The supervised teaching component of P2P features an extensive menu of teaching and development opportunities, coupled to a mentoring and supervision plan that ensure that those opportunities are used to full advantage by each GAANN Fellow.
I. Classroom Opportunities for Supervised Teaching. Duke Chemistry has a rich and successful tradition of supervised teaching opportunities for chemistry graduate students in both lecture and lab components of a broad range of courses. These opportunities, highlighted below, form the core of P2P and will be enhanced as described to serve GAANN Fellows and chemistry graduate students interested in teaching careers.
Co-instructor in Flipped Classrooms. Duke and Duke Chemistry are actively engaged in the development flipped format courses in which lectures and other visual resources are posted on line and class periods are devoted to evidence-based team based learning activities. The Department now has several sections of various courses (Introduction to Chemistry, Core Concepts in Chemistry, Honors Chemistry, Organic Chemistry I and II) that are taught in a flipped format. Chemistry graduate students interested in education have the opportunity to serve as co-instructors with a faculty member in these courses, through which the student co-instructor has opportunities for supervised development of teaching modules and in-class, active learning activities, as well as daily interaction and feedback from the supervising faculty member.
Course and Laboratory Development. Chemistry graduate students work closely with faculty mentors to develop new courses and instructional tools for learning assessment and in doing so, gain valuable experience in curriculum development. Selected, recent student-faculty collaborations include: (i) a new team-based learning version of general chemistry (Claire Siburt and Prof. MacPhail); (ii) a new seminar course Chemistry and Physics of Cooking (Keely Glass and Prof. Charbonneau); and, (iii) new Mathematica tools and active lessons for physical chemistry (Nick Pollizi and Prof. Beratan). Interested Fellows also have the opportunity to work closely with teaching staff and faculty to develop new undergraduate laboratories. Over the past few years, we have involved graduate students in the lab curriculum development for introductory, organic, and advanced synthetic techniques laboratories. Graduate students who have an interest in laboratory design have the opportunity to co-instruct CHEM 420, Advanced Synthetic Techniques, a capstone laboratory experience for senior undergraduates interested in an ACS-certified degree. In the course, instructors and students co-develop labs based on the personal interests of the undergraduates, and these projects often become part of the curriculum.
Freshman Seminar. Perhaps the most innovative and valuable teaching experience available to GAANN Fellows is the development and execution of a course as part of the First-Year Seminar Program. This experience involves a cohort of 3-5 graduate students who, over four consecutive semesters, develop and deliver a freshman chemistry seminar under the supervision of a faculty member. The topic and curriculum is developed in first semester, the course is taught in the second semester, assessed and revised in the third semester, and retaught in the fourth semester. Three cohorts of chemistry graduate students (14 total) have used this experience to develop Seminar courses in Forensic Chemistry, Chemistry of Art and Archeology, and Food Chemistry. The program has been remarkably successful: (i) graduate students of each cohort have presented their work at national chemistry and education conferences; (ii) Forensics led to a publication (J. Chem. Ed. 2008, 85, 807); (iii) Art and Archeology has been transplanted to two other institutions; (iv) Food Chemistry is currently being offered online at a small, private liberal arts college; and, (v) of the 14 graduate student participants, all graduated and are employed; eight hold chemistry faculty positions and one is a chemistry learning specialist.
Additional opportunities for supervised teaching that will continue to be available to GAANN Fellows include: developing online learning modules under the direction of Prof. Canelas through Duke’s Bass Connections program, mentored guest lecturing in Department courses and associated feedback and discussion with the instructor of record, and participation in the development and implementation of the Departmental Safety Training Workshop.
II. Additional Professional Development Opportunities. The existing infrastructure at Duke provides graduate students numerous opportunities to receive supervised instruction in teaching and pedagogy. Our GAANN program will leverage this infrastructure and augment it with a series of programs and opportunities available through the Department.
Graduate School Programs. The Graduate School offers teaching and pedagogical training through three centerpiece programs: (1) the Certificate in College Teaching (CCT), a ~one-year program that provides formal, systematic pedagogical training in current best practices in teaching and learning, the use of academic technology in the classroom, and assessment of student learning outcomes; (2) the Teaching IDEAS (Instructional Development for Excellence and Success) workshop series, through which invited speakers provide insight an instruction in a range of topics including classroom teaching, teacher/student interactions, faculty life, and career paths in education; (3) Duke’s Preparing Future Faculty program (PFF), a year long program that prepares graduate students for the broad range of faculty roles, responsibilities, and challenges of being a faculty member at a range of institutions and provides a wider range of educational experiences than are generally available to students in their Duke departments.
Academic Resource Center (ARC). GAANN Fellows will receive supervised instruction in teaching and pedagogy though the activities of the University’s Academic Resource Center (ARC) and the associated Science Advancement through Group Engagement (SAGE) Program. The ARC supports the academic development of Duke undergraduates while the SAGE program targets at risk first- and second-year undergraduates who have interest in and high potential for STEM careers. These opportunities include: (i) shadowing ARC learning specialists; (ii) contributing to the ARC’s pedagogical research efforts and ongoing research projects; (iii) participating in staff development workshops and journal clubs; and, (iv) participation in the training and development of the SAGE TAs.
Pedagogically Effective Chemical Demonstrations. Excellent resources are available within the Department for instruction in the area of chemical demonstration though Sharing Chemistry with the Community (CHM 180), a service learning course presented by resident demonstrator Dr. Ken Lyle that involves the development, presentation, and evaluation of chemical demonstrations and methods that help younger students understand chemical principles and concepts. Interested students can further hone their demonstration skills by participating in the highly successful Duke Chemistry Outreach program.
III. Individualized Supervision, Mentoring, and Evaluation. Our supervision, mentoring, and evaluation plan for GAANN Fellows builds upon the proven framework provided by our experience with the CCT and PFF programs. The GAANN program steering committee will work with each fellow to compile an individualized three-person Teaching Mentorship Committee (TMC). Each student’s TMC will include 1-2 regular-rank Duke Faculty members and 1-2 members from either the instructional faculty, local interdisciplinary/inter-institutional representatives from Duke or another local University, or a Departmental alumnus whose career is in teaching. Each GAANN Fellow will work with her or his TMC to create a package of experiences in both teaching instruction and supervised teaching from the menu of options outlined in Subsections I and II, above. With TMC advisement, GAANN Fellows will construct a personal development plan that is reviewed annually and build a coherent catalog of experiences and rigorous programs and courses that are aligned with that plan.
Supervision. A hallmark of the GAANN teaching experience is that it is truly supervised. In their teaching, all of the GAANN Fellows will be supervised by a regular-rank faculty member who contributes to the undergraduate teaching mission of the Department. No GAANN Fellows will be used to teach courses that would otherwise be taught by faculty. Fellows will meet weekly with supervising faculty to obtain regular feedback regarding their teaching efforts.
Observation and Evaluation. One of the central mechanisms for mentoring and evaluation of GAANN Fellows will be through observation and feedback of their teaching efforts by faculty and teaching staff. GAANN Fellows will be observed in a teaching role on at least two occasions per course by the members of the Fellow’s TMC, who will subsequently provide written and face-to-face feedback. The observation/feedback cycle will be reciprocated, as Fellows will also conduct at least two observations of faculty teaching. Fellows will also participate in Teaching Triangles, a peer-observation program for graduate student instructors and TAs organized through the CCT program. Teaching triangles comprise three peer instructors, each of whom has completed training in peer teaching observation practices, and who will observe one or more class presented by each triangle partner. The teaching triangle members then reflect on the class observation experience and share these observations and reflections with their triangle partners. To evaluate long-term teaching development, each Fellow will create an online teaching portfolio that includes a current CV, teaching statement, and other relevant materials such as sample syllabi and student evaluations that are of the appropriate rigor and scope for use in job applications. These online teaching portfolios will be evaluated by each Fellow’s peer group and TMC.
