What did you enjoy most about your Collaborative Teaching Fellowship?
· Effective workshops delivered by JHU faculty with expertise in undergrad/grad teaching.
· Flexible training schedule with three phases that can span along the entire postdoc training and fit the busy research schedule.
· Hands-on experience under the mentorship of experienced faculty in local institutions.
· Opportunities to build connections with local institutions to learn more about faculty careers in different kinds of institutions as well as open doors to future job applications.
· Introduction to resources of faculty development, such as CIRTL
How did this experience and/or the mentorship you received impact your career trajectory?
I have always had a strong desire to become a faculty member who works with both undergraduate and graduate students in both classroom and lab settings. The Collaborative Teaching Fellowship provided me with the necessary teaching training and experience to qualify for such a position. Through the program, I was matched with a faculty mentor at Morgan State University (MSU), where I was able to implement the active learning strategies that I had learned in the teaching workshops. Throughout the teaching fellowship, both my mentor and students gave me the feedback, which helped me to continuously improve my teaching skills. Additionally, attending departmental faculty meetings during the teaching fellowship allowed me to learn more about non-R1 research university faculty careers and to build connections with colleagues.
Did the Collaborative Teaching fellowship help prepare you for your current faculty position? If so, how?
Currently, I am a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of Biology at MSU, and I can attribute much of my success to the Collaborative Teaching Fellowship. The program changed my understanding of teaching from being teacher-centered to being student-centered, and it taught me that teaching is a scientific, artistic, social, and creative endeavor. The inspiration and training I received from the program helped me to develop my own teaching philosophy, which has served as the foundation for my teaching career. During my last year of postdoctoral fellowship at JHU, I designed and launched a pre-college summer course called Medical School Intensive, which has become the most popular JHU summer course since 2017 the first year of launching. As a faculty at MSU, I was honored to receive the 2019 University Faculty Award for Teaching (one awardee/year), and my course redesign was ranked #1 in the Measurement Instrument for Scientific Teaching survey of students.
Do you have any advice for future Collaborative Teaching Fellows or graduate students/post-doctoral fellows interested in pursuing an academic career that will involve teaching?
Be proactive and make good use of what the program offers. I would encourage future fellows to actively seek out feedback from mentors and students, attend departmental meetings at the teaching institution, and continuously strive to improve their teaching skills.