The Science Teaching Experience Program – Working in Science Education (STEP-WISE) is a mentored teaching apprenticeship for postdoctoral scholars that provides training and experience in course design and teaching using student-centered pedagogies. This program is designed specifically for postdocs who would like additional training in teaching in higher education but have 100% research appointments. Since 2011, over 200 postdocs from different UW departments and affiliate institutions have participated in this teaching apprenticeship.
Postdocs attend short training sessions that efficiently introduce state-of-the-art teaching strategies that are effective for students and time-saving for instructors. The postdocs work in teams of three to co-design and co-teach their courses. Each team delivers a 10-week, special topics seminar course. The program mentors observe class meetings and meet regularly with the postdocs to discuss the strengths of their teaching and to brainstorm on strategies to address areas that need improvement. Some of the seminars target biology majors, and are held at either UW Bothell, UW Seattle, or University of Puget sound; other seminars are for for multiple majors at UW Bothell. All of the postdocs come together at the end of the academic year to share experiences and improve their teaching philosophies and dossiers. These program features allow the postdocs to set and meet reasonable training and teaching goals without disrupting their research progress.
Please direct questions to Dr. Becca Price, the Executive Director of STEP.