Quick Links for Graduate Students and Postdocs
At the Institute for Biology Education, we offer many courses, programs, and resources to build community and skills related to undergraduate education in the life sciences:
Teaching
- Teaching Fellows Program: Graduate students and postdocs partner with a UW–Madison course to develop innovative and effective ways to teach biology. Participants work together to teach the materials, evaluate student learning, and disseminate the final products. This is a year-long program.
- Scientific Teaching Course: Novice teaching assistants meet concurrently with their first-time TA experience throughout one semester to learn survival skills and knowledge about teaching and learning.
- Workshops: We offer workshops by request on topics related to teaching and learning. Example topics include: assessment, active learning, diversity, and instructional technology.
- Consultation: We invite UW-Madison graduate students and postdocs to contact us to talk about issues in teaching and learning or opportunities/courses to gain knowledge and experience in teaching and learning.
Research
- Research Mentor Training: University scientists engage in learning how to become effective research mentors through a series of one-hour meetings.
- “Broader impact” statements for NSF proposals: We offer workshops and individual consultations to develop these plans.
Outreach and Service
- Engage Children in Science course: two-credit course to develop and lead after-school science clubs in the Madison area
- Consultations: Institute staff can help individual postdocs and graduate students identify resources and programs related to teaching and learning.
- Learning Communities: Institute staff forms groups around common interests. Topics and formats vary according to participant needs. These facilitated groups determine their own structure and activities.
Resources
- Resource Center: Inviting physical space for faculty, staff, graduate students, and postdocs to browse books and materials housed there (445 Henry Mall, room 104). Includes a small meeting space for University Educators, which can be reserved. (See contact below.)
- Scientific Teaching Digital Library: A repository of instructional materials developed by Teaching Fellows for a variety of biology courses at UW-Madison. All materials have been taught, reviewed, and evaluated.
- Scientific Teaching Book Series: A series of professional titles designed for university scientists to support them in teaching and learning. Authored and edited by staff at the Institute for Biology Education.
- Templates and resources for building instructional materials.
Other Resources and Opportunities at UW–Madison and Beyond
- UW Postdoctoral Conference on Professional Development. Annual day-long conference for postdocs at UW–Madison who are interested in professional development topics. Attendance is free but registration is required. This event is typically offered in fall semester in partnership with the UW Graduate School.
- Teaching and Learning Symposium: Annual 2-day conference at UW–Madison for all University Educators at UW–Madison interested in issues related to teaching and learning in higher education. Attendance is free but registration is required. Proposals to lead workshops are typically due in January for the May event.
- UW Health Sciences Teaching Symposium and Teaching Academy Winter Retreat: Annual half-day conference at UW–Madison for all University Educators interested in issues related to teaching and learning in higher education. Topics vary from year to year. Attendance is free but registration is required. Typically offered in January.
- Delta Program : University of Wisconsin program dedicated to professional development for educators
- Teaching and Learning Excellence website : A UW–Madison compendium of resources and events related to teaching and learning
- Teaching Academy : Consortium of educational leaders who promote effective teaching and learning at UW–Madison and nationally by encouraging innovation, experimentation, and dialogue among faculty, instructional staff, and educators of the future.
- CBE Life Sciences Education : Quarterly publication on biology education from the American Society for Cell Biology
- National Science Digital Library : National collection of instructional materials for science courses
- ERIC : The Educational Resources Information Center literature search engine
- Science Alliance: Consortium of UW–Madison scientists, outreachers, and volunteers who organize public science outreach events and programs.
Contacts
Please use the individuals below as "first points of contact," and we will connect you with appropriate people as necessary.
For faculty and staff: Contact Lillian Tong
For graduate students and postdocs: Contact Kristin Jenkins
For topics related to instructional technologies: Contact Alan Wolf
