5th Year Teaching Opportunities

Many of our students teach as part of their graduate training. Advanced students will usually be responsible for teaching a biology laboratory, either to other biology majors or to non-majors. Our laboratory teaching staff and the faculty course-masters supervise this activity. Typically students will teach laboratories in anatomy, physiology, introductory biology, microbiology, environmental biology, and general biology.

Students who take this teaching option will be required to complete GRD 715: Preparing Teaching Assistants to Be Effective Teachers, offered through the Graduate School. In this course, faculty work directly with students to train them in fundamental concepts that include:

• preparing to teach
• presenting material effectively
• handling questions
• handling difficult students and situations
• leading laboratory sections

Teaching is one of the most popular and rewarding activities for our students, and many will teach for multiple terms. It also provides additional job opportunities for students post-graduation. A small scholarship is often provided for the student teacher.