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Individual Course

Harvard Bok Higher Education Teaching Certificate

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Course Length

9 weeks

8–10 hours a week

Featuring faculty from:

Harvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences LogoHarvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences

Enroll as Individual

Certificate Price:

$ 2,911

Apply by Sep 30, 2025

Apply Now

Enroll as Individual

Certificate Price:

$ 2,911

Apply by Sep 30, 2025

Apply Now

Explore Higher Education Teaching and its practices offered by Harvard’s Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning to create an engaging learning environment.

The Higher Education Teaching Certificate, inspired by the in-person seminar program currently offered by Harvard’s Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, provides you with effective postsecondary education teaching methods. Over eight weeks, you’ll engage deeply with, and reflect on, your practices, portfolio, and journey in the higher education field. Guided by experts, you’ll explore various approaches to pedagogy, discover the most relevant research on how students learn, and broaden your range of teaching skills. Learn how to adopt a more conscious, collaborative, and refined approach to your teaching practice.

The course will be delivered via Get Smarter.

Instructor-Paced

Get Smarter

  • Harry M.
  • LaTonya A., MA LPC

Harvard Case Method Premium Learning

Learning Outcome

Apply rapport-building techniques to create a positive, supportive, and inclusive postsecondary education learning environment

Learning Outcome

Deliver an effective, memorable lesson that bridges the knowledge gap between yourself and your students

Learning Outcome

Raise your institutional profile as a reflective teacher through effective third-level education teaching practices

Faculty

Your Instructor

Robert A. Lue

Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University

Robert A. Lue, a professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and the Richard L. Menschel Faculty Director of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University, passed away in November 2020. Rob fostered innovative teaching in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), elevating its profile on campus. Rob taught in undergraduate courses from 1988 until his death, garnering recognition as one of Harvard’s foremost leaders in undergraduate education.  Prior to his teaching career, Rob earned his Ph.D. in Biology from Harvard University, creating a longstanding passion for and commitment to interdisciplinary teaching and research. From 2004 to 2015, he served as the director of Life Sciences Education at Harvard, where he led a complete redesign of the introductory curriculum leading to some of the most popular science courses on campus. In 2012, Rob became the faculty director of HarvardX due to his extensive work in using technology innovations in learning. At HarvardX, Harvard’s university-wide initiative that includes the edX partnership in online education with MIT, he helped define the university’s engagement in online learning in a way that reinforces its commitment to teaching excellence. He also served as the UNESCO Chair on Life Sciences and Social Innovation; and as faculty director and principal investigator of LabXchange, an online science education platform. In addition to his final role as the faculty director of the Harvard Ed Portal, Rob worked on integrating undergraduate education with community outreach on Harvard’s Allston campus.

Your Instructor

David Levari

Postdoctoral Research Associate at Harvard Business School
Read full bio.

Your Instructor

Pamela Pollock

Director of Professional Development, The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University
Read full bio.

Your Instructor

Adam Beaver

Director of Pedagogy and Practice, The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learningat Harvard University Read full bio.

The course was a genuinely life-changing event for me. I gained a solid understanding of contemporary teaching methods and the evolving higher education scene thanks to the course's broad, thorough, and very relevant content.
Harry M.
Dental Technology Lecturer
Thanks to the Harvard Bok Center, I now feel prepared and confident for my first day in the classroom, despite starting with little to no knowledge of teaching methods. I'm eager to apply what I've learned to create a supportive and engaging classroom.
LaTonya A., MA LPC
Data Science for Business values

About the certificate

Hone your teaching skills and earn a premier certificate from Harvard's Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, in association with HarvardX.

Assessment is continuous and based on a series of practical assignments completed online. In order to be issued with your digital certificate, you’ll need to meet the requirements outlined in the course handbook. The handbook will be made available to you as soon as you begin the course.

Your digital certificate will be issued in your legal name and sent to you upon successful completion of the course, as per the stipulated requirements.