This Course at MIT

OCW: What was the learning environment like in WGS.645 Gender, Health and Marginalization Through a Critical Feminist Lens?

Chris Bobel: Based on both written and verbal feedback from students, my impression is that we managed to create a secure space for intellectual risk-taking. It seemed like a truly productive learning community. The students reported feeling heard by the faculty and each other, while feeling pushed to develop more cogent analyses. My sense was the time flew and that we could have continued our dicussions beyond the stroke of 8:30pm, the official end time of class. At the end of one class session, we said our thank yous and goodbyes, and no one moved. It was a touching moment.

OCW: The op-ed assignment was an opportunity for students to articulate their positions on important women and health or gender and sexuality issues. To what degree did students successfully complete this assignment? 

Norma Swenson: We found that since the op-ed assignment was the most unfamiliar to students, it was also the most challenging. Even after detailed feedback, quite a few did not get the principles involved in writing a proper op-ed. Several others did prepare good op-eds, with one or two even getting theirs published! 

OCW: What did you learn from the mid-term course evaluations?

Norma Swenson: The student-led discussions seemed to be one of the weakest parts of our course planning and the greatest source of complaint in the midterm evaluations. We graded them on some elements of the presentations, but the leadership required for these discussions was not among the course objectives. At first, the mid-term criticisms and complaints from students were devastating. But we recovered, analyzed the results, and made changes that we believe made the second half of the course much better and more successful.

OCW: What are your thoughts about the overall design of the course?

Chris Bobel: I was pleased with the overall design of the course. Our readings were robust and varied in terms of style and source. We offered a nice blend of cutting-edge work and classic texts. We worked hard to pair empirical research with other types of text, such as first-person narratives, white papers, fact sheets, Op Eds, NGO research briefs, etc. I think the students appreciated this diversity of sources. This collision of perspectives and approaches kept their attention and facilitated a thorough exercising of the topics. We also showed a number of short film clips and a few longer documentaries. Students reactived positively to these curricular choices. They also seemed to enjoy our series of guest speakers. 

OCW: What pedagogical successes did you experience during this offering of the course?

Silvia Dominguez: I learned to present frameworks upfront and then have students apply them to different subjects. While I had done that before, I never realized how useful it was and now I am using this method in all my classes. I also gained tremendously from the students from their presentations and discussions. It was also the first time I used neo-liberalization as a framework and now I am using it in all my classes. Having to figure out rubrics among the three of us was also another exercise that benefitted me pedagogically.

OCW: Did students have an opportunity to self-assess their own learning? If so, were these self-assessments graded?

Norma Swenson: We asked students to engage in self-assessment at the end of the term. There was clear consensus among the instructors about the principle of self-assessment and how valuable it can be for students. In order to encourage honesty, we did not take their self-assessments into consideration during grading. My advice about self-assessments is simple: request but do not require it.

OCW: Please share your insights about co-teaching WGS.645 Gender, Health and Marginalization Through a Critical Feminist Lens.

Norma Swenson: This co-teaching experience was unique for all of us and we developed a strong sense of solidarity quite early on that remained throughout the course. Even so, there were points in the process where we did disagree, and each of us likely had moments of uncomfortable concessions. But we are all grownups, and these moments were managed without damaging our underlying supportive relationship.

I have a few pieces of advice for other educators looking to co-teach. Over-budget the time needed to establish the initial rapport and basic agreements with your co-teachers. Be prepared to pick up the slack from your colleagues at some point during the semester, as internal crises will happen and life can get in the way. Spend quality time before the course agreeing on the evaluation and grading standards for student performance. Realize that every instructor brings a different set of values and experiences to the course, and these should be thoroughly hashed out well in advance, instead of assuming agreement. That said, be prepared for disagreements along the way. 

Chris Bobel: Each member of our teaching team brought very different experiences and values to this enterprise. This was, moment to moment, illuminating and growth-producing and at times, frustrating and challenging. We struggled, especially, in developing rubrics we used to evaluate student work. Through many discussions once the course was underway, we did eventually manage to establish shared standards for evaluating student work. But in retrospect, we needed to have more concrete discussions on this crucial task during the planning stages of the course so that we could have provided students with better clarity and direction from the first day of class forward. 

My advice for educators embarking on co-teaching is to be as transparent as possible regarding disparate teaching styles and priorities in the planning stage of the course. Work out an equitable division of labor that an be maintained throughout the course. Also, do not be afraid to let the students see your differences. Our team often demonstrated healthy and productive conflict when our perspectives collided. We often used humor to diffuse some tense moments. For students who aspire to teach at the college level, I think it is important for them to see, up close, the very real challenges of college teaching and the rich potential of collaboration.

Silvia Dominguez: It was difficult to come to consensus at times on expectations and assignments due to our differences in disciplines. We discussed our points of view and made decisions that accommodated our differences. Having to figure out rubrics was very much a challenge given out different disciplines but we made it work somehow. The different disciplines of the students was also difficult to manage but doable.