Collaborative Faculty Teaching Models
There are many benefits to collaborative teaching, whether you are co-teaching a single course with another instructor or teaching a course 'linked' or 'connected' with another course. Benefits include, but are not limited to, exposure to different teaching styles, interdisciplinary learning, gaining valuable insight into your own teaching perspectives, and building collegial relationships. Effective collaborative teaching happens when instructors work closely with one another in the planning, execution, and reflection of the course.
Effective connected teaching requires meaningful collaboration
Meaningful collaboration requires that you:
- Reflect on your teaching perspectives
- Identify shared decision points
- Be aware of pressure points
These three priorities are explained in further detail below, including guiding questions for you and your collaborative teaching partner.
Strategies for Collaborative Teaching
Reflect on your teaching perspectives
Have conversations with your teaching partner before the semester begins:
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What do you believe about teaching?
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What is the instructor’s role in the classroom?
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How do you define “good teaching”?
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What are you trying to accomplish in your teaching?
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What you do when you are teaching?
Consider taking the Teaching Perspectives Inventory to reflect on your views and perspectives about teaching, and then compare your results with your co-teacher. Where is there overlap? Where do you diverge?
Together, identify shared teaching decision points
These decision points could include, but are not limited to:
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Student learning outcomes - course, program, and course pairing
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Curriculum design
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Selecting course materials
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Assignment design
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Co-curricular connections
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Special events or experiential learning opportunities
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Course session facilitation
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Semester checkpoints
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How will you measure success? Student reflections? Faculty reflections?
Be aware of collaborative pressure points
Not everything will go perfectly. What will you do if there is conflict between you and your co-teacher? Considering these potential pressure points can help prevent them from occurring and help you decide how to address them:
- Time
- Trust
- Power
- Shared expectations
- Teaching approaches
- Work styles
- Communication styles
- Conflict strategies and management
Additional Resources
Articles
Baldwin, R. G. and D. A. Chang. (2007) Collaborating to learn, learning to collaborate. AAC&U Peer Review, 9(4).
Cowan, M., B. C. Ewell and P. McConnell (2010) Creating conversations: An experiment in interdisciplinary team teaching. College Teaching, 43(4), 127-131.
McCoy, S. K. and S. K. Gardner (2012) Interdisciplinary collaboration on campus: Five questions, Change, November/December 2012, 44-49.
McDaniel, E.A. & Colarulli, G.C. (1997) Collaborative teaching in the face of productivity concerns: The dispersed team model. Innovative Higher Education, 22, 19.
Pukkila, P., DeCosmo, J., Swick, D. C., & Arnold, M. S. (2007). How to engage in collaborative curriculum design to foster undergraduate inquiry and research in all disciplines. Developing and sustaining a research-supportive curriculum: A compendium of successful practices, 341-357.
Books
Amey, M. J. (2004). Breaking Out of the Box: Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Faculty Work. Information Age Publishing.
Frickel, S., Albert, M., & Prainsack, B. (Eds.). (2017). Investigating Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Theory and Practice across Disciplines. Rutgers University Press.
Kezar, A. J., & Lester, J. (2009). Organizing Higher Education for Collaboration: A Guide for Campus Leaders. Jossey-Bass Inc Pub.
Stone, D., & Heen, S. (2014). Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well. Penguin Publishing Group.
Wheelan, S. A. (2004). Faculty Groups: From Frustration to Collaboration. Corwin.
Websites
Drexel University provides a helpful step-by-step guide to Team Teaching, offered through their Teaching and Learning Center website.