Faculty Seek Graduate Students to Partner on Course Design

Several faculty are seeking applications from graduate/professional students to work with them to create a new course or redesign an existing course that integrates collaborative, project-based work as a central element of the course design. 

This call is part of the Collaborative Project Expeditions program hosted by Bass Connections, which provides graduate students with a stipend of $1,750 to spend approximately 75 hours throughout the summer or a semester developing a collaborative project course in consultation with a faculty sponsor.

Any master's, professional or doctoral student may apply Students can expect to gain skills in course design and pedagogical innovation.

Bass Connections also offers a rolling opportunity for doctoral students to propose their own expedition project with a faculty sponsor of their choice.

Application and Selection

To apply for a current course design opening (listed below), please email a resume and a statement of interest to the affiliated faculty sponsor. Your statement of interest should include relevant background, skills and interests; a strong articulation of why you are a good fit for the opportunity; as well as how this work fits into your academic and/or professional development pathway at Duke. Faculty may require additional materials and/or an interview.

Applications will be reviewed as they are received, but we encourage prospective applicants to apply by October 15.

Courses Seeking Support in Fall 2024 

MARSCI 205/ENV 205/BIO 205: Marine Megafauna

Faculty sponsor: Meagan Dunphy-Daly

Course description: This course introduces students to marine ecology and conservation through the ocean's largest inhabitants. Using marine megafauna examples, students examine the ocean environment, evolution, life history strategies, methodological approaches and technologies for studying marine ecosystems and marine biodiversity. Students explore the interdisciplinary nature of marine conservation and how science and research, societal and cultural values, and law and policy play a role in marine conservation and management. In the course, students work in teams to develop a blog post and in-class presentation as well as a final video project that communicates a current marine megafauna conservation or management issue to the public.

Applicant specifications: Applicants may be from any field but should have experience in STEM or visual media and be excited about science communication. The student in this role will work to refine and improve existing group projects and design new hands-on learning opportunities for small groups of students. This would involve reviewing existing group project ideas and curricula. This student will help develop a draft action plan for teams to use at the beginning of the semester to develop individual roles within the group and help improve rubrics for the group projects, including self- and peer-assessments.

ENVIRON 617: Restoration Ecology

Faculty sponsor: Rebecca Vidra

Course description: This new course will provide a broad overview of the field and process of ecological restoration. Student teams will connect with local conservation organizations and (possibly) private landowners to develop preliminary restoration plans to suit their needs. Students will complete site inspections, conduct a search for potential funding opportunities and regulatory hurdles, engage with stakeholders to define potential goals for the project and outline a restoration process from start through monitoring for success. Overall, the course and the semester-long project will give students real-world experience in restoration planning while providing actionable plans for community partners.

Applicant specifications: Applicants should have interest in community engagement, familiarity with conservation and/or restoration, and a willingness to communicate directly with external organizations. The student in this role will identify and work with community partners on developing restoration projects for student teams.

Courses Seeking Support in Fall 2024 and Spring 2025

EDUCATION 390T: From Stereotype to Success: African American Women Who Shape Education

Faculty sponsors: Kisha Daniels and Yolanda Dunston

Course description: This new course will examine the stereotypes, narratives and counter-narratives of the work of African American women focusing particularly on their role in primary and secondary education systems. The course will center the voices, perspectives and experiences of African American women in Durham Public Schools to help students explore relationships and look for connections between aspects of identity (e.g., race, social class, gender) and labor. Students will engage in service learning and research with local organizations (e.g., Durham Public Schools, Office of Equity Affairs, The Dudley Flood Center for Education Equity and Opportunity) to support their frameworks for success and efforts to increase diversity in the educator pool. In rotating research teams, students will complete literature reviews, collect oral histories and conduct interviews. They will then collaborate to analyze data, determine the most effective methods for communicating findings, and use digital tools to create and share multimedia projects. 

Applicant specifications: Applicants should be from Cultural Anthropology, Sociology, History or Political Science and will ideally be interested in supporting the course in both Fall 2024 (development) and Spring 2025 (implementation). In Fall 2024, the student in this role will research and gather materials for the course content; co-create course presentation materials; help manage data; assist in the setup of CANVAS (or other learning management system). In Spring 2025, this student will support the course implementation, including supporting the cultivation and logistics of external partnerships.

What Are Collaborative Projects?

Collaborative projects are learning experiences that require students to work in teams on a research question using the academic knowledge and skills concurrently being developed in the course. Collaborative projects strengthen students’ ability to apply classroom learning to interdisciplinary or disciplinary challenges and work effectively on teams, and should culminate in the creation of new knowledge, tangible works and/or creative or artistic products.

How Does the Program Work?

Participating graduate students will be expected to work 75 hours over the course of the term with a faculty member to integrate collaborative projects into a course. Depending on the objectives of the faculty sponsor and participating student, this time may include:

  • Consultations between the student and faculty sponsor
  • Development or modification of a course syllabus and project modules
  • Design of course materials and resources for student teams
  • Development of assessment rubrics
  • Outreach to project partners and relationship cultivation

At the end of the experience, students will be expected to write and submit to Bass Connections a short reflection on their experience for publication or for use in a professional portfolio or relevant job market materials related to pedagogy, teaching, teamwork/collaboration and/or project management. 

Benefits for Graduate Students

Through this opportunity, graduate students will have the chance to practice course design, collaboration, project scoping and management, team building and leadership.

Ideally, this experience will enable graduate students to:

  • Work collaboratively with faculty (and possibly staff and external partners) on course design, project management and team building
  • Think critically about course pedagogy and when to integrate collaborative projects into courses
  • Develop concrete learning objectives and clear course syllabi
  • Plan and scope applied research projects, especially with short timelines
  • Facilitate teamwork (e.g., build effective teams, develop and scaffold key resources, troubleshoot interpersonal/team issues)
  • Broaden their intellectual networks and build strategic external partnerships
  • Teach and mentor undergraduates

For examples of how prior graduate students have benefited from this experience, check out these reflections:

  • Ph.D. student Colin Birkhead (Sociology), who redesigned SOC 250: Immigration and Health to integrate client-based collaborative projects (read about the experience from the point of view of his faculty mentor, Jen’nan Read)
  • Ph.D. student Siobhan Oca (Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science), who designed and taught ME: 490: Introduction to Robotics, which includes collaborative final projects

Eligibility and Funding Restrictions

Any master's, professional or doctoral student may apply, but preference will be given to doctoral students. Participating students are responsible for adhering to financial policies and restrictions (including restrictions on hours of work per week) set by grantors of any other fellowships or positions held during the funding period. Please note that some fellowships do not allow supplemental funding. Please see the Graduate School Supplementation Policy for more information. We also advise that prospective applicants consult with their advisor and director of graduate studies about how this opportunity would fit in their academic and funding plans for the proposed period of work.

Resources

Check out our Collaborative Project Courses: Course Design Resource Center to browse example syllabi, video advice from faculty, answers to common questions, links to templates and additional course design resources.

Learn More