Summer Session

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Summer Session Team Teaching

• Elizabeth Nichols
• Graduate Student TA Training Workshop
• January 8, 2007

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Summer Session Teaching
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Why teach summer school?

• Gain experience planning a course
• Gain experience in public speaking
• Great addition to your CV
• Learn to explain complicated concepts clearly
• You get paid

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What should I teach?

• Intro Course
• Not the same as an intro course taught during
  school year
• Specialized Course
• Something done previously (Abnormal Psych,
  Conflict Negotiation, Peak Performance, etc)
• Something new
• Usually must have at least 5 students enrolled

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Who attends summer school?

• Wide variety of education levels and ages
• High school students
• Undergrads (Stanford and non-Stanford)
• Grad students (Stanford and non-Stanford, usually
  not psych majors)
• Random others

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What problems have others experienced?

• High-school students can act like high-school
  students

• Dont know how to take notes or follow lecture
• Provide outline and/or cheat sheets
• Talk to students after first exam
• Provide emotional support if needed

• Talk or sleep throughout class
• Take charge early on

• Do poorly and dont care
• Refer to Summer Session at Stanford

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What problems have others experienced?

• Teaching to wide variety of education levels
• Keep everyone interested and involved
• Various other student-specific problems
• Plagiarism

• Dont show up for exams or make-up exams

• Students that dont want to be taught by females

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What resources are available?

• Center for Teaching and Learning
• 723-1326
• http//ctl.stanford.edu/
• Stanford Disability Resource Center
• 723-1066
• http//www.stanford.edu/group/DRC/
• Summer Session at Stanford
• 723-3109
• http//summersession.stanford.edu/summer/

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How do I make the class go well?

• Make coursework site and put books on reserve
  before class starts
• Come to class prepared (notes, slides, etc.)
• Clearly state expectations and grading basis
• Be available to students
• Ask for feedback (mid-course evaluations)

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How do I make lectures go well?

• Complement text with other materials
• Encourage discussion
• Dont assume any background knowledge
• Take break if teaching more than 50 min.
• Expect to be surprised

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Teach alone or with others?
Each method has benefits

• Teaching Alone
• Complete control over course
• More money
• Looks great on CV

• Team Teaching
• Dynamic and interactive learning environment
• Inspire collaborations and new ideas
• Less work per person

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Team Teaching

• Team Teaching Benefits and Challenges by
  Melissa Levitt, 2006

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Models of Team Teaching

• Interactive Model- all instructors present and
  active throughout course
• Rotational Model- each instructor teaches subset
  of course
• Dispersed Model- some lectures taught by all
  instructors, some taught by only one instructor

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Be a Team

• Plan everything together
• Before school starts

• Throughout the course

• Attend one anothers lectures
• Refer to co-instructors ideas
• Use common grading procedures

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Talk Even When Not in Charge

• Acting like an exemplary student encourages
  discussion and feeling of equality in class

• Model learner

• Observer

• Discussion leader

• Devils advocate

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Encourage discussion

• Model debate with co-instructors
• Ask open questions
• Let the students speak

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Conclusion

• Summer school teaching and team teaching are both
  valuable and educational experiences.
• The more you put into to each the more you will
  gain.