The wide discrepancy between the quality of the job candidate's research talk and teaching demonstration indicates inadequate preparation for the teaching component of the job interview. In short, the candidate shows little ability to help others learn the process of science.
Furthermore, the job candidate expects the audience to sit passively and absorb knowledge. The candidate interprets all the graphs and data for the audience, presents conclusions, and only intermittently asks whether the audience has any questions. However, during the teaching demonstration portion of the interview, rather than engaging the audience in the learning process, the candidate delivers a presentation with too many slides, each of which is packed with factual information. It is an all-too-familiar scenario: The job candidate for a biology department faculty position gives an outstanding research seminar, showing skill in formulating a hypothesis, carrying out meaningful research, analyzing data, forming conclusions, and translating work into the larger picture of science and society-it is an effective demonstration of the process of science.
