First introduced at Stanford University in 1963 as a teaching development technique, microteaching sessions are designed to provide participants with opportunities to practice their teaching skills in small groups of peers. They provide participants the opportunity to practice different teaching methods and receive constructive feedback in a supportive, low-risk environment.
How it works
At the Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE), each microteaching session has four participants, one facilitator, and is approximately 2.5 hours in length. Participants take turns teaching 15-minute interactive lessons. The mini-lesson is followed by a short (1 minute) reflection by the mini-lesson instructor on how the lesson went and 15 minutes of verbal feedback from peers and the facilitator.
Here's a quick breakdown of a CTE microteaching session:
| Mini-Lesson (15 mins) Participant teaches interactive lesson |
Oral Self-Assessment (1 min) Participant reflects on how the lesson went |
Oral Peer Feedback (15 mins) Participant receives oral feedback from peers and CTE facilitator |
Written Feedback from CTE Facilitator |
Before signing up for a microteaching session, carefully read the requirements below.
Requirements
- In order to register for a microteaching session, participants must first attend Effective Lesson Plans (CTE202).
- After participants attend Effective Lesson Plans (CTE202), they will be added to the Fundamentals LEARN site which houses resources on planning and preparing for microteaching sessions, including information about preparing and submitting lesson plans.
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The week prior to a miroteaching session, participants submit a lesson plan to the facilitator via the LEARN site. The facilitator will provide feedback and suggest areas for improvement within 2 business days.
Please keep in mind that to obtain credit toward the Fundamentals of University Teaching Certificate, participants must:
- participate in at least three microteaching sessions and
- have your lesson accepted by the facilitator. Without acceptance from the facilitator, the participant will be asked to repeat the session.
Registration
Participants can register for microteaching sessions by visiting the Microteaching Events page.
Please note that:
- Sessions are opened for registration mid-month for the following month. Multiple sessions are offered each month, with the exception of April, August, and December.
- Participants can only register in one microteaching session at a time. This allows participants to incorporate feedback from their previous session into future sessions.
- If you register for a session that is full, you can choose to be placed on a wait-list for that session. If you have been added to a wait-list, please email cte-mts@uwaterloo.ca so that we can contact you should a last-minute cancellation occur. Participants on the wait-list are encouraged to have their lesson plan completed in advance to ensure they are prepared if a last-minute spot becomes available.
