“I am seeing the dramatic impact that this program is having on students as well. . . To be turned to as pedagogical experts has greatly enhanced their sense of their own academic and intellectual capacities.”
Read Smith’s COVID-19 guidelines for the spring 2022 semester.
Pedagogical Partnership
Smith College professors believe that there are many ways to teach well and that all teaching is improvable. As one pathway towards improvement, the Smith College Student-Faculty Pedagogical Partnership Program engages students as partners to work with faculty in the classroom over an entire semester. We imagine that there are various models that fall under this umbrella.
Spring 2022 Program
The Sherrerd Center for Teaching and Learning and the Wurtele Center for Leadership are pleased to announce a relaunch of our Pedagogical Partnerships Program for the spring 2022 semester. Again, we hope to support a flexible model that works well for our current circumstances. We seek to support faculty and staff teachers working in partnership with students as pedagogical partners in their classes, particularly those students who will be actively engaged with students in the course.
If You Are Interested
- Identify a student with whom you would like to partner. Often, these are students who have taken the course before and/or have expertise to offer.
- Identify a weekly meeting time when the student(s)/faculty partners will discuss the course.
- Decide what aspect of teaching (e.g., classes, labs, discussions, break-out rooms, group work) to focus on at the outset of the partnership. Confirm the schedule requirements.
- Fill out the Google form to tell us about your plans.
What the Sherrerd Center and Wurtele Center for Leadership Will Do
- Begin the semester with a faculty/student partners event where we will share what we’ve learned about partnerships, help you set goals and help get your partnership off to a good start.
- Support the students with programming/meetings with the Wurtele Center around leadership development; provide opportunities for student partners to share their experiences in the classroom (~monthly).
- Support faculty partners with consultation, meetings and informal discussions.
- Pay the students an hourly wage for their time spent with their faculty partners and in the classroom (up to 6 hours a week).
If a pedagogical partner might be a good fit for a course you plan to teach this spring, please fill out the Google form or reach out to sherrerdcenter@smith.edu with questions. We can support up to 10 partnerships for this coming semester. Priority for partnerships will be given to those who apply (by filling out the google form) by Wednesday, December 15th, however applications submitted later will be accepted until all partnerships are filled.
Past Partners
Spring 2021 Partnerships
| Faculty Partner | Student Partner | Course |
| Vanessa Adel | Sadie Buerker | SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology |
| Maren Buck | Jennifer Wise | CHM 222: Organic Chemistry |
| Leslie-Ann Giddings | Ahlenne Abreu | CHM 224: Introduction to Inorganic and Physical Chemistry |
| Mahnaz Mahdavi | Amanda Beebe | ECO 153: Introductory Macroeconomics |
| Mahnaz Mahdavi | Elsa Schenck | ECO 296: International Finance |
| Narendra Pathak | Jessica Odin | NSC 230: Experimental Methods in Neuroscience |
| Jeff Ramsey | Maddy Pfaff | HSC 211: Perspectives in the History of Science and Technology: Pandemics |
| Kevin Shea | Ama Boamah | CHM 222: Organic Chemistry |
| Faculty Partner | Student Partner | Course |
| Brian Katz | Allison Quintana | MTH 153: Introduction to Discrete Mathematics |
| Alicia Grubb | Mariah White | CSC 111: Introduction to Computer Science Through Programming |
| Jack Loveless | Clara Brill-Carlat | GEO 241: Structural Geology |
| Roisin O'Sullivan | Yuqi (Iris) Wei | ECO 375: Seminar: The Theory and Practice of Central Banking |
| Kevin Shea and Leslie Nickerson | Marva Tariq and Ahlenne Abreu | CHM 222: Chemistry II: Organic Chemistry |
| Jon Caris and Tracy Tien | Morgan Jones | IDP 109: Aerial Imagery and Cinematography (fall 2020) |
| David Gorin | Akilah Williams | CHM 222: Chemistry II: Organic Chemistry |
| Faculty Partner | Student Partner | Course |
| Lily Gurton-Wachter | Meaghan Haff | English 237: Environmental Poetry and Ecological Thought |
| Dawn Fulton | Shukang Liu | FRN 230: Women Writers of Africa and the Caribbean |
| Yanlong Guo | Gwen Jones | ARH 200: China in Expansion |
| Susan Sayre | Diana Umana | ECO 150: Introductory Microeconomics |
| Tina Wildhagen | Dionna Jenkins | SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology |
What Do Faculty Partners Say?
“As faculty members discover how rewarding it is to have a pedagogical partner, soon every faculty member will want to have one.”
“Working with a pedagogical partner has pushed me to reflect deeply on my teaching in real time throughout the semester—not just once my course evaluations have been submitted at the end of the semester.”
What Do Student Partners Say?
“From discussing growth mindset to figuring out ways to get students more engaged, I’ve ended this semester feeling way more accomplished than I originally expected.”
“My ability as a student has grown and will continue to grow thanks to this partnership.”
“As the program spreads at Smith, it will benefit both the individuals involved in the partnership and the community as a whole.”