Step-by-Step Guide to Team Teaching

Human learning is relational. Before embarking on your course, spend some time building a professional relationship with your teaching partner. Knowing each other’s disciplinary interests, pedagogical approaches, and work style preferences can help foster a more productive working relationship–and result in a more harmonious student experience.

• Start building a relationship. Much like our students, we learn best when we feel a sense of belonging, trust, and psychological safety. Invest in getting to know each other's intellectual/creative interests through informal conversations, sharing your work, visiting your classrooms, etc.
• Share your teaching philosophy. Whether we reflect on them or not, our teaching is informed by underlying assumptions about the nature of learning, the roles of students and instructors, the function and importance of grades, etc. Surfacing our pedagogical assumptions and values provides a great foundation for team teaching, whether your approaches align or require negotiation.
• Consider your identities and preferences. As with any collaboration (including student group projects) a number of intersecting factors can affect the work of a teaching team. These include (but aren't limited to) cultural/ethnic/gender identities; disciplinary commitments; professional status and rank; neurodivergence; mental and physical health needs; personal life contexts; work style preferences; and so on. Honest communication and awareness of potential disparities can help develop a sustainable workflow that meets everyone's needs.
• Identify your institutional support systems. Team teaching does not happen in a vacuum. Prospective teaching partners should take time to consider how they might leverage institutional resources/priorities to support their work. Take the time to identify Drexel support systems, formal as well as informal, that you can rely on for logistical, financial, pedagogical, and socioemotional support throughout the planning and delivery process. For example, Drexel’s Pennoni Honors College promotes team teaching initiatives through the Symposium series hosted by Pennoni’s Center for Interdisciplinary Inquiry. Drexel’s Teaching and Learning Center offers pedagogical resources and consultations for individual instructors and instructor teams interested in any aspect of teaching pedagogy.

Reflection Checklist for Step 1:

To facilitate productive dialogue between team teaching partners, each step in our Guide to Team Teaching is followed by a series of questions. These questions can serve as individual reflection prompts, conversation starters, and/or inspiration for developing your own, context-appropriate questions.

• Which of your class activities/assignments/sessions are you most proud of and why?
• Whose pedagogy, theoretical or observed, informs your teaching? 
• What do you understand about your teaching practice now that you wish you had understood earlier?
• How has your teaching practice evolved to accommodate today's students and meet the current moment?
• What should your teaching partner(s) know about you to make your collaboration productive and friction-free?
• What about team teaching makes you most nervous/excited?
• What Drexel support systems might you use on this journey?

Creating a course together involves the same principles of course design as any other kind of course development process, with the added component of ongoing intellectual/creative exchange. Using the integrated course design process outlined below can help instructors articulate priorities, compare disciplinary (and individual!) approaches, and create a cohesive learning experience for the students. While it might be tempting to skip the initial design stages and move straight to discussions of content, taking the time to consider situational factors (who are we teaching and why?), course goals (what do we want students to get out of this learning experience?), and assessment structure (how will instructors and students know learning is happening?) helps ensure that the student experience feels seamless rather than stitched together. As Kathryn M. Plank (2011) explains, "There is no substitute for designing the entire course together. This includes establishing core learning outcome goals and core content, choosing intellectual and experiential learning activities, and designing the assessment and evaluation processes. We learned about each other's intellectual interests, experiences, and expectations for the course during these discussions. It was also in these ongoing conversations that we solidified our shared responsibility and authority in the classroom" (p.79).

• Situational factors. Your team taught course might have a different student population (majors, non-majors, upper-level, lower-level, etc.), number of students, and curricular function (required, optional, prerequisites, no prerequisites, etc.) than the courses you are used to teaching solo. Consider these situational factors together to decide how you might best meet the needs of your learners. Understanding who you are teaching and why will help you refine the course goals and design appropriate assessments and learning activities. If you are expecting a class of learners representing multiple disciplines, remember to frame this diversity as an asset rather than focusing on perceived "deficits" in disciplinary preparation.
• Course goals. Your team-taught class might be a mash-up of courses you taught separately, or it might be a brand new creation. Either way, you will need to develop your shared course goals and outcomes. Start by comparing typical learning goals (they might vary vastly if you are coming from different disciplines) and brainstorming your aspirations for the class. Ideally, your goals will encompass not only academic content and skills but also the social, relational, metacognitive, and ethical dimensions of learning.
• Assessment structure. One of the benefits of pedagogical collaboration is discovering new approaches to assessment. What are your usual assessment practices? Do some lend themselves better than others to your joint purpose? Is there a way for your students to experience a variety of assessment types (perhaps allowing them to experience areas of cohesion and/or tension between disciplinary approaches)? Or maybe your goals call for an innovative approach? Consider the students you are likely to encounter in your class: is your assessment structure appropriate given their level of preparation and/or disciplinary literacy? Will you need to scaffold skill-building to prepare them for more challenging assessment tasks? Finally, discuss your grading philosophy and process. What's your preferred ratio of high-stakes to low-stakes assessments? How many practice-and-feedback loops (opportunities to improve performance based on targeted feedback) do you want to build into your course? Do you use alternative grading methods like mastery grading, specifications grading, or un-grading? Take special care to ensure your assessment and grading structure is cohesive and transparent, as this is the aspect of team-taught courses most likely to cause anxiety in students.
• Learning activities. Different instructors, especially if they hail from different disciplines, are likely to have different ideas about what a typical class session–or typical homework assignment–looks like. Spend time brainstorming what learning activities, both in and out of class, are most likely to help students succeed in your course. Ideally, these practice opportunities will include feedback loops that allow students to improve knowledge and skills based on instructor, peer, and self feedback. Adding new classroom activities to your pedagogical toolbox can be one of the most enjoyable aspects of team teaching: have fun thinking outside the box!
• Course content. While content tends to be the central concern for many instructors, decisions about curating content for a joint course are made much easier by prior  in-depth reflection on course goals (see above). One common pitfall to watch out for is overloading the course with content in an attempt at representing everyone’s areas of expertise. A team-taught course should not be a two-in-one mashup of two courses, with double the material and double the workload, no matter how fond we are of showcasing our disciplinary knowledge.
• Course policies. While some course policies are set by the university or by schools/programs, many are set by individual instructors (for example, policies regarding use of generative artificial intelligence, late submissions, tardiness, in-class use of electronic devices, extra credit opportunities, etc.). Course-level policies are an expression of values and should be aligned with both instructors’ teaching philosophies as well as their shared learning goals. A cohesive set of policies provides students with clarity about course expectations and gives instructors a common reference point, especially when approached by students one-on-one.

Reflection Checklist for Step 2:

To facilitate productive dialogue between team teaching partners, each step in our Guide to Team Teaching is followed by a series of ten questions. These checklist questions can serve as individual reflection prompts, conversation starters, and/or inspiration for developing your own, context-appropriate questions.

• Who are the students you will be teaching together? How might you adjust your customary approach to create an inclusive classroom for all of your students, especially those who may have minimal/no background in your fields?
• What are your dream learning goals for this course? Do they represent an equitable balance between the team teacher’s priorities?
• What kinds of assessments might best help your students demonstrate learning in this course and why? What assessment models can you borrow from each other? What new models might you develop together?
• What kinds of learning activities can best help your students meet the course learning goals? What activities can you borrow from each other? What new activities might you develop together?
• How will you curate course content/materials to represent your areas of expertise as well as your shared vision for the course? What course content/materials will best serve your shared learning goals? What course content/materials might need to be trimmed to avoid overburdening students? 
• How can your course policies best support student learning in this particular course? How might you involve students in co-creating your course policies?  
• How might you make room for student agency/choice/participation in your course design?

Even the best-designed course remains just a blueprint until it is delivered to students, so course design is just the beginning of team teaching work. Collaborating with another teacher involves multiple decisions about the division of labor, pertaining to not only content delivery but also a long list of other teaching tasks: facilitation of in-class activities, preparation of class materials, designing and responding to low-stakes and high-stakes student assessments, delivering feedback, monitoring student progress, communicating with students, mentorship, classroom management, adjusting the syllabus in response to student needs, logistical and administrative tasks, and so on. Arriving at a working agreement on what an equitable distribution of teaching labor will look like before the launch of the course can go a long way in mitigating any difficulties that might arise throughout the term. It is worth noting here that equitable does not need to mean equal. Team teachers can divide the labor 50/50 but can also choose to designate specific roles (lecturer, design coach, mentor, feedback provider, grader, etc.) that reflect their respective pedagogical strengths.

• Classroom roles. There are many models for dividing the work of teaching in the classroom. Some instructors take turns leading class sessions/modules, with one person taking the role of “professor” while the other models “super-student” behavior by participating in class discussions and group activities. Others prefer an integrated model, where the team-teachers co-deliver lectures (sometimes generating productive dialogic tension) and co-facilitate active learning segments. Others yet divide the work according to disciplinary or pedagogical strengths (for example, one instructor delivers a lecture in the first half of the session while the other leads students in a hands-on application exercise in the second; or, one instructor explains a mathematical principle while the other walks around the room helping student groups work their way through a problem set). Many team-taught courses involve a mix of formats, aligned with their own specific goals and circumstances.
• Classroom management. In addition to agreeing on a facilitation structure, it’s useful for instructors to discuss their preferred classroom management approaches. How will you react to student inattention/chatting/disruptive use of electronic devices? What will you do if a student-to-student conflict arises during class? How will you respond to microaggressions? Do you have a preferred protocol for responding to difficult/hot moments? While we can’t predict what happens in class, discussing potential scenarios in advance can help ease difficult moments when they do arise.
• Assessment and feedback. Formative feedback is essential to helping students improve their performance. Team teachers should map out who will be responsible for feedback for which learning activity/assignment/assessment. Depending on the nature of the task (e.g., exam vs. multi-draft paper) it might make sense to divide the work evenly between instructors (e.g., half of the students receive feedback from instructor A and half from instructor B), alternate between instructors (student receive feedback from one instructor on every other assignments), or offer two sets of feedback on a single assignment (mirroring the academic peer review process). Shared rubrics (co-developed by instructors or instructors and students) are a great way to standardize feedback across the term.
• Communication with students. As any instructor knows, ongoing communication with students constitutes a large part of teaching labor. Decide who will be responsible for responding to student queries, sending learning management system (LMS) announcements, sending individual/group reminders and nudges, updating items in the LMS, and so on. Make clear your communications preferences (Email? Text messages? LMS?) and boundaries (Will you be responding in the evenings? On weekends? Within 24 hours? 48 hours?). Articulating a transparent communication plan helps students (and instructors) avoid unnecessary frustration and miscommunication.
• Ongoing instructor communication/troubleshooting. In addition to communicating with the students, establish effective communication channels to prepare and debrief class sessions, respond to emerging student needs, resolve conflicts, address unexpected changes, and make necessary real-time adjustments to your course design. A standing weekly meeting is a common practice, but asynchronous communication can work as well.

Reflection Checklist for Steps 3 and 4:

To facilitate productive dialogue between team teaching partners, each step in our Guide to Team Teaching is followed by a series of ten questions. These checklist questions can serve as individual reflection prompts, conversation starters, and/or inspiration for developing your own, context-appropriate questions.

• What will be your primary classroom roles? Will they be stable or fluid? How will you make sure your facilitation does not replicate harmful power imbalances?
• How will you handle disruptive student behaviors during class (tardiness/disallowed uses of electronic devices/talking during lectures/microaggressions, etc.)?
• How will you divide out-of-class instructional labor (feedback, office hours, progress conferences, individual mentoring, sending nudges to students who might be falling behind, keeping track of revisions and resubmissions, etc.)?
• How will you ensure cohesion and equity in the grading process? Will you develop shared rubrics that hold you both accountable and make assessment more transparent to students?
• How will you divide the work of setting up and maintaining the course learning management system (uploading course materials, setting up and following discussion boards, managing the gradebook, sending course announcements, etc.)?
• How will you divide the work of responding to ongoing student communications/queries? Will you consult or respond on your own? How will you make sure students know whom to contact?
• How will you ensure smooth week-to-week communications between instructors to debrief class sessions, adjust course direction in response to student needs, discuss student progress, and so on?

Team teaching provides instructors with a multi-dimensional learning experience. Taking time to reflect (throughout and after the course, individually and together, with and without student input) allows instructors to get the most out of their team teaching journey. Most of us know we should make time for regular reflection, but struggle to find the time amidst the pressures of each fast-paced academic term. Team teaching, with its need for negotiating every aspect of the course, provides a natural environment for developing a reflective practice–and comes with a built-in observer/accountability partner. Consider weaving in reflection throughout the course, from quick weekly check-ins (What worked? What fell flat? What can be improved?), to periodical surveys of the student experience, to using your team teaching journey as an extended informal peer review of teaching opportunity.

Reflection Questions for Step 5:

To facilitate productive dialogue between team teaching partners, each step in our Guide to Team Teaching is followed by a series of ten questions. These questions can serve as individual reflection prompts, conversation starters, and/or inspiration for developing your own, context-appropriate questions.

• How will you collect student input throughout the term (via mid-point check-ins, surveys, engagement check-ins, structured reflections, etc.) to make sure the structures you developed together are working for your learners?
• How can you make best use of student end-of-term evaluations and reflections to inform your future courses?
• How will you make room for ongoing self-reflection throughout the term? What reflection formats (teaching journal, voice memos, checklists/inventories) might work best for you?
• How will you give and receive meaningful feedback?
• How might you best document and showcase your team teaching work for the purposes of publication, tenure/promotion, award/grant applications, pedagogical advocacy and/or community-building?
• How will you apply what you learned during your team teaching experience to your regular teaching practice?
• How will you celebrate?