Excellent Teaching Starts With Training
We connect research and practice to improve teaching professional development (TPD) of biology graduate and undergraduate instructors.
We provide those running TPD programs resources and networking to support teaching quality and effectiveness.
join our network for the Latest updates!
BioTAP’s 6th Virtual Conference
is Oct. 24-25, 2024
Go to the vConference web page to register,
submit an abstract, or view the program
Milestones
We’re starting our 2nd decade of BioTAP!
This year marks BioTAP’s 11th anniversary. We’re still growing and building on our core mission: to help individuals and institutions provide effective TA teaching professional development!
New Resource!
TPD Catalyst is a new resource under development as part of the Evolving the Culture of Biology program (ECB). It will be a living repository of peer-reviewed TPD information including curriculum modules, TPD assignments, and evidence-based teaching resources that individuals and institutions can incorporate into a locally tailored Teaching Professional Development programs.
This resource is a collaboration between the ECB leadership team, several cohorts of ECB Scholars, and the BioTAP Network of TPD providers and Catalyst users.
Who We Are
BioTAP began in 2013 as a network to bring together Biology TA TPD providers from many institutions. Often TPD providers work in isolation with little empirical research to inform effective TPD practices. Our goal was to bring together TPD practitioners to share their ideas and build capacity for empirical research on TPD practices.
Today there are over 350 BioTAP network members located across the US, Canada, South America, Europe, and beyond!
Why We Are Needed
Undergraduate institutions are under increasing pressure to improve teaching and learning in introductory science courses. Many students’ one on one interactions are mainly with graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants (GTAs & UTAs).
While GTAs and UTAs play critical roles in introductory courses that are gateways to the biology major, often they do not get enough evidence-based teaching professional development.
What We Do
We want to help more institutions provide effective TPD for GTAs and UTAs, so that they can deliver the best possible teaching and learning environment for undergraduate students in their classes
Our Network:
- Shares resources and support for TPD providers
- Provides opportunities to share ideas about effective TPD practices
- Promotes empirical research on TPD effectiveness
- Advocates for TPD programs for graduate and undergraduate instructors at all institutions.
What We Provide
BioTAP holds a virtual conference each year where researchers and TPD providers present work on improving teaching practices. Videos of presentations from past years are available on our YouTube Channel.
The BioTAP Scholars program (2015-2021) worked with faculty, staff, and graduate students to develop and implement research projects related to TPD practices. Resources to support TPD practices and research on TPD are still available to the community.
In Spring 2023, BioTAP members received grant funding for the ECB Scholars Program which is the next iteration of BioTAP’s mission and goals.
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