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The Department of Biological Sciences offers graduate students an optional Minor in Teaching that provides a more complete teaching experience beyond the one semester TA requirement. The Teaching Minor Program includes exposure to various methodologies and teaching philosophies, more independent experience in the classroom, and development of material suitable for a teaching portfolio. Students planning for a career with an education component are especially encouraged to join this Program.
Enrollment
Students who would like to enroll in the Teaching Minor Program should submit a petition to the Director of Graduate Studies via the Graduate Secretary. Petition for entry into the Teaching Minor Program can be made at any time. However, students are strongly encouraged to have successfully completed their Comprehensive Exam and must have two years left until completion of their M.S. or Ph.D. degree. The following items should be included in the Petition:
(1) A letter from the student requesting entry into the Teaching Minor Program, and
(2) A letter from the student's faculty advisor giving permission to participate in the Teaching Minor Program.
Requirements
The requirements for the Minor are as follows:
- Two or more semesters of teaching as a Teaching Assistant with satisfactory performance.
- Enrollment for four semesters and receipt of Satisfactory grades in BIOSC 2972 ("Teaching Minor in Biological Sciences"). This course is based around the completion of one independent teaching project each year (two total projects), as well as the production of the Teaching Dossier. Each project is expected to take approximately 10-15 hours. Of the two projects, at least one must be a guest lecture in a class, along with any material used in class, and exam questions. The projects cannot be ones used to complete FACDEV 2200 but can be projects in a class for which the student is serving as a TA if the project is in addition to the normal TA requirements. BIOSC 2972 meets formally approximately two times a semester at times arranged at the beginning of the semester.
- Enrollment and receipt of a 'B' or better in FACDEV 2200 ("University Teaching Practicum"). Students should take FACDEV 2200 during a fall or spring semester (preferably not summer) while serving as a teaching assistant, ideally when teaching a course where there is some freedom to develop material. If this is not possible for whatever reason, then the student will need to identify a suitable course and to arrange to do guest lectures with the faculty member who teaches that course to complete assignments in FACDEV 2200 (two guest lectures are the minimum).
- Yearly meetings with two Teaching Mentors. The student must ask two faculty to serve as Teaching Mentors. The two Teaching Mentors must be chosen during the first year in the program and declared when the Teaching Dossier is submitted for the first time. The student's research advisor may serve as a Teaching Mentor. At a minimum the Mentors should observe at least one class led by the student, observe independent projects as appropriate, meet with the student once a year to provide feedback on the Teaching Dossier and discuss other issues, and provide a teaching evaluation letter for the Dossier. The yearly meetings must be documented by filling out a report that includes a section for self-evaluation by the student and sections documenting the meetings with both Teaching Mentors. The meetings must occur each year until the final Teaching Dossier has been submitted to GPOC.
- Maintenance of a Teaching Dossier, which is submitted to GPOC via the Graduate Secretary by the first Monday in May each year. The Teaching Dossier must be organized using a set template provided in BIOSC 2972 and will serve both to document the completion of the Teaching Minor requirements and to be an organized collection of all teaching and Teaching Minor material from which students can draw material for a teaching portfolio when on the job market. The Dossier should include a Teaching Philosophy statement, letters pertaining to enrollment in the Teaching Minor Program, a transcript, documentation of yearly meetings with Teaching Mentors, teaching evaluations, FACDEV 2200 material, BIOSC 2972 material, and samples of teaching materials. Maintenance of the Teaching Dossier is the responsibility of the student, although feedback on presentation will be given by the Teaching Mentors and in BIOSC 2972. The role of GPOC is to assess the Dossier to determine which Teaching Minor requirements have been fulfilled and which remain to be fulfilled.
- Completion of 10 course credits. These credits are derived from BIOSC 2972 (4 credits for the four semesters of participation and 3 credits for completion of the Dossier = 7 total) and FACDEV 2200 (3 credits).
Continuation in the Teaching Minor Program
Students enrolled in the Program must remain in good academic standing, and continuation in the Minor Program requires annual approval from GPOC. This approval is given in a letter to the student after the Teaching Dossier has been assessed each year.
Completion of the Teaching Minor Requirements
Upon completion of the requirements listed above, the student must submit the final Teaching Dossier to GPOC at or before the time that the dissertation or thesis is submitted to the student's Thesis Committee. In addition, students are strongly encouraged to submit the final Dossier within one semester of completing the Teaching Minor requirements if that is earlier than the submission of the thesis. GPOC will review the Dossier and, if all requirements have been met, will nominate the student to the Chair of the Department for award of the Teaching Minor.
Receipt of the Minor can occur only upon completion of a M.S. or Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, and implementation of this Program does not change any existing Departmental requirements for the granting of graduate degrees.
Suggested Timeline for the Teaching Minor
- At least two terms as a Teaching Assistant: typically one semester in the second year of graduate school and one semester in the third year of graduate school.
- Petitioning for enrollment: typically at the end of spring term of the second year or the end of the fall term of the third year, after completion of the Comprehensive Exam.
- Selection of two Teaching Mentors: during the first year in the Teaching Minor Program prior to submitting the Teaching Dossier for the first time.
- Enrollment in BIOSC 2972: typically the first fall or spring semester after acceptance into the Teaching Minor Program and the three following academic year (fall and spring) semesters.
- Enrollment in FACDEV 2200: ideally during a fall or spring semester when serving as a TA. Although FACDEV 2200 is offered during the summer, the course instructor does not recommend it because time is too tight. Typically students enroll while doing the second TA assignment.
- Yearly submission of a Teaching Dossier to GPOC: first Monday of May of each year after acceptance into the Teaching Minor Program.
- Final submission of the Teaching Dossier to GPOC: ideally the first semester after completing the Teaching Minor requirements but at the latest, by the time that the thesis is submitted to the student's Thesis Committee.
- Receipt of the Teaching Minor: upon graduation.
Grandfather clause
Students who enrolled in the Teaching Minor Program prior to September 2007 but who have not yet completed the Minor will be caught in the middle of changing requirements. Starting in September 2007, all students will be expected to follow the new requirements EXCEPT for the details of completing BIOSC 2972. The old requirements were four semesters of BIOSC 2972, which was monthly meetings of Teaching Club, plus presentation at one Teaching Club. Students enrolled in the Teaching Minor Program prior to September 2007 who have not already presented in Teaching Club may EITHER prepare a one hour presentation for BIOSC 2972 (fulfilling the old requirement) OR do one independent project. Because the requirements were changed in order to provide better training in teaching, an independent project is encouraged.
Specific scenarios are as follows:
- Student who has completed four semesters of BIOSCI 2972 as Teaching Club and presented once: Old requirement has been met and is acceptable.
- Student who has completed four semesters of BIOSCI 2972 as Teaching Club and has NOT presented: Student is given the choice of doing a one hour presentation to BIOSC 2972 or doing one project under the new guidelines.
- Student who has completed at least one semester of BIOSCI 2972 as Teaching Club and has presented once: Must attend BIOSCI 2972 for the remaining semesters and participate in discussions. Encouraged, but not required, to do one project.
- Student who has completed at least one semester of BIOSCI 2972 as Teaching Club and has NOT presented: Student is given the choice of doing a one hour presentation to BIOSC 2972 or doing one project under the new guidelines. Must attend BIOSCI 2972 for the remaining semesters and participate in discussions.
Any other accommodations due to the changing requirements must be approved by the Director for Graduate Studies.
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