Practice Teaching

The Knaphus Teaching Fellowship allowed graduate student Karri Haen the time necessary to not only develop the course materials for an introductory biology course last year, but it also gave her the opportunity to teach her very first college course.

Karri Haen is no stranger to the classroom. The doctoral student in genetics has taught recitation courses and assisted with classroom instruction in accompanying labs.

But planning, preparing and delivering lectures throughout an entire course — that was entirely different.

Thanks to the Knaphus Teaching Fellowship at Iowa State University, Haen and other recipients have had the opportunity to plan, prepare and deliver lectures in their very own class.

"I had a fairly extensive teaching background," Haen said, "but I had always worked with others in putting the class materials together. This was my first opportunity to teach a lecture and teach it on my own accord."

The Knaphus Teaching Fellowship was established by the late Marie Knaphus in honor of her husband George, a long-time botany professor on campus. George Knaphus was passionate about inspiring young minds and conducting research concerning fungi, particularly morel mushrooms.

In establishing the paid fellowship, Marie Knaphus wanted to give graduate students in ecology, evolution or organismal biology the opportunity to teach biology each summer.

"Students come in and are handed a course to teach," she once said, "but they have little idea how to go about it because they’ve never had any teaching methods courses. Traditionally at the university level, student teachers often learn by doing."

Haen’s opportunity came last summer. She taught Biology 101, a month-long introductory course for non-majors and was mentored by biology professor and award-winning teacher Jim Colbert.

"I was allowed to do what I wanted to do in the course," Haen says. "Graduate students aren’t allowed that opportunity too often."

"It was an unique experience for me. In courses I have helped teach before, the material is outlined for you. This was completely different than that."

The Knaphus Fellowship provided a stipend for Haen for the summer. The stipend not only covered her time in the classroom, but the month she used in preparation for the course.

"The stipend relieved a lot of stress for me," she said. "I was able to stay in my office and prepare the lectures for the class. In fact I had all my lectures ready before the first class period."

"The really unique thing about the Knaphus Fellowship is that it isn’t just the opportunity or the money," Haen continued, "but also the fact that Dr. Colbert served as my mentor throughout the fellowship."

There were also days when Colbert would attend her class, providing her "helpful criticism."

The experience in front of the classroom proved invaluable to Haen in a number of ways. She says she picked up great points on how to be an effective classroom instructor, developed a sense of understanding when it comes to teaching non-majors biology, and validated her career choice.

"I want to be a college professor in biology and teach at a smaller school," she said. "I want to learn how to prepare students for an occupation in the sciences and not just force feed them facts."

"The Knaphus Fellowship helped me know what I want to do as a career and how I want to pursue that career."

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