First Faculty Forum Examines Team Teaching by Anne Dolan Strategies, strengths and pitfalls of team teaching is the topic of the first Faculty Forum of the season, Monday, Sept. 18. The topic was suggested several times last year by forum participants, according to Steve Richardson, director of the Center for Teaching Excellence, which sponsors the series. Richardson has invited Jim Noxon and Larry Genalo to begin the discussion with summaries of their own team teaching experiences. Each participating faculty member has expertise in a specific area and leads the course for several weeks. The challenge, Noxon said, is to make the process more user- friendly to students, particularly for exams.
Students prefer to learn a teacher's testing style and adjust to it during a semester or year.
Over time, he said, the faculty members have improved the consistency of exams from component to component. Another difficulty, he noted, is that no faculty member feels he or she receives enough time in the semester and crams a lot of information into the time allotted. Yet another consideration, Noxon said, is that the course falls in a sequence when students are expected to be moving from simply regurgitating lecture information to learning critical thinking and problem solving. I don't feel we have it down to an art. Due to their other teaching and clinic responsibilities, however, it remains the most acceptable option to the participating faculty, he said.