Scientific Teaching Course
Welcome to the Scientific Teaching Course
The Scientific Teaching Course is an interactive digital toolbox and workbook for college educators to engage with the most recent evidence-based practices around teaching and learning in STEM.
The first section provides an overview of scientific teaching, how inclusive learning works, and a call to action. The second section provides opportunities to practice with the tools, self-assess, reflect, and apply to your own teaching. The third section supports you to synthesize what you learned and identify areas for further development.
Concepts in the STC apply regardless of your course format: lecture or lab; virtual, hybrid, or in-person; large or small class size.
Format of the Course
The course is modular and self-paced. A companion workbook is provided in Google drive can be used to track reflections and design your course materials, including a template for building a course map.
FAQ
Where do I begin?
Before you begin, we recommend you select one of your STEM courses to revise or build anew as you proceed through the modules. Gather materials you might want to develop or revise as you take the Scientific Teaching Course, such as syllabi, learning objectives, lecture materials, assignments or assessments, lab experiments, or instructor guides. It’s okay if you are starting from scratch.
We recommend starting with the Scientific Teaching module, then proceeding through the rest of the modules in order. Each module builds on the content from the previous modules and is self-contained with interactive exercises and self-assessment questions.
However, you may begin with any module. The course is designed so that you can work on developing a new course or redesigning an existing course while you are completing it. The course ends with a questionnaire.
What products will I create during the Scientific Teaching Course?
After the course, you will have generated:
- A partially completed course design including parts of the following:
- Learner-centered syllabus or welcome materials
- Course map
- Learning objectives
- Active learning experiences
- Assessments
- Inclusive learning experiences
- A set of your own reflective responses to question prompts
- A plan for ongoing improvements
During the modules, we recommend that you practice using each scientific teaching tool on small parts of your course using the provided workbook and templates. The last module will prompt you to leave yourself detailed notes about when and how you plan to finish creating the course materials, when you plan to implement them, and how you will approach iterative revisions over time. To make space for these new tools, you may have to reconsider the nature and amount of content your students are accountable for learning.
What will I learn during the Scientific Teaching Course?
By the end of the course, you will have gained the skills, knowledge, and confidence to create a learner-centered STEM course. You will also have the tools to teach and iteratively improve the course. The learning objectives in each module will provide more details.
How long will it take?
We estimate that each module will take approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour to complete. This includes time to build or re-work small pieces of your course using the provided template. We have curated resources to make your time in the modules efficient and worthwhile.
Will there be any follow up after the course?
We anticipate self-organized community discussions will emerge over time. If you are interested in coordinating a community, we recommend checking with your colleagues at your institution or through your professional society.