Pedagogy, Teaching & Outreach Opportunities
- Career Resources
- COVID-19-related Resources
- Difficult Work Environments
- Family Resources
- Financial Resources
- International Postdoc Resources
- JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) Resources
- Mailing Lists and Slack
- Mental Health Resources
- Pedagogy, Teaching & Outreach Opportunities
- Tax Implications for Postdocs on Fellowships
- Transportation and Housing Guide
Postdoc Teaching Certificate
The Postdoc Teaching Certificate is offered through the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs to provide teaching preparation and practice to postdoctoral scholars. Teaching is integral to the professional development of many postdocs, especially those seeking academic careers.This certificate has been developed to provide a framework on which to build your skills, practice new techniques, and reflect on the experience.The certificate requires approximately 100 hours to complete, and can be completed in one year, or over the course of several years. The preparation, practice, assessment, and reflection will be compiled to serve as the basis of your teaching portfolio, the capstone piece of the certificate.
For more information visit: https://postdocs.stanford.edu/events/series/postdoc-teaching-certificate
Pedagogy Opportunities
Many of these opportunities are organized by the OPA (office of postdoctoral affairs) or VPTL (Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning)
Postdoc Pedagogy Journal Club
https://postdocs.stanford.edu/events/series/postdoc-pedagogy-journal-club
A monthly cross-field Journal Club to explore various topics around teaching methods and pedagogical theory. Lunch provided.
Teaching Workshop
https://postdocs.stanford.edu/Node/625
A two-day teaching improvement workshop for postdoctoral scholars in the biomedical or life sciences is designed to enhance participants’ versatility as teachers
Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning
https://ctl.stanford.edu/teaching-support
They support evidence-based and inclusive learning and teaching practices, educational programs and training, community building, and strong collaborations and partnerships with schools, departments, and other offices
Outreach Opportunities
Also noted below are programs that have offered online/ virtual opportunities in response to the global pandemic. Labeled with (ONLINE/VIRTUAL)
Goggles Optional Podcast
Goggles Optional is a podcast where scientists from Stanford University provide their professional yet humorous takes from the world of science.
Taste of Science (Online/Virtual)
https://tasteofscience.org/peninsula-production
Taste of science brings researchers out of their labs to present their work in bars, cafes, museums or parks. Monthly events and annual festival.
Star: Science Teaching Through Art
http://scienceteachingthroughart.com/
STAR helps researchers on campus create pieces that are simultaneously attention-grabbing and thought-provoking.
Neuwrite West
A forum in which scientists interested in writing and writers interested in science can come together to share and critique one another’s work.
Science Penpals
https://www.stanfordsciencepenpals.com/
Stanford Science Penpals connects 6th-12th graders across the U.S. to Stanford scientists.
Astronomy on Tap
Speakers from Stanford, SLAC, NASA Ames, UC Berkeley, and elsewhere around The Bay present at local bars.
Fascinate
https://fascinatepublication.org
Provide a regular and interesting source of science communication, through this website, writing workshops, and speaker events.
Stanfordgrams
https://oso.stanford.edu/student-outreach/37-stanford-grams
Outreach program where students share their scientific research with senior citizens in the nearby community.
Dishonscience
https://thedishonscience.stanford.edu
A science blogging club for Stanford students.
Nightlife @ Cal Academy of Science
https://www.calacademy.org/nightlife
Featuring a new theme each week, after-hours access to all exhibits, and special programming. Postdocs can design an interactive presentation/ demo fitting the theme.
For more outreach opportunities visit the Office of Science Outreach: https://oso.stanford.edu/involved#communication_resources/
Teaching Opportunities
Short-Term Adjunct / Lecturer Positions
Many local teaching-focused universities often need an instructor for a class for a single term. in The CSU (California State University) system is the public Bachelors and Master’s granting institution. These opportunities are advertised often through the postdoc teaching list serve.
- CSU East Bay (public)
- San Jose State University (public)
- San Francisco State University (public)
- Santa Clara University (private)
- University of San Francisco (private)
- Mills College (private)
For local community colleges (public, Associates degree-granting), you can apply to be in their “Lecturer Pool.” However, there’s no guarantee that you will be assigned a class. Here’s a link to CA community colleges: https://www.cccco.edu/Students/Find-a-College
Carpentries @ Stanford Libraries (Online / Virtual)
Contact: Amy E. Hodge, Science Data Librarian
The Stanford University chapter of the Carpentries non-profit, which teaches foundational coding and data science skills to researchers worldwide. The libraries host shorter 2 hour workshops and OPA hosts full immersion 2-day workshops. As an instructor you will teach graduate students, postdocs, and staff programming skills (bash, Git, R, Python, SQL) for reproducible research.
Clubes de Ciencia
http://www.clubesdeciencia.org/
A non-profit organization that organizes hands-on week-long workshops in STEM to kids in developing countries at no cost.
Clubes de Ciencia, Mexico
Postdocs and Graduate students design and teach one-week hands-on workshops in Mexico (speaking Spanish is not a requirement).
Science is Elementary (Online / Virtual)
https://www.scienceiselementary.org/
Bring exciting hands-on experiments to local undeserved elementary school classrooms.
Splash (Online / Virtual)
Splash is a program that brings students in grades 8-12 from Bay Area to Stanford’s campus for a weekend. Occurs twice a year in Spring and Fall.
Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies
Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies advances the education of academically talented, intellectually curious, pre-college students.
Research Mentorship
Teaching is more than the classroom. Don’t forget that research mentoring IS teaching! Consider hosting a high school student, undergraduate, community college student, high school science teacher for a summer research project. There are many programs at Stanford that take care of the recruitment and selection process and you just have to volunteer as the advisor.
The Office of Science Outreach at Stanford has the full list of programs by department and by audience.
