Teaching Resources for Postdocs

This website offers a curated list of essential resources and opportunities designed to help postdocs develop their teaching skills:

• Teaching Practicum: The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL), established in 2003 as a National Science Foundation Center for Learning and Teaching in higher education, offers a comprehensive 5-part mentorship program to deepen your knowledge and practical experience in university teaching. This practicum covers essential topics, including lesson design, creating teaching portfolios, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and equity, diversity & inclusion in teaching.

• On-Demand Teaching Resources: Columbia’s Center for Teaching and Learning provides a variety of on-demand modules accessible anytime with your UNI credentials. These resources cover key aspects of teaching, including fostering an inclusive classroom, developing clear and measurable learning objectives, crafting teaching and diversity statements for faculty applications, and strategies for teaching research.

• Online Teaching Community: Columbia’s Center for Teaching and Learning hosts an informal online Journal Club, which provides an opportunity to explore resources and research on teaching and learning in STEM fields. Each session encourages participants to consider how educational research findings—both within and beyond their discipline—can inform and enhance their own teaching practices.

• Teaching Policy: Columbia University offers teaching guidelines for Postdocs interested in expanding their teaching experience. By establishing these general guidelines, the University underscores its commitment to providing teaching opportunities whenever possible, while ensuring that these opportunities comply with all relevant governmental regulations, funding agency requirements, and institutional policies.

• Practice Teaching: Columbia’s Center for Teaching and Learning, in collaboration with the Office for Postdoctoral Affairs and Early Career Research, offers  practice teaching sessions for 3–4 participants with a trained teaching consultant. These sessions provide an opportunity to deliver a mock teaching demonstration, followed by personalized feedback to help refine presentation and teaching techniques. To register directly for a session, please visit the Center for Teaching and Learning website.

If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected].