The future of STEM education: Preparing the next generation of faculty

Curriculum Fellows Program of Harvard Medical School

Guest presenter:
Bennett Goldberg, PhD
Director of STEM Education Initiatives in the Office of the Provost
Boston University
Professor of Physics, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Professor of Education
Boston University

More than 80% of future STEM faculty that will teach the next generation of students in the 4,500+ institutions of higher education in the US receive their PhDs at fewer than 100 institutions. Preparing graduate students and postdocs now at these relatively few research universities to use evidence-based instruction, active-learning, and effective teaching practices can change the future of higher education. We discuss the model of the Center for the Integration of Research Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) Network, a coalition of 22 universities preparing future faculty. To scale and reach the more than 43,000 STEM PhDs that graduate each year and 20,000 that take postdoctoral positions, we created a massive open online course, “An Introduction to Evidence-based Undergraduate STEM Teaching.” Remarkably, 50% of postdocs and nearly 40% of graduate students who signed up completed the course, demonstrating a significant need and success at serving our target audience.

The CFP initiated this seminar series in graduate science education to enhance the discussion on education reform at HMS. For more information about the CFP, please visit curriculumfellows.hms.harvard.edu.