Todd Cleveland always loved history, but it wasn't until a trip to visit his sister in Africa while he was a graduate student that he "caught the bug" to study the continent and how colonialism impacted Africans, work that led to the publication of a recent book on Africans and the Olympics.

Now, he's helping other graduate students hone their teaching skills and discover their passions through the Graduate Student Teaching Enhancement Project (G-STEP), a program offered by the Graduate School and International Education to help graduate students transition to graduate teaching assistants and, ultimately, instructors of record that teach their own classes.

Through G-STEP, Cleveland leads 10 online workshops and trainings throughout the school year on pedagogies, course design, educational technology, communication, classroom management, and teaching best practices. The program is free of charge to all graduate teaching and research assistants, and those interested in enrolling can do so by filling out an online form.

This school year marks the second year of the program and Cleveland's participation in it. When he met with Umer Rahman, associate director of graduate student support, to discuss serving as the instructor for the program, he was immediately drawn to it and the impact it could have on students.

"Umer walked me through the goals and objectives of it, and I thought it was a wonderful initiative," Cleveland said. "Too many graduate students are thrown in the classroom and expected to teach because they've been in the classroom before, but so much goes into a class or even a single lecture. It can be tough."

Cleveland, who earned his doctorate in African history at the University of Minnesota following his visit to his sister, remembers the challenges of being a graduate student and finds reward in helping them overcome obstacles they may be facing.

"Working with them is very fulfilling," he said. "You can't help but constantly remember when you were in their exact position and all the anxieties and daunting challenges you faced. Hopefully, I can serve as an example of someone who was able to jump over all those hurdles."

But Cleveland isn't the only one helping students. The workshops also offered a space for students to share best practices and strategies with each other to improve their teaching.

"During some sessions I was even jotting notes down," Cleveland said. "It's nice to get everyone in that forum to share ideas that transcend individual disciplines. That type of student-to-student interaction is bringing students together from disparate departments who would never otherwise interact."

"We in the Graduate School and International Education created G-STEP as part of our continued commitment to provide graduate students the resources they need to thrive here at the University of Arkansas," Rahman said. "Dr. Todd Cleveland is vital in developing our graduate, teaching and research assistants into instructors of record because of his own experience as a graduate and teaching assistant. He did not skip anything in life on his way to becoming a professor. His authenticity is what makes G-STEP such an amazing experience for our graduate students."

For Cleveland, the reward from leading the program is the same reward that drives him to teach.

"You get that satisfaction of seeing a student grow — even in the span of 60 minutes — when you see the lightbulb go off," he said.