HIGHER

EDUCATION
TEACHING
CERTIFICATE
ONLINE SHORT COURSE
Learn. Practice. Reflect.
 ABOUT 13
14
THIS COURSE
The Higher Education Teaching Certificate aims to give you 8 - 10 hours/week of self-paced

the opportunity to engage deeply with and reflect on your learning, entirely online.

teaching practices, portfolio, and teaching journey in the higher

education (HE) field. Loosely based on the in-person seminar
program currently offered by Harvard’s Derek Bok Center
for Teaching and Learning, you now have the opportunity
to explore the focus areas of pedagogy, course and
assessment design, professional communication, language
and culture of the classroom, and reflections on teaching – 8 weeks, excluding
entirely online, from anywhere in the world. 1 week orientation.

You’ll study various approaches to pedagogy, based on

the most relevant research on how students learn in the
HE context, that will broaden your range of teaching skills,
and help you to create inclusive teaching strategies for your

S
unique context. At the end of the course you’ll also produce
a written statement encapsulating your teaching philosophy
as well as a teaching portfolio which details your experience $2,400
and critical reflections on teaching and learning. Installment options available.
Tax may be charged on the course fee

WHAT YOU’LL ACCOMPLISH depending on your country of residence.

• Learn to create a positive learning environment, tailored

to your specific learning context through your ability
to execute effective rapport-building techniques
• Complete an effective lesson plan and successfully
deliver a unit of instruction in your chosen discipline
• Address identified learning objectives by selecting
comprehensive formative and summative
assessment techniques
• Design or refine a syllabus featuring assignments that
align with learning goals authentic to your chosen discipline
• Gain an in-depth understanding of your role as
a practitioner and the importance of participating
in a community of practice
• Develop and refine a teaching philosophy and teaching
portfolio which speaks to your personality, discipline,
and context
 THIS COURSE
IS FOR YOU IF:

You have little or no background You’re aiming for a promotion You want proof of your knowledge
in education and want to receive or want to progress within and abilities in the form of a premier
formalized knowledge around the ranks of academia certificate from Harvard’s Derek Bok
effective teaching practices and see this course as Center for Teaching and Learning,
in the higher education context, an opportunity to refine your in association with HarvardX.
in order to advance your career own unique teaching philosophy
in the field. and raise your institutional profile.

WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS COURSE?

This online course is relevant to existing Educators in higher education, from all disciplines, who want to expand
their teaching skills and gain recognition for their commitment to continuous development. The course is also
invaluable for aspiring Educators who are starting a new career. There are no official entrance requirements
for the course, although it’s best suited to those who have some form of post-secondary education, or a year
or more of work experience in teaching or training.
 WHAT
YOU’LL LEARN
This online short course integrates rich, interactive media such
as videos, infographics, and e-learning activities as well as “How do we create online
traditional didactic components such as written study guides learning experiences that
(course notes). There are also opportunities for collaborative
truly allow learners to achieve
learning through discussion forums. The following modules
form the holistic approach your learning path takes:
more? We are excited
to announce a new kind
ORIENTATION MODULE of development experience
WELCOME TO YOUR ONLINE CAMPUS that will lead to more impactful
One week and significant learning
You’ll be welcomed aboard with a personal call and get outcomes. This is done
introduced to your online teaching and technical support by bringing together University
network. Begin connecting with fellow students while
expertise, the best of digital
exploring the navigation and tools of your Online Campus.
Be alerted to key milestones in the learning path, and review
learning and higher-touch
how your grades will be calculated and distributed. human learning, through an
exciting collaboration with
MODULE 1
GetSmarter.”
THE CONSTRUCTION AND COMMUNICATION
PROF. ROBERT A. LUE, FACULTY DIRECTOR
OF KNOWLEDGE
OF THE DEREK BOK CENTER FOR
Identify how students across disciplines are taught in order
TEACHING AND LEARNING
to transition from novice to expert, discover how reading and
knowledge are understood, constructed, and communicated
across disciplines, and highlight the value of the scientific
method as an approach to teaching and learning.

MODULE 2
HOW LEARNING WORKS
Explore key concepts, processes, and theories around
memory, communication, comprehension, motivation,
metacognition, and attention, and recognize the effect of
the “gap between minds” phenomenon, levels of abstraction,
and fluency have on student comprehension. In doing so,
understand when, and why students learn, and how best
to facilitate this learning.
MODULE 3
CREATING AN INCLUSIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Learn how to implement rapport-building techniques
in order to create a positive, supportive, and inclusive
learning environment. Outline the role of prior knowledge,
implicit and explicit learning contracts, feedback, “You’ll walk away from
and multitasking in setting realistic student expectations.
the course at the very
Show how the universal design for learning (UDL)
least with a higher-order
framework supports the notion of inclusive teaching.
understanding of teaching
MODULE 4
practices. You will walk away
with a vocabulary around
LESSON PLANNING AND DELIVERY
Demonstrate an understanding of the principles
teaching, teaching practices,
of backward design. Explore how the backward and how to begin or continue
design framework, organizational teaching strategies, conversations around how
and storytelling can be used to promote effective to be a good teacher.”
teaching. Use non-traditional teaching strategies
(such as storytelling) as a method of teaching in order
to engage students and deliver educational ADAM BEAVER, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

content effectively. FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING

AT THE BOK CENTER

MODULE 5
ENGAGING STUDENTS
Explore the theory of active learning and the techniques
of which it’s comprised. Learn how best to engage
students by incorporating active learning methods in
lesson planning. Investigate how to incorporate active
learning activities within your disciplinary context to
address identified learning objectives.

MODULE 6
COURSE AND ASSIGNMENT DESIGN
Discover the principles and tools needed to ensure effective,
relevant, and comprehensive assignment and syllabus
design. Use identified learning goals to ensure alignment
in assignment creation and design relevant grading methods.
Design or modify a comprehensive curriculum or syllabus,
specific to your disciplinary context.
MODULE 7
USING FEEDBACK TO IMPROVE YOUR TEACHING
Demonstrate an understanding of the different types
of feedback and their associated value. Practice providing
and receiving constructive feedback appropriate to the
given context. Find out how to become a better teacher
by incorporating feedback, as well as how to become
a reflective practitioner. Reflect on your role as an
educational practitioner through the creation
of a teaching philosophy.

MODULE 8
TEACHING PORTFOLIO PREPARATION
Explore the value of, and processes involved in,
developing a teaching philosophy and creating a teaching
portfolio. Assemble a comprehensive teaching portfolio
that acts as a testament to your current experience,
goals, and skills as a teacher. Assess the strength of your
teaching portfolio as a reflection of both your discipline
and personal teaching style. Present your completed
teaching portfolio.

ONGOING PROJECT
DEVELOP A TEACHING PORTFOLIO
As an ongoing project in this course, you will create
the materials to be included in the teaching portfolio
which will be assembled in the final module (Module 8)
of the course. This teaching portfolio will be a portfolio
The education market is
of evidence which supports and acts as a testament
of your experience, skills, and teaching ability. As such,
rapidly developing in the
the portfolio will include materials such as a 300- to US due to the demand
400-word submission on teaching and learning within for e-learning and quality
your discipline, a sample assignment that effectively learning. According to the
tests identified learning goals, a syllabus that has been
research, the education
modified or designed from scratch, and a statement
market is expected to
explaining your teaching philosophy.
reach $2,040 billion
by 2026.*
*GLOBALNEWSWIRE (APR, 2018).
 WHO YOU’LL
LEARN FROM
YOUR COURSE CONVENERS
These subject-matter experts from Harvard’s Bok Center guide the course design. You’ll also learn from several
of these thought leaders through engaging video content.

ROBERT A. LUE redesign of the introductory curriculum that created

Professor in the Department of some of the largest and most popular science
Molecular and Cellular Biology and courses on campus.
the Richard L. Menschel Faculty
Director of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and In 2012, Robert’s extensive work on using technology
Learning at Harvard University, where Robert is to enhance learning took a new direction when
responsible for fostering innovative teaching in the he became the faculty director of HarvardX.
Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and elevating its At HarvardX, the university-wide initiative that
profile on campus. Robert earned his Ph.D. in biology includes the edX partnership in online education
from Harvard and has taught undergraduate courses with MIT, Robert helps to shape the University’s
since 1988, garnering recognition as one of Harvard’s engagement in online learning in a way that
foremost leaders in undergraduate education. reinforces its commitment to teaching excellence
and works to expand its reach and impact globally.
Robert has a longstanding commitment to In addition, as the faculty director of the Harvard
interdisciplinary teaching and research. From 2004 Ed Portal, Robert oversees the integration of
to 2015, he served as the Director of Life Sciences undergraduate education with community outreach
Education at Harvard, where he led a complete on Harvard’s Allston campus.
 ADAM BEAVER provides leadership for many of the Bok Center’s
As Associate Director for Teaching professional and scholarly development offerings for
and Learning, Adam Beaver works graduate students, including the Bok Seminars,
primarily with faculty and graduate the Bok Center Teaching Certificate, the Professional
students in the humanities, Communication Program for International Teachers
social sciences, and Gen Ed. Trained as a Renaissance and Scholars and the Harvard Horizons mentoring
historian, Adam is especially attuned to what we can program. She has over a decade of experience
learn from the deep history of universities, including the in graduate student program development and is
different kinds of intellectual practices and communities passionate about scholarly communication,
which have inhabited them. Rather than see recent teaching and learning. Pamela holds a Ph.D.
trends in higher education, from the digital revolution in Learning, Teaching and Social Policy from Cornell
to the shift towards active learning techniques, University, a MA in Foreign Language Education
as moments of rupture which render established from the University of Texas at Austin, and a BA
practices (like lectures) obsolete, Adam is interested in Spanish from Bryn Mawr College.
in thinking with teachers about the best way to blend
different kinds of techniques and exercises into DAVID LEVARI
a bespoke style that works for each individual As a doctoral student in social
instructor and course. psychology working in the Harvard
University Department of Psychology,
Before coming to the Bok Center, Adam was David has two main research projects:
an assistant professor of History at Princeton. how context affects mental category boundaries
He received his AB, AM, and Ph.D. from Harvard, and the relationship between task performance
as well as his MSt from the University of Oxford. and advice quality. David’s research has been funded
by the Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching,
PAMELA POLLOCK and he was formerly a Departmental Teaching Fellow
As Associate Director for for the Psychology Department at Harvard University.
Professional and Scholarly
Development, Pamela Pollock

HEAD TUTOR
YOUR A subject expert who’ll guide you

SUCCESS
through content-related challenges.

SUCCESS MANAGER
TEAM Your one-on-one support available
during University hours to resolve
Harvard’s Bok Center, in association with
technical and administrative challenges.
HarvardX, is collaborating with GetSmarter
to deliver this online professional development
GLOBAL SUCCESS TEAM
experience, that offers a highly-supported,
Available 24/7 to solve your tech-related
personalized approach to online education.
and administrative queries and concerns.
 AN UNPRECEDENTED
COLLABORATION
Harvard’s Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning and HarvardX are collaborating with online education
company GetSmarter to create a new class of learning experience that is higher-touch, intimate, and truly
transformative. Prof. Robert Lue, Faculty Director of the Bok Center, believes that in addition to a focus
on the quality of content, an online learning model built on human mentorship and performance coaching,
administrative and academic support, individualized assessment feedback, and rich social interaction
with peers, “leads to much more impactful and significant learning outcomes.”

WHAT IS HARVARD’S BOK CENTER?

The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning was originally founded in 1975 as the Harvard-Danforth Center.
Its mission is to enhance the quality of teaching and learning at Harvard, and across the world, by fostering
experimentation, innovation, and evidence-based practices. Harvard’s Bok Center makes this possible through a diverse
range of initiatives and learning opportunities that support a culture of discovery, creativity and educational research.

WHAT IS HARVARDX?
HarvardX is the strategic online learning initiative overseen by Harvard’s Office of the Vice Provost for Advances
in Learning, which since 2012 has brought the best of the University’s various schools to learners across the
world. With a focus on developing ever more innovative ways to support learning online, HarvardX’s work with
GetSmarter establishes a new standard for combining world-class content with a fully supported
and high-touch experience.

WHAT IS GETSMARTER?
GetSmarter, a brand of 2U, Inc., is a digital education company that partners with the world’s leading
universities to select, design and deliver premium online short courses with a data-driven focus on learning
gain. Technology meets academic rigor in our people-mediated model which enables lifelong learners
across the globe to obtain industry-relevant skills that are certified by the world’s most reputable
academic institutions.

THE DEREK BOK CENTER FOR

TEACHING AND LEARNING

ENHANCING THE QUALITY

OF TEACHING AND
LEARNING AT HARVARD
 HOW YOU’LL BROWSER REQUIREMENTS
We recommend that you use Google Chrome as

LEARN your internet browser when accessing the Online

Campus. Although this is not a requirement,
This course integrates rich, interactive media, we have found that this browser performs best
traditional didactic components, and opportunities for ease of access to course material. This browser
for collaborative learning, to deliver a high- can be downloaded from the following website:
engagement learning experience: https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/browser/

• Work through your downloadable and online

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
instructional material
Certain courses may require additional software and
• Interact with your peers and tutors through weekly
resources. These additional software and resource
class-wide forums and small group discussions
requirements will be communicated to you upon
• Enjoy a wide range of interactive content, including
registration and/or at the beginning of the course.
video lectures, infographics, live polls, and more
Please note that Google, Vimeo and Youtube may
• Complete microteaching sessions to facilitate
be used in our course delivery, and if these services
reflection on your teaching
are blocked in your jurisdiction, you may have
• Apply what you learn each week to quiz
difficulty in accessing course content. Please check
assessments and ongoing project submissions,
with a course consultant before registering for this
culminating in the design of your own multimedia
course if you have any concerns about this affecting
learning activity
your experience with the Online Campus.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
BASIC REQUIREMENTS
Important: This course requires that you have access
to a device that is able to record video with audio.
You will need to upload your recorded videos to the
internet as part of your assessment for this course.
In order to complete a course, you will need
a current email account and access to a computer
and the internet. You should be familiar with using
a computer and accessing the internet, as you may
need to be able to read documents in Adobe PDF
Reader, view Microsoft PowerPoint presentations,
and read and create documents in Microsoft Word.
In addition, you will need to install Adobe Flash
Player to view the video lectures, resources
and activities available in each course module.
Both Adobe applications are available for download:
Click here for Adobe Reader
Click here for Adobe Flash Player
 HIGHER EDUCATION
TEACHING CERTIFICATE
ONLINE SHORT COURSE
Ready to refine your teaching philosophy?

REGISTER NOW

CONTACT US
USA: +1 617 997 4979 | Global: +1 617 682 7555
EMAIL: harvardbok@getsmarter.com