Managing the Growing Classroom: Opportunities for Postdoctoral Teaching Fellows

Abstract

Increasing undergraduate class sizes place high demands on professors in the field of nutrition. Postdoctoral teaching fellows can absorb some of the teaching workload and elevate the quality of undergraduate education. These positions are mutually beneficial to professors, undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars.Teaching fellows advance undergraduate learning by promoting evidence‐based teaching practices, as well as innovative and engaging learning activities. Further, undergraduates gain the opportunity to interact with an additional doctoral‐level scientist in the field of nutrition. Graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants benefit from direct mentoring from both professors and postdoctoral teaching fellows. This mentorship can enhance the larger teaching and learning environment to improve the educational experience in courses across the department.The teaching‐oriented fellowship provides postdoctoral scholars with experiential training in effective undergraduate education within their discipline, a skill‐set that is not often developed in a traditional postdoctoral position. The professor serves as a mentor, role model, and collaborator in both teaching and research to the teaching fellow. As a nutrition scientist, the teaching fellow can manage day‐to‐day activities and teaching personnel, help link research to the classroom, and serve as an intermediary between professor and students.We will discuss our experiences as teaching fellows including the benefits and challenges of the position, the projects we have contributed to, and ideas for the future. We provide examples of evidence‐based teaching that we have incorporated into the classroom, and will also share perspectives from undergraduates in the courses we support.Postdoctoral teaching fellowships can address the increased teaching demands due to larger class sizes, and heighten the quality of undergraduate nutrition education. These positions are advantageous for professors, students, and postdoctoral scholars alike.