Example Career: Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary

Career Description

Teach courses pertaining to the chemical and physical properties and compositional changes of substances. Work may include instruction in the methods of qualitative and quantitative chemical analysis. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching, and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

What Job Titles Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary Might Have

• Assistant Professor
• Chemistry Instructor
• Chemistry Professor
• Professor

What Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary Do

• Evaluate and grade students' class work, laboratory performance, assignments, and papers.
• Supervise students' laboratory work.
• Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
• Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, and chemical separation.
• Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
• Establish, teach, and monitor students' compliance with safety rules for handling chemicals, equipment, and other hazardous materials.
• Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, and course materials and methods of instruction.
• Supervise undergraduate or graduate teaching, internship, and research work.
• Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
• Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
• Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media.
• Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students.
• Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.
• Advise students on academic and vocational curricula and on career issues.
• Write grant proposals to procure external research funding.
• Collaborate with colleagues to address teaching and research issues.
• Serve on academic or administrative committees that deal with institutional policies, departmental matters, and academic issues.
• Select, order, and maintain materials and supplies for teaching and research, such as textbooks, chemicals, and laboratory equipment.
• Participate in student recruitment, registration, and placement activities.
• Serve on committees or in professional societies.
• Act as advisers to student organizations.
• Perform administrative duties, such as serving as a department head.

What Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary Should Be Good At

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

What Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary Should Be Interested In

• Investigative - Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
• Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

What Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary Need to Learn

• Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub- atomic structures and processes.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.