Dr. Wilbur & Dr. Green on Co-Teaching One Health: A Microbial Perspective

In this segment, we highlight co-teaching teams in the CIRTL Postdoc Pathways Program. Each spring, the current postdoc cohort co-teaches part of a course with a teaching mentor. In this spotlight, we feature Dr. Scott Wilbur, Professor of Practice in Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences, and Dr. Elizabeth Green (2024-2025 fellow), who co-taught ACBS 317: One Health: A Microbial Perspective in Spring 2025.

What attracted you to the idea of co-teaching?

Elizabeth: I was interested in the CIRTL program to begin developing a teaching pedagogy and gain experience designing course material and bringing it into the classroom. I was a teaching assistant in graduate school and had previous experience as a dog trainer (which is mostly teaching humans) and found teaching in both roles to be really rewarding. I was excited to further develop as an educator by learning about evidence-based teaching practices and then applying them in the classroom.

Scott: Dr. Green approached me saying she was in the program and was looking for a Co-teaching opportunity and she felt that the topic of the class (One Health) was interesting to her. I like mentoring other teaching faculty and at the time I was going up for promotion (associate to full Professor of Practice) so I decided to give it a try.
 
What did you enjoy about the experience? 

Elizabeth: I really enjoyed that the CIRTL program bridges theory and practice. We learned about best practices and different approaches to teaching and learning and then were able to bring those ideas directly into the classroom. The co-mentor structure was really beneficial. I learned a lot from Scott, both about teaching pedagogy and about intentionally cultivating a classroom environment that encourages participation. Overall, the program is an excellent stepping-stone between being a teaching assistant and being the instructor of record.

Scott: I really enjoyed seeing Dr. Green's perspective on teaching and working with her at this early stage of her career. She had a very different expertise from me (she: environmental and agricultural fugal infections, me bacterial pathogens). Work with her has opened my class up to a new arena of topics and literature.

Did anything surprise you?

Elizabeth: I was surprised by how open the students were to trying new activities. It was a smaller class, so there were lots of opportunities for student engagement. I expected some hesitation, but the students were eager to participate and bring their ideas and questions to the topic. It was really fun to see where their thinking led, and to use that feedback to adapt my teaching plan as we went.

Scott: I don't know that anything surprised me. The training/orientation session covered most of what it would be like.  It took more effort than I expected, I guess, adding in meetings, discussions, and mentoring. It was hard to let someone teach my class. Finally, I was also surprised how excited and proud I was that Dr. Green was able to find a good teaching position in this tough market!

What advice would you give other co-teaching teams?

Elizabeth: Being intentional about setting co-teaching expectations at the beginning helps avoid miscommunication pitfalls. The experience should be beneficial for both the postdoc and the mentor, and the surveys and contract we completed at the start helped establish a framework for a good working relationship. It was also helpful to attend all the class periods, even when I was not teaching, to build rapport with the students. By the time I taught my sections toward the end of the semester, I was a familiar face and could jump right into teaching.

Scott: I saw my classes as my creations. It was a difficult transition at first to allow someone else control of part of the class, because they don’t do it the way I have in the past. But in the end, it is good to let someone into your thing and to see that other perspective and how they are teaching it!