Fall 2018 Faculty Speaker Series for High School Biology Teachers

The application for the Fall 2018 Faculty Speaker Series is closed. 

How does structure impact function at the molecular and cellular level, across complex systems or at the level of the organism?  How do biologists use what they already know to hypothesize about function in novel structures? Join us this fall as we hear from scientists in diverse fields and engage in graduate student-led activities that utilize research data and analytical tools.

Program Format and Application Process

All participating teachers commit to attending 5 Thursday afternoon sessions, beginning at 4PM and ending with a light dinner at 6:30PM.  

This fall, we are based on the Cambridge campus in Science Center 418d.  This classroom is smaller than previous classrooms we have used and therefore fall enrollment will be limited. Please check your calendar before applying to ensure that, if accepted, you will attend all 5 sessions (if there is an extenuating circumstance on one date, please email Susan Johnson). Please take a moment to seriously evaluate your ability to participate so that our hard-working graduate students are not staring sadly at your empty seat!  

Five Thursday afternoon sessions will take place from 4-7PM on:

• Week 1 October 11th
• Week 2 October 25th
• Week 3 November 8th
• Week 4 November 15th
• Week 5 December 6th

This program is FREE of charge and funded by the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning.  All participants will receive a PDP certificate upon completion of the program.

Applications are due on Friday, September 14th.  Applicants must be full-time high school life sciences teachers or curriculum directors at public, private, parochial or charter schools in New England. Applicants will be notified of their status by September 21st.  To confirm receipt and hold their place in the program, accepted applicants must respond to their acceptance email by September 28th.  Forty teachers will be accepted to this program. Program communication takes place via email. 

The Derek Bok Center - Life Sciences Outreach Partnership

The mission of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning is to elevate the quality of teaching at all levels. The Center offers avenues through which faculty and graduate students develop teaching and communication skills in their disciplines.  The Socially Engaged Learning initiative at the Bok Center provides interested faculty and graduate students the unique opportunity to practice these important skills in front of novel important audiences.  This fall, each afternoon will consist of a faculty talk and a coordinated activity that is led by a graduate student from the presenting faculty member’s laboratory.  We are excited to engage with you in this new, collaborative model. As we continue to develop Outreach programming that leverages our participating teachers’ deep pedagogical knowledge alongside our graduate students’ deep content knowledge, we look forward to hearing your ideas about how we might best utilize your classroom experience and expertise to improve graduate student experiences.

If you have questions, please contact: