The Delta Internship Program provides graduate students and postdoctoral researchers the opportunity to develop teaching and learning skills in real-world situations. Each semester, the Delta Program supports a new cohort of interns who partner with faculty and staff to improve teaching practices and learning environments through teaching-as-research projects. Interns develop, teach, and evaluate literature-informed teaching plans that aim to improve learning in a classroom, lab, outreach program, or any other learning context.
A core value of Delta is that, like your disciplinary research, teaching and learning is a dynamic and ongoing process, which can be improved by the iterative use of data to ask and answer questions about student learning.
The Delta Internship is an opportunity to refine your pedagogy by completing a teaching-as-research project, where you will identify a student learning challenge, pose a question grounded in the literature, develop and implement a teaching plan to address the challenge, and reflect upon the outcomes – to improve student learning.
Each project is unique, providing an experience to reach individual career goals — whether in outreach, industry, or higher education. By completing a Delta Internship, you will:
- Become a more effective, evidence-based educator.
- Try a teaching method or work on a goal that interests you, such as integrating active learning into large lectures, improving student motivation and retention, or designing and implementing a flipped classroom module.
- Be able to talk about something you actually did in your job interview.
In the process, you’ll learn how to become a reflective practitioner of evidence-based teaching and prepare for faculty and research responsibilities. Becoming a Delta intern is also a great opportunity to network with other people excited about teaching.
The best way to get started on a Delta Internship is to sign up for a Delta course.
Tess
Assistant Professor of Biology at Salem State University
“Inclusive teaching is a main area of my scholarly activity as a professor on the tenure track, and my Delta internship project definitely set me on that path.”
Delta Internship Pathway
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Prerequisites
Take a Delta course
Delta-approved courses include Delta courses, CIRTL online courses, partner offerings (such as WISCIENCE programs), or approved teaching professional development you’ve completed in other departments or institutions (consult us as needed). Courses include Effective Teaching with Technology, The College Classroom, Diversity in the College Classroom, Informal Science Education, and Exploring Practices in the Classroom.
Complete the Developing a Teaching Plan mini-course
This asynchronous mini-course prepares you for the internship. Over four modules, you will explore key topics in evidence-based teaching as you build an aligned teaching plan: measurable learning outcomes, assessments that promote learning, and equitable and engaging activities. You will leave with a backwards-designed teaching plan that might be used in a teaching portfolio or guest teaching experience, such as an internship project.
Identify a project
Identify an internship project and faculty partner. We are happy to help you find a great project! See the FAQ on “How do I find an internship project?”
Internship Fall Semester
Participate in the Internship Seminar
The Delta Internship Seminar meets weekly for two hours throughout the fall semester and walks you through a Teaching-as-Research (TAR) cycle. In the seminar, you will:
- develop your project following the TAR cycle,
- reflect on and learn from each other’s work,
- summarize your evidence of student learning, and
- complete a final poster and reflection which can then be used as artifacts in your teaching portfolio.
Complete a Teaching-as-Research Project
While enrolled in the Internship Seminar, you will develop a literature-informed project proposal, including a teaching plan which you (usually) guest teach and assess. Your project is developed in collaboration with your faculty partner, with support from your internship cohort and Delta staff.
The commitment includes observing your course/teaching context at least twice, meetings with your faculty partner, and summarizing evidence of student achievement of your outcomes. See the FAQ’s for more about the time commitment and process.
Final Products of the Delta Internship
You officially complete the program by submitting the following, which are great additions to your teaching portfolio:
- Reflective statement: This one-page statement reflects on how your internship experience influenced your understanding of the three Delta core ideas (teaching-as-research, learning communities, and learning-through-diversity).
- Final report or poster: This provides an overview of what you did, how effective it was, and what you learned from the process. It loosely follows the format of a scientific poster (introduction, methods, etc.).
Teaching-as-Research (TAR) Cycle
Each fall semester, the Delta Program supports a new cohort of graduate students and postdocs who partner with faculty and staff to complete a Teaching-as-Research (TAR) project by applying a question-driven inquiry cycle to develop, teach, assess, and reflect on a teaching plan. During the Internship Seminar, we will work through the TAR cycle as shown below.
Want to learn more about Teaching-as-Research? Hear alumni and mentors talking about their teaching-as-research experiences.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Who can participate?
Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers from any discipline are welcome to start an internship upon completion of the prerequisites (one Delta course and the Developing a Teaching Plan mini-course).
Faculty and instructional staff participate as intern partners. They offer feedback and guidance on the development of the teaching plan, guest teaching, and the assessment of its effectiveness.
What is the timing and time commitment of an internship?
Duration
The internship experience consists of:
- Prerequisites: At least one Delta course.
- The Developing a Teaching Plan mini-course
- A semester-long Internship Seminar cohort experience during fall semester where the project is planned, implemented, and analyzed. The seminar meets weekly for two hours.
It is possible to finish both the prerequisites and the internship in two semesters. Some interns choose to reiterate their project, or support their faculty partner in sustaining their project, in subsequent semesters.
Time commitment
When the 2019 cohorts were asked to estimate the weekly time for their internship, 53% said less than 5 hours, 42% said 5 to 10 hours, and 5% said over 10 hours per week. This includes observations of the course, meetings with faculty partner, work on the teaching plan, guest teaching, and attendance at the program seminar (2 hours per week). So, figure 5 hours a week with a maximum of 10, on average (some weeks might be more, some less).
When during the year do the cohorts begin and how do you register for the seminar/join a cohort of interns?
Intern cohorts are held each fall semester.
Once you have completed the prerequisites (one Delta course and the Developing a Teaching Plan mini-course), the next step is to find a project and complete the project agreement with your faculty partner. We are happy to help find a great project! See the FAQ “How do I find a project?”
To register, you must submit an online registration form; that form will be provided after you have completed the Developing a Teaching Plan mini-course. The Internship Seminar can be taken for 1-2 university credits through Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis.
As part of the online registration, you will need to upload a form signed by your research advisor to ensure their awareness of your participation in the program. Let us know if you want any resources to help support that conversation; we have a talking points document that can address concerns.
What kinds of internship projects have been done, and what does it look like?
Internships are a rich “choose your own adventure” cohort experience across disciplines and teaching contexts. You get to determine the right fit for you.
Consider: What exeprience do you want to be able to talk about in your job interview? What would you want a final poster to show that you can do?
While every project is different, some examples include (but are not limited to):
- Integrating an active learning method into a course or module of a course (inclusive collaborative learning projects, problem-based learning, case-based learning, and much more)
- Transforming a “cookbook” laboratory module to inquiry-based instruction
- Incorporating a technology to improve student learning
- Designing student-centered formative assessments
Typical intern projects involve designing, teaching, and assessing between one class period up to one week of instruction during weeks six through 10 of the semester, with flexibility for those who are interested in broader questions, different timing, or full-semester projects (contact internship@delta.wisc.edu to discuss your ideas).
The instructional role is also flexible. Often the intern guest teaches their plan, but some take behind-the-scenes roles while others are instructors of record for the semester.
How do I find an internship project?
See the top of the internship opportunities page for information and suggestions on how to find a project.
One is to consider a posted opportunity, and the second – the one interns do most often – is to connect with projects based in courses or faculty you want to work with. The key is to be sure that the instructor will be able to model a teaching approach that interests you. The third is to meet with Delta staff to chat about your particular goals and interests and see how we might help you find a great fit.
Do I need approval from my advisor to participate in the Delta Internship program?
Yes. While a graduate student or postdoc’s focus rightly rests with their core disciplinary research and writing, the Graduate School believes it is important for any future teaching position to ensure professional development around teaching and learning.
Because the support and encouragement of the research advisor is important to the success of any internship project, we do require interns to receive signed consent from their advisor (via the Advisor Approval Form) as part of their registration for the program.
How is a Delta Internship different from a TA position?
An intern’s role with a course is usually to develop and guest teach up to one week of instruction, then summarize and report on student learning. Some may have other roles within the course, as mutually agreed to in conversation with the faculty partner. This might include teaching for a longer period, course development, assessment grading, syllabus design, etc. Determining the intern’s role is part of the kickoff conversation with your faculty partner, guided by the project agreement prompts.
We offer flexibility for those who are interested in broader questions; contact internship@delta.wisc.edu to discuss.
Can I use my upcoming TA experience as my Delta Internship?
Absolutely. You would shape a project around an aspect of the course that you are TA’ing. It often works best to pick an area that students have historically found challenging (for example, a tricky concept, or an area within a course where test scores historically have been low). The internship seminar and experience will be in addition to your TA responsibilities.
Should I work with my research advisor/PI as my intern faculty partner?
That depends. In some cases, it can be a great fit for your research advisor or PI to be a faculty partner, and we’ve had many interns complete very successful, rewarding projects with their research PI’s. Other times, though, we find that people work with their advisors primarily just because it’s someone they already know — so consider the ideas below, and we’re happy to help you find a good fit.
For those who don’t know many faculty on campus or have strong mentoring networks, this can be a rare opportunity to develop mentor relationships and make connections. Faculty or academic staff intern partners might offer you a different perspective or insight into a position they hold that is more aligned with your career goals (and future letters of recommendation).
The most important thing is that your intern partner models a teaching approach that interests you. Another consideration is whether your PI is using engaged, active teaching approaches or primarily passive, lecture-based teaching.
What do we do in the Internship Seminar?
The Internship Seminar is a learning community that supports the development of your teaching-as-research (TAR) project. It is not a course, but a project-based learning community that is driven by participant goals and preferences, so each semester is different. There are weekly readings and supplementary materials to complete prior to each meeting to advance your emerging project. In the seminar, we work as a cohort and in small groups to integrate the content, share ideas, troubleshoot challenges, and offer feedback.
In broad strokes, we walk through the TAR cycle:
- Weeks 1-5: Write your project proposal and observe your project context. Identify a challenge in student learning; consider your students’ characteristics and other situational factors. Use the literature and existing knowledge to draft an aligned teaching plan with measurable learning outcomes aligned with assessments that promote student learning and engaging activities. Pose a TAR question and hypothesis.
- Weeks 6-10: Teach at some point in this period, usually just up to one week of instruction. In the seminar, you’ll plan your data analysis, reflect on the project development process, and learn approaches to draw evidence-based conclusions.
- Weeks 11-15: Analyze the data to draw evidence-based conclusions. Revisit your TAR question. Reflect on your teaching and on the internship semester. Revise the teaching plan. Summarize your work in a poster, final report, or another preferred format.
Note: The program timing is flexible for those who are interested in broader questions, semester-long or summer projects; contact internship@delta.wisc.edu with questions.
More questions? Contact internship@delta.wisc.edu.