OHS Science Instructor

The Stanford Online High School (OHS) is an accredited, diploma-granting independent school serving students in grades 7-12. The OHS brings together academically talented and motivated students from around the world into a vibrant intellectual community with teachers who are passionate about their disciplines, accomplished in their fields, and above all, dedicated to teaching. In the discussion seminar, a cornerstone of the OHS education, students and teachers engage in a rigorous academic program that develops the critical reasoning and argumentation skills so essential for success at the collegiate level and beyond. Beyond the classroom, students and instructors continue to collaborate in a dynamic school community, centered on student clubs, activities, competitions, and student publications.

Information about Online High School can be found at http://epgy.stanford.edu/ohs

PLEASE NOTE: This is a fixed-term, potentially renewable position, through June 30, 2016

Responsibilities:

The OHS science curriculum is designed to provide all students with the scientific knowledge and critical-thinking skills necessary to engage with science outside of the classroom and beyond high-school, but also to afford flexibility to allow interested students to explore a discipline more deeply. An instructor of science at OHS has a deep understanding of a particular field but is interested in how that field intersects with other areas of science. In addition, instructors are capable of developing and/or implementing innovative lab-based courses.

The OHS Science Instructor (SI) will have responsibilities encompassing instructional and course development efforts:

Instruction of students: This includes leading online discussion sections, recording online lectures, evaluating student assignments, providing feedback to students on their assignments, reporting on student progress to the OHS counseling staff, coordinating instructional efforts with other instructors in the division and department, and so forth. A typical full-time instructor in the OHS is expected to teach a range of courses, typically amounting to four seminar-style courses. The instructor may teach a range of different courses, including seminar-style courses and independent study courses.

Development efforts: Development efforts include developing curriculum for new courses and the implementation of the courses in the OHS online course environment. This includes the development of a course syllabus, the development of assessments and assignments, the development of lectures and other online asynchronous instructional materials supporting the students in the course, and the development of frameworks for the synchronous seminar component of the course. Because new courses are offered concurrent with their development, the efforts spent developing courses will overlap with efforts spent on course instruction. As members of the Online High School staff, instructors are encouraged to pursue opportunities that will allow them to contribute within Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies (SPCS).

The SI will be expected to work on the Stanford Campus. In the event that class schedules require a significant amount of early morning or late night teaching, a remote work agreement will be possible allowing some of the work to be done off site.

Qualifications:

The SI is required to have an advanced degree in a science field or a related subject, with a Ph.D. preferred. Prior experience teaching Science at the high school or college level is required. Additionally, experience teaching at the middle school level is desirable. Prior experience in gifted education is desirable as is prior experience with independent schools.

Prior experience teaching online courses is also desirable for the SI, particularly experience with one or more of the following:

• computer-based instruction,
• distance learning,
• virtual classrooms, web conferencing, video conferencing,
• teaching with technology, such as video or multimedia.

It is highly desirable that the SI have one or more of the following:

• experience teaching laboratory courses,
• experience teaching science with an intense use of mathematics,
• knowledge of historical and modern scienctific research and applications of Science,
• appreciation for the relationship between the science disciplines.

Because the SI will be involved in course development projects, it is desirable that the SI have prior experience either developing curriculum or developing online courses. It is preferable that this experience include the design of a laboratory component. Prior supervisory experience is also desirable.

The SI should be proficient in the use of the computer and familiar with commonly used computer programs such as Word, PowerPoint, Adobe, email, and so on.