TΦ101 is intended for anyone who is teaching introductory courses in philosophy, but also has useful material for any college teacher.  We recommend different paths through the site for  graduate assistants teaching discussion sections, new faculty and graduate assistants who are responsible for their own course, teacher training programs and, yes, even for veteran teachers.

Graduate assistants who teach discussion sections rather than a full course

These sections of the website will be most helpful to you:

• Start with Obstacles and Challenges, especially the section written specifically for graduate students.
• Lectures and Discussions provides a lot of useful techniques for discussion leaders. 
• There is some useful material on assigning and grading papers.
• Depending on how much automony you have, you will want to browse around in the sections on change-of-pace exercises and non-traditional materials.

New faculty members and graduate assistants teaching their own course

This site was designed with you in mind.  Start with the Obstacles and Challenges tab and just work your way across the tabs through Planning Your Course, Lectures and Discussions, and Tests, Papers and Assessments.   Then browse around in the other two tabs.

Teacher training programs

This site provides materials for a four-session training program for graduate assistants:

• Session One: Obstacles and Challenges.
• Session Two:  Planning your Course (not necessary for those who are only leading discussion sections)
• Session Three: Lectures and Discussions, which covers discussion, in-class group work, and lectures.
• Session Four:  Test, Papers, Assessments (most helpful for people who will be designing and grading tests and papers).

Veteran faculty members

As you will see, Obstacles and Challenges and Planning Your Course both give a lot of background information, some of which may be new and useful to you. The main pages in Lectures and Discussions, and Tests, Papers, Assessments, give general recommendations and, again, they may be of great interest.  But you might want to start the other way and begin with some of the concrete examples and then work backwards to the more general observations. Check some of these sites: 

• Examples of group work.
• Examples of tests.
• Change of pace exercises.
• Non-traditional resources

Author: John Immerwahr
Update: June 1, 2012