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 9-10-class special topics seminar course (10 weeks for winter & spring; 5 weeks for summer). 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. STEP-WISE seminar courses are held at UW Bothell, UW Seattle, and the University of Puget Sound (UPS). Some of the seminars target biology majors, while other seminars are for multiple majors. 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 postdocs to set and meet reasonable training and teaching goals without disrupting their research progress.

We are pleased to be able to offer STEP-WISE as a tuition-free program. STEP-WISE is supported by UW School of Medicine and the UW College of Arts and Sciences.

Please direct questions to Dr. Eva Ma or Dr. Linda Martin-Morris, Co-Directors of STEP-WISE.

Applications for the 2025-2026 cohort are now OPEN.  Please click here to apply.