Akil Narayan

Online Teaching Portfolio

I have striven to better my teaching practices by professional interaction with others and the study of pedagogy. Throughout my academic career I have sought professional development in the teaching arts. My experiences and certifications below are testament to this.

• Teaching Consultant: (Fall 2006 - present) the Sheridan Center chooses individuals from among gradaute students and faculty at Brown University to help facilitate its programs and sessions across campus. As a teaching consultant, my duties involve
  
  
  • Consultant for Individual Teaching Consultations (ITC): An ITC facilitates peer review for teaching practices by instructors for instructors. As a consultant, I observe instructors who are genuinely interested in an analysis of their pedagogical styles and I provide feedback. Being a teaching consultant has allowed me to observe first-hand some very unique and effective learning methods, and incorporate some of these methods into my own practices.
  • Consultant for Presentation Consultations (PC): A PC is like an ITC in terms of logistics, but the goals are very different: those requesting PCs are undergraduate or graduate students, or faculty members preparing for a public presentation of academic and/or professional material. The PC is focused more on content- and discipline-specific techniques for professional development.
  • Facilitator for departmental Micro-Teaching Sessions: Micro-teaching sessions are unique opportunities for graduate students to obtain discipline-specific pedagogical feedback from peers in the same department. My role as facilitator has been to guide the discussion and feedback towards pedagogical concerns.
  • Discussion Leader for the Sheridan Teaching Seminar Series Workshops: The workshops are follow-up sessions to the lectures in the seminar series, and they are designed to hammer out techniques for implementation and examples of the topics covered in the lecture. As discussion leader it is my responsibility to guide the discussion toward the salient points of the lecture.
• Teaching Certificates from Brown University's Sheridan Center:
  
  
  • The Sheridan Teaching Seminar Series: Analysis and discussion of fundamental teaching practices -- reflective teaching, diverse teaching styles, soliciting feedback and assessment, and effective communication.
  • The Classroom Tools Seminar Series: Methods of presentation and teaching -- interactive learning, discussions, feedback, assignments, instruction modalities (visual, aural, kinesthetic, etc.), multimedia presentations, and online digital media.
  • The Professional Development Seminar Series: Methods of presentation and teaching -- interactive learning, discussions, feedback, assignments, instruction modalities (visual, aural, kinesthetic, etc.), multimedia presentations, and online digital media.