Team-Teaching Freshman Physics

Team teaching, in which two or more instructors share responsibility for the same class section, is being increasingly adopted in elementary schools and is already familiar to physicists in the film and television presentations of Ivey and Hume. For several years we have been utilizing team teaching as a method of handling large university freshman classes. The system appears to have several advantages, provided that the two professors have a compatible outlook on physics: (1) Since the professors share administrative responsibility for such activities as tutorials and laboratories, these can be well integrated with the lectures; (2) the dialog between the two professors seems to create a sense of participation and rapport with the class; (3) any mistakes or obscurities in one professor's presentation are immediately cleared up (in a diplomatic way) by the other; (4) the change in pace provided by the two lecturers enlivens and lightens the course; (5) the interaction of the two professors tends to generate enthusiasm, fresh viewpoints, and greater care in lecturing, all of which is felt by the class. Student reaction has been highly favorable.