How to Help STEM Faculty Help Students Learn

Centering Centers

Professors are expected to have extensive expertise in their fields of study in order to qualify to teach at the post-secondary level, but can graduate coursework in quantum mechanics or X-ray crystallography prepare you to be a supportive advisor and an inclusive educator?

Ashley McNeill, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Springfield College in Springfield, MA, and Elizabeth McDonald, Instructional Designer at The University of Alabama, discuss faculty preparedness for teaching (or lack thereof) for new STEM educators. It’s important for new faculty, particularly in STEM, to be introduced to Centers and other resources intended to help them navigate their new roles as educators, mentors, and academic advisors. Traditional training in a STEM PhD program famously lacks opportunities to be exposed to this aspect of a professor’s work, particularly at large R1 institutions where many graduate students receive their training from professors whose responsibilities largely focus on grant writing and research. Ashley and Elizabeth review several approaches to learning more about student needs in the classroom, course design, and adapting assignments to classrooms of different sizes. Perhaps even more importantly, Ashley and Elizabeth spend some time talking about connecting with your students and teaching them to engage meaningfully in their STEM education.

A PODFest Collaboration

Host, Ashley S. McNeill, Springfield College

Elizabeth McDonald, University of Alabama

Transcript