Duke History Teaching Fellowship

"Being a Teaching Fellow has been a very rewarding experience, providing an opportunity for me to work closely with a faculty member and develop practical pedagogy skills. More importantly, it allowed me to approach a content that I'm familiar with through a fresh perspective, since teaching a topic is one of the most effective ways to understand it better."  - Jerry Zou (History/Computational Media, Class of 2027)

Overview

The Undergraduate Teaching Fellow program aims to enrich the experience of both undergraduate students and faculty by providing a paid opportunity for students to engage in hands-on teaching and pedagogical training. 

A Teaching Fellow (TF) serves one History course for one semester. During this semester, the TF assists the instructing faculty in the various tasks needed to run a successful course, such as hosting office hours, tutoring students outside of class meetings, leading seminars, assisting in the preparation of class materials, and others. This is a flexible program that allows the TTF to design their tasks with the instructing faculty and the DUS
to fit the TF’s interests and learning goals.

Although the role of TF might resemble a traditional Teaching Assistant (TA), they are not the same. For instance, a TF is a non-grading assistant.

Objectives

Support Faculty Instruction

  1. Offer faculty reliable support with course logistics, discussions, and assignments
  2. Foster meaningful mentorship between faculty and experienced students

 Build Teaching & Leadership Skills: 

  1. Offer TF hands-on experience in teaching and mentorship in individual and group settings
  2. Strengthen TF’s communication, organization, and leadership skills
  3. Reinforce TF’s own knowledge of content and academic skills by teaching it to others

 Enhance Student Learning:

  1. Offer additional academic support for students from the perspective of someone who has recently navigated similar assignments and classroom settings
  2. Provide a trusted peer for questions, feedback, or peer-review in an approachable, low-pressure supplement to seeking faculty help

Eligibility

  1. You are an undergraduate History major (either first or second major).
  2. You can only serve as the TF for a class that you have taken before.
  3. To be a TF for a class that you have not taken before, you have to demonstrate your experience in the area and receive approval from both the instructing professor and the DUS.
    1. One way of demonstrated experience: You have taken a class that closely resembles the class you are applying to be a TF for.

TF Tasks

The specific tasks of a TF is highly customizable and depend on the class needs, TF, instructing faculty, and the DUS. Despite that, a TF must commit to at least three of the tasks below. Some sample tasks and sample implementations are provided below:

  1. Host recurring office hours and personalized support for students.
    1. Sample implementation: The TF will host weekly office hours or by-appointment office hours.
    2. E.g.: The TF will host “write-on-site” sessions before major written assignments where students can come together in an informal capacity to work on assignments, ask questions, peer review, and motivate one another. TF will be available to review drafts, provide tips, and answer procedural questions for students who attend.
  2. Writing and assignment consultation.
    1. E.g.: Faculty might require each student to meet with the TF before turning in major assignments to receive support or feedback. The TF will act in a role similar to that of an “Embedding Writing Consultant.”
  3. Teach a lecture(s).
    1. E.g.: The TF will teach one or multiple content-based lecture over the course of the semester. They may consult with the instructing faculty for support in preparation for it.
  4. Teach a tutorial on discipline-specific strategies & best practices.
    1. E.g.: The TF can present on academic skills relevant to this course, such as reading strategies; primary source analysis; research methods; and writing and revising strategies.
  5. Facilitate discussions of class materials.
    1. E.g.: The TF will lead one or multiple class seminar discussions on assigned class readings or materials. This could be the “teach a lecture” counterpart for seminar-based classes.
  6. Additional support based on the course format.
    1. E.g.: For large lecture classes, the TF can circulate among small groups to offer guidance, help facilitate discussions, and ensure active participation.
    2. E.g.: For classes with exams, the TF could host exam review sessions.
    3. E.g.: For classes with additional specific needs, the TF and faculty member may self-design a task for a TF based on a course’s specific needs.
  7. Other types of tasks.
    1. The TF can propose other types of tasks to perform. This should be designed with close collaboration with the instructing faculty and/or the DUS.

As mentioned before, this is not an exhaustive list. You are welcome to work with your instructing faculty to design tasks not mentioned above that can assist your faculty, serve the class’s students, and develop your own skills better.

TF Expectations during a Semester

  1. The TF should attend all/most class meetings, even if they are not actively lecturing or discussion-leading
  2. Faculty may share past assignments TF produced in their classes as an example
  3. Faculty may ask TF to lead their class if they are out
  4. The TF may find supplemental resources related to course content, study strategies, writing practice, citation help, etc. throughout the duration of the class and post them to class’s Canvas page.
  5. The TF should uphold the professionalism of a teaching staff.
  6. The TF should remain in regular communication with the faculty to ensure the smooth operations of the TF program and to address potential issues.

Application Process

Although you do not need to have receive a faculty approval when you apply, we highly recommend a prospective TF to reach out to a faculty whom they would like to serve as a TF for before submitting the application.

Interested students should submit an application by e-mailing the DUS, who will send a note to all majors inviting their participation. That email will come out around the time of course registration, and will include information about the application and deadline. 

Before the Semester 

  1. Faculty and TFs should meet before the class starts to decide which tasks the TF will take on and align those responsibilities with the course syllabus. This ensures both the faculty and the TF have a clear understanding of how the TF will contribute, and when they will contribute.
  2. Then, they must complete and sign the contract and submit it to the DUS no later than three days before the last day of the semester prior to the one in which the TF will assist
    1. E.g.: if the TF will assist with HIST 210 in Spring 2025, and the last day of semester for Fall 2024 is December 16, 2024, the form must be submitted by December 13, 2024

 

Document Packet

 

Questions

If you have any questions regarding the Undergraduate Teaching Fellow program, please contact the Assistant to the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Craig Kolman, at craig.kolman@duke.edu.