Can undergraduate students at a community college take on the responsibility of co-teaching an introductory history course?

For me, the answer is obvious: “Of course they can!”

However, for this to happen, the professor needs to be comfortable is his/her own ignorance. Our students do not need us to spoon feed them information. They do need us to help them to develop as historians and to improve their research and critical thinking skills. And they can flourish by teaching us as we teach them.

Prior to the 2012 winter semester, I e-mailed my early American history students and asked them to help me develop the syllabus for the course. One student mentioned Guns, Germs, and Steel and I have decided (pending further discussion with students during the next week) to use it to begin the course. Although I am familiar with Jared Diamond’s work, I have neither seen the documentary nor read his book on which it is based.

Earlier today, I sent an e-mail to the student who had mentioned Guns, Germs, and Steel and asked his advice on how to approach the course. Specifically, I wrote:

I know that the video is in three sections and I do not think I want to cover all three sections during the class. What do you think of the idea of breaking the class into three teams and then have each team watch one of the sections and then prepare a summary/presentation to class. Do you think that would work or must the sections be watched in order.

I also asked the student if he would be able to prepare a short presentation to introduce Guns, Germs, and Steel to the class.

I look forward to his insights. And I look forward to co-teaching early American history with my students.

–Steven L. Berg, PhD