The mission of the Center for STEM Learning (CSL) is to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at the University of Colorado Boulder, and to serve as a state, national, and international resource for such efforts. Our vision for achieving this mission is:
To maintain an infrastructure of institutional support in order to
transform STEM education, support education research within and across STEM
fields and departments, and promote K20 faculty recruitment, preparation, and
professional development.
To facilitate change in STEM education by
integrating an interdisciplinary community of scholars, promoting, sustaining,
and evaluating existing reform efforts, sponsoring new programs, advocating for
diversity and access, influencing relevant policy, fundraising, and
communicating with the public.
This project takes a holistic approach to change, focused on shifting
institutional structures and culture around teaching through the development
and implementation of a teaching quality framework. In this effort, we build on
decades of research in scholarly teaching and evaluation of scholarly approaches
to teaching. We seek to establish a
framework for supporting and assessing teaching quality for all instructors
across all departments on campus that is grounded in the scholarship of higher
education, including the work of Bernstein and colleagues (2002, 2010) and
Glassick and colleagues (1997). This framework defines teaching as a scholarly
activity like research. It assesses teaching in terms of six core components of
scholarly activity—clear goals, adequate preparation, appropriate methods,
significant results, effective presentation, and reflective critique—through
the use of three “voices” —those of a faculty member, his or her students, and
his or her peers. The framework also supports improved teaching, by providing
mechanisms for assessment to help faculty to improve in their practices. These
framework categories are held constant across all departments; however, the
interpretation of these categories and their relative weights would be defined
at a department-by-department level, thus specifying in a clear way what is
meant by “multiple measures” of teaching.
We seek a team member to implement a faculty and departmental-led
effort that brings together key faculty leaders and departments by providing
them with a structure to help them co-create, test, and evaluate the framework.
We are at the stage of working with eight pilot departments choosing to engage
and become leaders in this process. Thus, this strategy empowers the community
to voluntarily engage in the exploration of new ways of assessing teaching and
to adopt the framework because they see its value.
The postdoc on this project will have two main roles:
Facilitator: The
postdoc will actively support departmental change through facilitation of small
working groups within department. Additionally, the postdoc will partner with
faculty professional development experts to bring their perspectives to the
departments. Responsibilities will include:
●
Developing expertise in organizational change
and group facilitation strategies.
●
Collaborating with colleague-facilitators from
centers that focus on improving and assessing teaching quality.
●
Supporting departmental working teams in
defining and achieving their goals for determining specific measures and
processes for evaluation.
●
Project Management: coordinating with individual
departments, across departments in a broader discussion, and the leadership
team.
Researcher: The
postdoc will have the opportunity assist in developing research activities.
Responsibilities may include:
●
Collecting qualitative and quantitative data.
●
Developing expertise in analyzing both
qualitative and quantitative data.
●
Developing, modifying and/or deploying instruments
that can be used for evaluation of quality teaching.
●
Assisting in the writing and dissemination of
findings.
This is an initial 12-month appointment, which is potentially renewable,
pursuant to university policies and funding. The salary is $50,000 per year,
and includes benefits as established by the university HR department. The successful
candidate will collaborate with a broad group of engaging and nationally
renowned faculty, post-docs, and graduate students across multiple STEM
departments at CU.
Position will remain open until filled and applications will begin being reviewed on February 3, 2017.
Qualifications
The
successful candidate will have a PhD (or equivalent experience) in
higher education studies or a related discipline with significant
experience in a disciplinary field, or in a specific discipline with
significant experience in scholarly teaching or education research. The
candidate is expected to have earned a PhD by January 1, 2017.
