Introduction

Georgetown is a vibrant academic community of teachers, learners and researchers from around the world. Members of this community span the range from faculty who are recognized experts in their field, to first-year undergraduates new to academia. At some point in your career as a graduate student, you are likely to work with undergraduate students as a teacher. Whether you lead weekly discussion sections for an upper-level English seminar, grade papers for a large, introductory lecture in government, run laboratories for a biochemistry course, or mentor undergraduates as part of your own research, you face the dual challenge of teaching while learning how to teach. While nobody is born knowing how to teach, teaching is a learnable skill. This guide is offered as a starting point for you to think about your goals as a teacher and to develop strategies that will allow you to continually improve your teaching, even after you leave Georgetown to pursue your own career.