Teacher Training Program
The Teacher Training Program offers advanced PhD students and postdoctoral fellows an opportunity to develop a range of valuable teaching skills within the realm of scientific and medical education.
Overview
This program aims to provide a dynamic and cooperative teaching experience for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows alongside faculty members dedicated to scientific and medical education across the CU Anschutz medical campus (AMC). The faculty members will provide mentoring, guidance, and direct feedback on curriculum design, individual class session design, instructional practices (e.g. leading discussions, lecturing, active learning), and assessment design and analysis.
Benefits of Participation
Acquiring experience in curricular design and teaching practices of undergraduate and/or graduate-level courses during training is highly beneficial for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows considering future careers in academia. This type of hands-on experience is invaluable to future success and confers a competitive advantage to peers without similar teacher training.
Eligibility
Within the application, there must be evidence that serving as a Teacher in Training (“Trainee”) will provide a meaningful experience that is specific to the Trainee’s development as a teacher. Only Trainees who are available for consistent mentoring throughout one entire semester will be considered.
In order to apply, the candidate should be either:
- PhD Candidate in good academic standing having successfully passed comprehensive exams and beyond their third year in Graduate School.
- Postdoctoral Fellow with an interest and commitment to teaching.
The Trainee’s advisor must approve the application prior to submission.
Teaching Opportunities
Through this program, Trainees will work with faculty member, Aimee Bernard, PhD, to conceptualize, design, plan, and/or deliver a portion of a selected course. Opportunities range from a scientific thinking course offered to honors and leadership undergraduate students on the downtown CU Denver campus to introductory immunology courses across the CU AMC in the dental school, medical school, pharmacy school, and physician assistant program.
Expectations for Trainees
The Trainee should exhibit dedication to the training program and work with the faculty advisor to develop a teaching plan. This level of commitment is flexible and will depend on the proposed time commitment of the Trainee and the availability of the faculty member.
Trainees could choose to participate in the following:
- Review and inclusion of new content, units and/or materials
- Structure and overall content of portions of the course
- Design of new written assignments and/or assessments
- Creation of new in-class activities
- The development of instructional technology
Application
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and are preferred on or before May 1 of each year.
Applications must be prepared by the Trainee and approved by the thesis advisor or PI. Each application must include the following information in three sections.
Section 1. Information about the applicant
- Name
- Thesis advisor’s or PI’s name
- Current year of study
- Teaching experience, if any. Please include role (e.g. Teaching Assistant), course titles when listing course numbers (e.g. MCDB 300, Biochemistry) and course location (e.g. CU Denver), and a brief explanation of responsibilities.
Section 2. Teaching Statement
A developed statement of commitment to the Teacher Training Program. This should include how the proposed experience as a Trainee will enhance the Trainee’s development as a teacher and clearly demonstrate evidence of commitment to teaching.
Section 3. Letter of Support
A letter or brief statement of support from thesis advisor(s) and/or PI for the Trainee to participate in the Teacher Training Program, preferably dated and signed.
Procedure for Submitting Applications
Applicants must complete the electronic application form and email the PI letter of support to Aimee.Bernard@cuanschutz.edu within 1 week of submitting the electronic application.
A selection committee will review all applications and notify applicants of status within 1 month of submission.
Please contact Aimee Bernard (Aimee.Bernard@cuanschutz.edu) if you have any questions about the program.