each other.
What is the Teaching Practicum and do TA-ships count towards the Certificate?
All doctoral students at CEU are required to complete a Teaching Practicum. The Teaching Practicum is similar to a teaching assistantship, but with an emphasis on developing teaching skills in partnership with a faculty member in the classroom. It is organized by doctoral programs, and participants receive two or more credits. Paid teaching assistantships are available on a competitive basis after completion of the Teaching Practicum, with preference given to those who have completed Foundations of Teaching in Higher Education (YELC 6101) and especially, the whole Certificate of Teaching in Higher Education. The practicum and other teaching experiences do not replace courses, and therefore do not count towards the course credits in the Certificate, but we highly recommend all students obtain both course knwoledge and practical experience.
Please consult the Sharepoint site for further information about the teaching practicum and the student employment webpage for current paid opportunities.
Why do I need to take Foundations before Learning by Design?
The principles in Learning by Design build on some of the key concepts in Foundations. While Foundations focuses on designing and teaching individual class sessions, LbD focuses on the course as a whole, including creating a syllabus and designing assessments. LbD is the only course with a preqrequisite.
How do I complete the portfolio part of the teaching certificate?
Students who have completed all their coursework will be given access to a Moodle site where they can learn more about the Portfolio components, receive support, and upload it. It does not have to be done during any particular term, but it must be completed while still an active student at CEU. That said, there is a submission deadline each term (generally, the 5th Friday of terms). Portfolios submitted by that date will be assessed on a pass/fail basis, with the possibility of revisions for those who have not fully passed. After the portfolio has been accepted as a pass, you will receive your Certificate at the end of that term.
Generally speaking, creating the portfolio consists of revising and complementing materials completed during the previous courses.
Why has Creating a Teaching Portfolio course (YELC 6107) been eliminated as a course and replaced by a self-paced module?
Over the past few years, most requirements of the portfolio (e.g., the teaching philosophy statement or course syllabus) have been incorporated into other courses. This makes many weeks of the former course redundant. We believe that creating a teaching portfolio remains valuable for job applications (and is the standard form of evaluating teaching qualifications) but that this can be accomplished without additional coursework.
Where can I find the program handbook with further details?
The handbook of the Certificate of Teaching in Higher Education is currently being revised. A new edition will be released for the fall 2024 term.
Whom can I contact if I have additional questions?
If you don’t see your questions answered above, please feel free to contact the Elkana Center at elkanacenter@ceu.edu