The Empowering the Teachers (ETT) program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) invites young, brilliant and upcoming African academics, who recently completed their doctoral degree, to spend an intensive and inclusive semester at MIT in a bid to understudy the mode (& dynamics) of curricula development and content delivery at MIT.
Application Deadline: 1st December, 2016
Eligible Countries: Nigeria
To be taken at (country): Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston, USA
About the Award: MIT-Empowering the Teachers (MIT-ETT) is a teaching-focused fellowship, offered by MIT-AFRICA together with its corporate partner NNPC/Total E& P Nigeria Ltd. MIT-ETT enables Nigerian faculty in science and engineering to experience a semester at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Selected fellows will observe instruction in their disciplines and work as a group under the guidance of MIT faculty member, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Professor Akintunde Ibitayo Akinwande to prepare innovative curricula and approaches to teaching that can be introduced into their home universities on their return.
The aim is to facilitate in African institutions improved teaching content development that is geared towards (1) students-centered content delivery (2) problem solving and (3) creativity. This amongst other things will result in the development new courses and the modification of existing curricula to ones that are geared towards critical thinking, open ended problem solving and hands-on design but also promote innovation and creativity. While at MIT, these African academics developed new course content for their home universities which are consistent with the objectives of developing these skills in their students.
During their semester at MIT, Fellows do the following:
- observe instruction in their own disciplines & subjects
- interact with MIT faculty teaching in their own disciplines & subjects
- develop courses based on problem-solving approach inspired by equivalent course at MIT
- discuss & explore curricular enrichment & reform through both formal and informal interaction with the MIT community
The ultimate goal is to reform their current curricular using new materials, approaches and methods that exemplify the best of MIT’s practices: problem-solving, student-centered, innovation and bringing knowledge to bear on the world’s greatest challenges.
Type: Fellowship/Training
Eligibility: MIT-ETT welcomes applications from all qualified faculty who are:
- Interested in developing new curriculum and teaching methods and consider themselves to be change-agents;
- A faculty member holding a PhD and teach in a department corresponding to Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering or Petroleum Engineering at a university in Nigeria;
- Lecturer One rank. Applications will be thoroughly vetted.
Selection: Candidates will be interviewed in Abuja by MIT faculty and representatives from NNPC/Total E & P during the last week of January 2017. If selected for interviews, you will be notified of your date and time in early January 2017.
MIT-Empowering the Teachers will select up to nine outstanding young faculty fellows from the disciplines of electrical engineering, computer science, computer engineering, mechanical engineering and petroleum engineering from Nigerian universities to spend a semester at MIT in Fall 2017 and Spring 2018. Selected fellows will observe instruction in their disciplines and work as a group to prepare innovative curricula and approaches to teaching that can be introduced into their home universities on their return.
Value of Fellowship: MIT-Empowering the Teachers will cover the travel, living and instructional materials expenses of the participants. The home universities of the successful applicants will commit to provide paid leaves of absence during the period of the MIT program.
The faculty selected to participate in the MIT-ETT program will spend a full semester at MIT observing classes similar to ones they themselves currently teach. They will work on new curricular materials and teaching approaches for adoption in their own classes. During their stay at MIT, they will participate regularly in at least two MIT subjects (including lectures, recitations and tutorials) that correspond to courses the faculty members teach at their home universities. They will attend twice-weekly MIT-Empowering the Teachers Seminar meetings, one which will focus on curriculum review and development led by Professor Akinwande.
Duration of Fellowship: 6 months
How to Apply: To apply, please visit: http://misti.mit.edu/empowering-teachers .
Visit Fellowship Webpage for details
Award Provider: MIT-AFRICA together with its corporate partner NNPC/Total E& P Nigeria Ltd.
