Teaching Practice

Teaching in Higher Education can often be fraught with complexities. Preparing to teach can be exciting yet daunting as one learns to balance knowledge with application. From the outset it is important to establish an inviting and stimulating learning environment, creating an atmosphere where students feel comfortable asking questions, and learning with, and from, each other.

We support and guide staff in how to teach and support student learning, through our Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGCertHE). We also support staff in the development of their teaching and assessment materials and practices via our Guided Learner Journey module.

With our carefully structured checklists we encourage staff to build their teaching in a way that promotes student engagement and enjoyment whilst simultaneously attending to quality assurance details. Preparing to teach connects culture, context, content, curriculum and creativity in an organised effort to enhance the lived and learning student experiences.

Fostering a strong sense of belonging in students is such an important part of the learning and teaching journey. It is something that we cultivate and nurture right from the start. Our students come from diverse backgrounds and we celebrate these diversities by promoting inclusive learning. Our campus and programmes of study dynamically embed core principles of inclusion so that each student can build a strong alliance with the university, its vision/mission and community. Through our student support, induction events, extracurricular activities and programme specific activities each student identifies with the ethos of the University. Our Go Herts community coupled with our University values of being Friendly, Ambitious, Collegiate, Enterprising and Student focused [FACES],  cultivate staff and students’ respect for the collegiality that defines the University.

When planning a teaching session, we first of all need to identify some key points:

• What type of session is it?
  • Large group lecture
  • Tutorial/seminar
  • Practical class
• What level is the session?
• How does the session fit within the bigger picture of the module/topic area and/or within the whole programme?
• How does the session relate to one or more of the module learning outcomes?
• Do any students in the group have specific needs?
• Have the students covered material relating to this topic before?
• What is the teaching space?
• What materials will I need as a teacher?
• What materials will the students need?
• What preparation should the students have done before the session?

Once answers have been identified the aims and learning outcomes for the session can be developed ensuring they are appropriate for the level of study and type of session.

With a focus on what the students will be learning throughout the session, it might be useful to structure the session by identifying why the topic is important, then considering the key theories underpinning it. You can then explore how the theories were developed and then perhaps end with consideration of critiques of the theories and opposing opinions.

• Fact/statistic/controversial point/ current application to stimulate interest in the topic
• Key information and theories about the topic
• Crucial studies/ experiments/ investigations/critical analysis/ developments that led to the theories
• Alternative situations/ critique /opposing arguments

Most importantly we need to plan what the students will be doing throughout the session. Learning is an active process, so students need to be engaged. Considering how to break the session in to 10-15 minutes sections and identifying what the students will be doing during each section (e.g. looking up data, solving a problem with the person sitting next to them, responding to in-class questions, considering a case study as a small group, contributing a discussion point to a virtual notice board, taking notes, drawing a mind map or diagram) will help you focus on their learning and help them to consolidate the key points from the session.

“Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just by sitting in classes listening to teachers, memorising pre-packaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it past experiences, apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves” (Chickering and Gamson, 1987:4)

Active learning is a philosophy, rather than a fixed set of activities. It can include any activity that encourages students to take an active, engaged part in the learning process within the classroom, such as: group discussions, student presentations, experiments, pair and share, problem-based learning to name just a few. Our approach to active learning means we design learning activities that support engagement with learning content. In so doing, we remove barriers to learning and promote innovative ways of fostering inclusive learning. Through our approaches, staff and students learn through doing. This approach aligns with our philosophy around authentic assessments. Each school works to promote learning that aligns with programme and professional body requirements and best prepares our graduates for future employment.

Reference: Chickering, A.W., and Gamson, Z.F. (1987). Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. American Association for Higher Education bulletin 120, p3-7.

Inclusive Teaching

We are proud to have a diverse community of more than 30,000 students studying over 550 undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees, with 10,000 of these being international students from more than 140 countries. We need to ensure that our teaching and assessment activities are inclusive, enabling all students to enjoy their learning experience and showcase their knowledge, understanding and creativity.

What does Inclusive teaching mean?

“Inclusive teaching in higher education refers, to the ways in which pedagogy, curricula and assessment are designed and delivered to engage students in learning that is meaningful, relevant and accessible to all. It embraces a view of the individual and individual difference as the source of diversity that can enrich the lives and learning of others”. (Hockings, 2010:1)

Inclusive teaching means that we:

• Understand and value the experiences of individual learners
• Provide environments that enable all students to engage fully in their learning
• Use of a range of assessment methods, and choice in assessment method where possible, so that all students can demonstrate their learning
• Ensure materials are accessible and representative
• Respect and celebrate the diversity of our students
• Identify and remove any barriers that inhibit or prevent learning

Putting it in to practice

Before teaching sessions, finding out a little bit about the student group on the module will help in the design of learning activities...

For example:

• What is the proportion of international students?
• What is the gender balance?
• Do any students have a study needs agreement and identified reasonable adjustments?
• What are the educational backgrounds of the students (e.g. proportions with BTECs; A levels; access courses; international qualifications)?
• What is the ethnic diversity of the student group?
• Have any students indicated their pronouns?

At the beginning of modules, it is very important that all students feel supported and are enabled to build rapport with tutors and peers.

For example:

• Share some of your educational and personal background with the students so they get to know you as a person rather than just a lecturer
• Design activities that enable students to get to know each other (e.g. speed meets, think  pair share questions)
• Take the time to learn students’ names and how to pronounce them
• Share how you’d like to be addressed including your pronouns and invite students to share their pronouns
• Discuss the importance of students being able to share their values and beliefs within a culture of mutual respect and dignity for all
• Reinforce the support mechanisms available to students including lecturers, personal tutors, module leaders, year tutors and/or programme leaders as well as central support teams such as Student Wellbeing, Careers and Employment, Hertfordshire Students’ Union Advice and Support team

Within our teaching sessions we need to enable all students to feel comfortable and contribute in ways which suit them. Our teaching methods and materials need to be accessible from a practical perspective and representative from a cultural perspective.

For example

• Collaborate with colleagues to provide an effective and consistent approach when designing modules and implement the Guided Learner Journey when developing the module sites
• Develop group activities to facilitate students’ understanding of how working with people of diverse backgrounds enriches their own learning
• Recognise quiet learners -  students who prefer to process ideas through thinking and reflection before talking
• Use clear and unambiguous language, avoiding jargon, acronyms and/or colloquialisms
• Provide a glossary of complex terms
• Check that resources really are accessible, and that they are presented in clear, simple   standard English for all.
• Try to choose resources and case studies that are representative of the student group
• Use sources to recognise that knowledge is developed in different parts of the world and by people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds
• Value diverse perspectives within reading lists
• Manage the learning environment to enable all students to participate fully, encouraging the sharing of examples from their own experiences
• Use non-discriminatory language and share these expectations with students
• Employ a range of teaching methods to support different modes of engagement

Reference: Hocking, C. (2010). Inclusive learning and teaching in higher education: a synthesis of research. EvidenceNet, Higher Education Academy. Available at https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/inclusive-learning-and-teaching-higher-education-synthesis-research.

We can consider two aspects of peer support:

1. Peer support for students
2. Peer support for teachers

Peer support for students encompasses a multitude of ideas and practices that can influence how students perceive the Higher Education experience. It is particularly important that students feel engaged with, and are able to actively contribute to, their studies as well as connect with each other to feel part of a community within programmes, modules and the wider university. Guiding students' thinking towards reflecting and acting with practical compassion to enhance their own success and that of others too, can be supported by asking students to consider these two questions throughout a module:

• What do I do to support my fellow students’ learning?
• What do my fellow students do to support my learning?

An example of a positive peer support strategy is mentoring/buddying – these programmes enable undergraduate students to successfully transition to university life enabling them to identify themselves as part of the university community.  Mentoring/buddying is known to increase the retention and academic success of mentored students at risk of failure or dropping out, while mentors often see their own inclusive leadership skills develop in ways that motivate them to think a little differently about their own career options and development.

Through an inclusive peer support network students connect with one another, are better able to access support services and build stronger and more positive relationships with fellow peers and staff.

Peer support for teachers is a very important element of our own continuing professional development (CPD). Engaging annually with peer review of teaching enables us to gain supportive feedback from a peer about our teaching practice and our learning resources. As well as being observed within our own teaching, observing others and/or team teaching can be an excellent way to gain new ideas and innovative approaches to supporting student learning.

Ongoing reflection and enhancement of our teaching is a key part of higher education practice. Our learning and teaching related continuing professional development (CPD) may take different forms during different phases of our careers but continuous development of our practice is essential.

CPD may include peer review of teaching and professional dialogues to facilitate reflection on practice alongside module/programme team reviews, as well as training courses and conferences to update skills and knowledge.

We might like to think of our CPD as being informed via four different aspects:

• Learning from activities
• Learning from colleagues
• Learning from students
• Learning from the literature

Examples of CPD relating to these areas can be seen in the table below:

Student feedback and listening to the student voice are central to how we develop, evaluate and synthesise information that is used to enhance our academic and professional provision. We actively use mid-module feedback and end of module ‘student voice questionnaires’ to receive feedback from students to enhance the teaching approaches, content, resources and assessment within the modules for current and future cohorts. Students provide further feedback on their programme and wider educational experiences through programme representatives and national surveys such as the National Student Survey (NSS) and Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES). We pride ourselves on integrating feedback into the student experience, ensuring that this is a central component of our quality enhancement process. In addition to developing an active feedback culture, staff work closely with Hertfordshire Students’ Union to consider best practices in enhancing the student voice. We value our partnership working with students to ensure continuous enhancements of our provision.