Note: This version of the Instructor Training curriculum is used during update periods for testing only and is not maintained or synced with our primary repository at other times. For the main version of our Instructor Training curriculum please visit https://carpentries.github.io/instructor-training/.

Instructor Training: Note: This version of the Instructor Training curriculum is used during update periods for testing only and is not maintained or synced with our primary repository at other times. For the main version of our Instructor Training curriculum please visit https://carpentries.github.io/instructor-training/.

Note: This version of the Instructor Training curriculum is used during update periods for testing only and is not maintained or synced with our primary repository at other times. For the main version of our Instructor Training curriculum please visit https://carpentries.github.io/instructor-training/.

Welcome to The Carpentries Instructor Training curriculum! Originally released in 2016, this resource is collaboratively maintained and taught by The Carpentries Instructor Trainer community. Minor changes occur routinely; major updates are chronicled in our release history.

Carpentries Instructor Training has the following goals:

Introduce you to evidence-based teaching practices.
Teach you how to create a positive environment for learners at your workshops.
Provide opportunities for you to practice and build your teaching skills.
Help you become integrated into the Carpentries community.
Prepare you to use these teaching skills in teaching Carpentries workshops.

Because we have only limited time, some things are beyond the scope of this training. We will not be learning:

How to program in R or Python, use Git or SQL, or any of the other topics taught in Data Carpentry, Library Carpentry, or Software Carpentry workshops.
How to create your own lessons from scratch (although you will have a good start on the principles behind that sort of work if you are inspired to learn more).

If you would like to attend Instructor Training, please visit the Become an Instructor page on The Carpentries website for details on admission.

Instructor Training events are hands-on throughout: short lessons alternate with individual and group practical exercises, including practice teaching sessions. Those who attend the full training and all three checkout steps will be certified as a Carpentries Instructor and will be eligible to teach Data Carpentry, Library Carpentry, and Software Carpentry workshops throughout our global community.

All participants are required to abide by our Code of Conduct.
There are no specific prerequisites for this training, but participants will benefit from having attended a Data Carpentry, Software Carpentry, or Library Carpentry workshop either as learner or helper so that they are familiar with our teaching techniques and the style of our workshops.
Participants are not required to have any specific programming skills (though they should know enough about the subjects of one or more of our lessons to be able to teach them). An Instructor Training event is the first step towards certification as a Carpentries Instructor. For more details on the other 3 steps, see the Checkout Instructions page on this site.

Feedback on these materials is welcome as an issue on the GitHub repository that hosts this site.

These materials are freely available under a Creative Commons license.

Note: The schedule below describes an approximate layout for a 2-full-day training. Please contact your Instructor Trainers if you have questions about the schedule for your specific training event.

Sample Schedule

		Preparing for Training and Certification	Things to know and do before your event
Day 1	09:00	1. Welcome	What is The Carpentries and how do we approach teaching? What should you expect from this workshop?
	09:30	2. Building Skill With Practice	How do people learn? Who is a typical Carpentries learner? How can we help novices become competent practitioners?
	10:30	3. Morning Break	Break
	10:45	4. Expertise and Instruction	Does subject expertise make someone a great teacher? How are we (as Instructors) different from our learners and how does this impact our teaching?
	11:30	5. Memory and Cognitive Load	What is cognitive load and how does it affect learning? How can we design instruction to work with, rather than against, memory constraints?
	12:15	6. Building Skill With Feedback	How can I get feedback from learners? How can I use this feedback to improve my teaching?
	12:35	7. End First Half Day	Break
	13:35	8. Motivation and Demotivation	Why is motivation important? How can we create a motivating environment for learners?
	14:35	9. Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility	Why are equity, inclusion, and accessibility important? What can I do enhance equity, inclusion, and accessibility in my workshop?
	15:15	10. Afternoon Break	Break
	15:30	11. Teaching is a Skill	How can I improve my teaching?
	16:30	12. Wrap-Up and Homework	What have we learned so far? What needs to be done to prepare for the next part of the workshop?
	16:50	Finish
Day 2	09:00	13. Welcome Back	What have we learned so far? What will we focus on today?
	09:10	14. Getting Started on Instructor Certification	What do I need to do to finish certifying as a Carpentries Instructor?
	09:40	15. The Carpentries: How We Operate	How is The Carpentries organised and run? What is the difference between SWC, DC, and LC workshops? How do you run a Carpentries workshop?
	10:25	16. Morning Break	Break
	10:40	17. Live Coding is a Skill	Why do we teach programming using participatory live coding?
	11:45	18. Preparing to Teach	How should I prepare to teach?
	12:30	19. End Third Half Day	Break
	13:30	20. More Practice Live Coding	How did you change your teaching in response to feedback?
	14:15	21. Working With Your Team	What are the challenges of managing a heterogeneous classroom? What should we do if there is a Code of Conduct violation? What does it mean to be a co-Instructor? How does an instructional team prepare for a workshop?
	15:25	22. Afternoon Break	Break
	15:40	23. Launches and Landings	How do you actually start a workshop?
	16:20	24. Putting It Together	How are the teaching practices we have learned used in our workshops?
	16:40	25. Wrapping Up	What can we improve in this training?
	16:50	Post-training survey	Please ask your Trainer for a custom link to your post-training survey at the end of the course.
	17:05	Finish

The actual schedule may vary slightly depending on the topics and exercises chosen by the instructor.