Lab Teaching Assistant

The Lab Teaching Staff is part of the Department of Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt University and is responsible for assisting in the education of students in multiple major disciplines, primarily Pre-Health Professional. This position has staff persons to teach, develop coursework, and to implement the overall Academic Goals of the Department and University. Lab Teaching Staff allow the Course Coordinator to maintain a consistent level of education across all lab sections of each of the Introductory Biology Laboratory courses offered. Reporting directly to the Course Coordinator, the Lab Teaching Staff, interact directly with undergraduate students, graduate students, Introductory Biology Laboratory Faculty, Departmental Faculty, and may have interactions outside of the Department with other schools within Vanderbilt University, and abroad to other institutions on a daily basis.

The Lab Teaching Staff will be responsible for implementing the directives of the Course Coordinator. The Lab Teaching Staff will both teach multiple sections within the Introductory Biology Laboratory courses, and prepare all of the chemical reagents and laboratory equipment needed for any given experiment. Additionally, the Lab Teaching Staff is responsible for responding to student and TA inquiries both inside and outside of the laboratory and offering guidance to graduate teaching assistants. Ultimately, the Lab Teaching Staff is responsible for the success of the following Introductory Laboratory Biology Courses: BSCI 1510L, 1511L, and 1512L.

The Lab Teaching Staff will work with other team members in a progressive, communal, and professional atmosphere that encourages innovation and progress while consistently maintaining a high standard to keep the Introductory Biology Laboratory courses operating at a high level of educational outreach for the development of undergraduates.

The Department of Biological Sciences has an excellent staff to facilitate issue resolution involving personnel, financial management, supply and equipment orders proposal submission, and infrastructure. The faculty in the department carry out diverse research projects and often collaborate with other members within the department and in nearby departments. This department covers a broad spectrum of biology, from molecules and cells to tissues and organisms to populations and ecosystems. Award-winning faculty and graduate students teach and carry out research in Biochemistry, Structural Biology and Biophysics, Cell Biology, Genetics, Molecular Biology, Computational Biology, Evolutionary Biology, Ecology, Developmental Biology, and Neurobiology.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Work with the Course Coordinator to design and implement laboratory activities that will emphasize key learning objectives for the courses taught.
• Teach two or more sections of Introductory Biology Laboratory courses (BSCI 1510L, 1511L, 1512L) for majors each semester. This includes mentoring students conducting a laboratory research experiment in BSCI 1510L and designing/implementing an introductory level research project in BSCI 1512L.