Teaching Sample
Prospective Science adjuncts are evaluated on their performance during a teaching sample and informal interview. Below you will find information and resources to help guide you through a successful evaluation. If you should require clarification or guidance, feel free to email your primary faculty contact. At this point, you should already be in communication with a faculty member serving as your primary contact. Your primary contact may informally interview you over the phone, or ask to meet with you prior to your sample. Please use this time to gain as much information regarding the position, course, department, or College as you would like.
Day of the Teaching Sample
Getting Here and Setup
On the day of the teaching sample, please arrive at least 30 minutes prior to your sample to set up. Interactive campus and building maps (specifically McDivitt) are located here. Feel free to dress however you would feel comfortable teaching. Your primary faculty contact, or another member of the department will be present to get you in to the room and help with any technology needs. For your teaching sample, you can expect a computer with projection abilities and an internet connection to be present. Most computers will also have DVD drives and USB II ports for flash drives, but please plan on a contingency plan should these drives not function properly. Also, you will have a projection-capable document camera and a dry erase board at your disposal. Once you are set up, you may use your extra time to tour our facilities, meet our faculty, talk with students and staff, and really get a sense for our community. Vending machines are in the main lobby.
The Teaching Sample
Plan for a teaching sample on the topic given to you by your primary faculty contact. Your primary contact will email you PowerPoint art slides that you may choose to use for your presentation, and may also have other resources for you, depending on availability. Some PowerPoint art may be available below, but check with your contact before developing your sample. Also, do not feel limited to work with only the art provided.
Your actual teaching sample should last for 30 minutes and satisfactorily cover the topic assigned. You may assume that the audience (generally consisting of faculty members, but may include students) are your students and will have come to class having read the chapter for the lecture you are about to deliver. Any interaction on the part of the audience will be as students in your class, not as Science faculty. Make sure you adequately explain the anatomy involved in your system, but please do not ignore the physiological processes involved, and if there is time, certainly discuss interesting clinical, biological, or other ramifications of your assigned topic. We are looking for excellent instructors with a passion for teaching and a sufficiently deep background in science. Following (and sometimes during) the sample you may expect questions from the audience (your students); continue role playing your part as an instructor.
The Interview
Following your teaching sample, plan to talk with the faculty for about 30 minutes. Please be yourself. The faculty would like a chance to get to know you and your background. This is also a time for you to ask questions of us. We feel the more you know and understand the courses you may be teaching, the better the relationship we will have. We also will want to gauge your depth of experience with the curriculum material and teaching, so please come prepared to talk Science.
Follow Up
After the interview, the faculty will give you a rough schedule as to notification of future staffing. There are generally several qualified candidates per position with whom we meet, so final decisions as to staffing are made after all teaching samples and interviews. If we are unable to offer you a position in the upcoming semester, have us add you to our roster of interested adjuncts.
Powerpoint Art
Physiological Control of the Cardiovascular System, Tortora & Derrickson, 11th Ed. (for Educational Purposes Only)
