The Changing Landscape of Graduate Teaching Certificate Programs in Canada

Abstract

In a 2014 paper, Kenny, Watson, and Watton analyzed 13 Canadian universities offering graduate teaching certificate programs. This research used the Kenny et al. (2014) framework to provide an update, addressing the following research questions. First, has there since been an increase in the number of graduate teaching certificate programs at Canadian universities? Second, how do the common features of these programs compare to those identified by Kenny et al. (2014)? Third, how responsive are programs to recent trends in graduate teaching development? Key features within program administration, outcomes, structure, assessment, and recognition were examined, as were some current trends in post-secondary teaching. Program-related information was collected from the institutional websites of Canadian universities and verified by program key contacts. Since 2014, there has been a considerable increase in the number of graduate teaching certificate programs, both within and across institutions (from 13 programs at 13 institutions in 2014 to 36 programs at 25 institutions in 2019). This may be impacting how programs are structured and assessed. On the one hand, there appears to be movement towards reducing barriers to access programming, yet this growth may coincide with less resource-intensive program components and assessments. The responsiveness of programming to recent trends in program administration, programming content, and recognition varied.