by Colette Georgii

Created on: July 03, 2009

College and University Teachers: Strategies for teaching graduate students

The key to teaching graduate students is a learning rather than a teaching based program. Graduate students learn best through a learning based program. In other words, graduate students learn on their own with only a little guidance from their professors, much like "independent study."

Graduate students are adult students who have already received their bachelor's degrees - the basics, and are on their way to higher learning and higher achievement - master's degrees, PhDs, Juris Doctorates, and MDs.

Graduate students are more self-motivated than the average undergraduate student. They are usually adults who are in charge of their own education, whereas undergraduates are just starting out and finding out what the world is about.

Graduate students know where they are going and have decided on a specific field of study.

Graduate students have passed the test allowing them into graduate school - they have maintained at least a B average in undergraduate school in most cases.

How Graduate Students Learn

Graduate students learn in a collaborative effort with the professor and other students. The professor supplies information, but the graduate student also supplies information and often more information than the professor.

Graduate students learn by experimentation, research, and experience. They are the innovators with the professors giving them needed feedback, support, and guidance with assessments, evaluation, and mentoring.

Seminars

Graduate students like instructional seminars. Seminars are especially liked by graduate students because they can get through a lot of information quickly. Power point presentations can be given along with the seminar and are great for giving the graduate student notes.

Seminars are especially good for giving the graduate student extra information that he is not getting in his core curriculum.

North Carolina State University lists their seminars on their website. These seminars provide training for after graduation and entering the workforce and are excellent examples of the types of seminars that could be offered to the graduate student.

* Presentation Skills

* Finance Skills

* Networking

* The Tenure Process

* Managing a Lab

* Emotional Skills

* Grant Writing

* Balancing Work and Life

Workshops

The University of Pennsylvania offers its graduate students workshops such as

* Balancing Teaching and Politics

* Designing a

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