Teaching Postdoctoral Associate (Instructor) Ecology & Environment
Office of Undergraduate Biology
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
The Office of Undergraduate Biology, in
collaboration with the Department of Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University,
invites applicants for a Teaching Postdoctoral
Associate (Instructor) with interest in
developing skills and experience in university
teaching in preparation for an academic
career. The postdoc will play a key role in
supporting a transition of the course Ecology &
Environment (BioEE 1610) from a traditional
lecture-course format to one involving more
active learning and greater student participation
and group problem solving in class.
The instructor will work closely with the team of
faculty who teach BioEE1610 (seven individuals in
all, with two teaching in any given semester on a
rotating basis). Currently, the course has one
section each week, led by teaching assistants,
where students are engaged in active learning,
with the intellectual content of the section
closely related to the class lectures for that
week. We wish to expand this active-learning
model further into the larger class
lectures. The instructor will lead the effort to
explore and develop a set of flipped classes,
working with individual faculty or teams of faculty on discrete topics.
We will consider applicants for either a 4-year
period at half-time effort or a 2-year period at
full-time. The successful candidate will
collaborate with course faculty towards the
following goals: formulate learning goals,
develop an active learning-based curriculum that
aligns with the learning goals, and provide
feedback on course teaching practices, and assess
learning gains. There are potential opportunities
for pedagogical research for motivated candidates.
* Qualifications *
Candidates should hold a doctoral degree in
ecology or a related field and have excellent
organizational, interpersonal communication, team
building and collaboration skills.
Experience in developing active learning
curricula and coaching educators is highly desirable.
* Terms of Appointment *
This appointment can be made either full time for
up to two years or half time for up to four
years, depending upon discussion between the
candidate and the course instructors. The
anticipated start date for the appointment is August 1, 2014.
* Applications *
To ensure full consideration, applications must be received March 15, 2014.
To apply: applicants should submit (as a single
pdf file entitled <last name>. pdf attached to
and e-mail with a subject line of BioEE
postdoc) their CV, a statement of teaching
philosophy/experience, a statement of research
experience, and the names, phone numbers, and
email addresses of three individuals who can
serve as references to Professor Nelson Hairston
at <mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]
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