GenEd Peer Teaching Program

The GenEd Peer Teacher Program provides opportunities for students to experience peer education, and provides support for faculty in teaching and developing GenEd courses.

A GenEd Peer Teacher is an undergraduate who has taken a class with a GenEd faculty member and received at least an A- (or its equivalent). The Peer Teacher will then assist in teaching a GenEd course.

Peer Teachers may:

§  Plan: Help GenEd faculty re-design and improve the course.

§  Tutor: Help GenEd students understand assignments, solve problems, organize material, develop effective study strategies, etc.

§  Find resources: Locate & organize teaching resources.

§  Assist with logistics: Take attendance, collect assignments, organize excursions to Philadelphia, etc.

§  Provide feedback: Gather information from students in the class and transmit it to the faculty member.

Please note: Peer Teachers may not be involved in grading.

GenEd Peer Teachers receive a $1,500 stipend for a semester. Actual responsibilities will be negotiated by the instructor and the student; however, the student is expected to work from 8-10 hours a week during the semester, including attendance at all class sessions.

GenEd Peer Faculty receive a $500 stipend for the semester and are expected to monitor the Peer Teacher’s development and fulfillment of assigned responsibilities.

REPORT:

At the end of the semester, the Gen Ed Peer Teaching student-faculty pair write a brief report, summarizing the ways in which they worked together to improve student learning and the GenEd course. We are interested in these questions:

§  What activities or assignments did you arrange?

§  How did they work?

§  What worked well? What was difficult?

§  What changes would you make for the future?

APPLYING—Who and HOW:

The application process can be initiated by a student or by a faculty member. A faculty member about to teach a GenEd course might first identify a student who would be suitable as a Peer Teacher. Or a student might get in touch with a faculty member with whom s/he has successfully completed a course.

The GenEd selection committee will give preference to undergraduate students who have already taken the same GenEd course in which they would be assisting, but this is not a requirement. What is most important is the strength of the application: statements written by the student and by the faculty member explaining why the student would make a good peer teacher and any details regarding how the student and the faculty member plan to collaborate to teach the course.

Once the faculty member and the student have discussed their plans, they should develop responses for the GenEd Peer Teacher Application (see next page).

DEADLINE: Monday May 24, 2010 for Fall 2010 Peer Teaching Awards.

Email applications to Terry Halbert, GenEd Director, () for evaluation by GenEd staff and Executive Committee.

Applications received by that date will be evaluated and results will be emailed by Monday May 31, 2010.


GenEd Peer Teacher Application

Please forward to Terry Halbert, Director, GenEd:

Faculty name:

Faculty email:

GenEd course:

Student (Peer Teacher) name:

Student email:

Semester for Peer Teaching:

Statement from student: Please explain why you are interested in and why you believe you are a good candidate for GenEd Peer Teaching. (500 words or less)

Statement from faculty: Please explain why you would like this student as a peer teacher in your GenEd course. You might discuss the candidate’s qualities, and the ways in which s/he could benefit you and the students in your class. (500 words or less)