95 PhD Candidates to Learn How to Design a Lecture
A PhD program is primarily meant to create researchers, but PhD candidates at Bocconi, as in other major international universities, are considered «junior faculty», says Pierpaolo Battigalli, Dean of Bocconi PhD School. «During their studies, they get teaching assistance jobs and start lecturing students. If they pursue a career in a university, as is the case for most of them, teaching will be part of their duties». The Bocconi PhD School has, thus, launched the PhD BEAT program with the aim to develop their teaching abilities.
A three-module blended program stretching from September to November, the PhD BEAT alternates online material and face-to-face lectures, building on the experience of the Bocconi Excellence in Advanced Teaching program, reserved for all the new faculty, with differences due to the different audiences. «While the focus of the traditional BEAT is designing a course, PhD BEAT's is the single lecture», states Leonardo Caporarello, Director of the Bocconi University Innovations in Learning and Teaching (BUILT), that developed the program. «Furthermore, this is a shorter program».
«The first module is about designing a lecture, the second about managing classroom interactions, the third about highlighting one's teaching skills in a job market interview», says Margherita Cordioli, project manager for the program at BUILT. For the latter part, an actor with a Bocconi degree and a Civica Scuola di Teatro Paolo Grassi diploma will help the candidates act as perfect job interviewees.
Participation is required to PhD candidates who will teach in academic year 2019-2020, but many candidates in their last year of PhD have also registered in order to be ready for their job market interviews. The first edition, kicking off today, will be attended by 95 people. «PhD candidates won't be the only beneficiaries of the program», concludes Prof. Battigalli. «If junior faculty are better prepared to teach, Bocconi students will also benefit from it».