Sink or S

wim?

GETTING R

EADY TO TEACH

UNIT ONE

The analogy of the swimming pool is not without purpose. As it works out, many of us start our teaching careers in Dublin Business School by getting ‘thrown in at the deep end’.

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The good news is …..mostly we SWIM! However in the first semester, there are lectures to be given, or tutorials to run, or meetings to go to, administration to be completed or marking of students’ work to be done, all of which is new.

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Sometimes we face one or more of theseprospects without having had any opportunity to learn how to tackle such challenges.

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The aim of UNIT ONE is to help you to cope well with those first few critical elements of your work in teaching in higher education.

At DBS you are appointed on the basis of your expertise and

experience in the subject matter of your particular disciplines.

You have already had at least some experience of working with students, for example alongside researching or studying for higher degrees.

Still it can be daunting a prospect either to step up onto the podium in a large lecture theatre, or take home a big pile of students’ work to mark.

Most of the people around you may seem to have been teaching for ever, and glide effortlessly (it appears) through the processes of preparing lectures, planning tutorials, and assessing students’ work.

But all of them are likely to remember that knowing one’s stuff was only a relatively small part of becoming able to help students to learn one’s stuff!

Even more scary, the stuff you know backwards is quite unlikely to be at the heart of the material you need to be able to teach. It is very likely that at least some of the syllabus content you need to teach will be new even to you, and you may be surprised at how long it can take to put together (for example) a lecture on a topic you’ve never studied directly before. Or to start teaching a new module………

I know my stuff….

WORKSHOP FORMATThere are twelve workshops in total.

Prior to each workshop there will be a Pre-Workshop Task to be completed – this is usually short and consists of a reading or reflective exercise or a ‘planning-to-teach’ component.

Workshops will consist of:

(1) a short introductory lecture outlining the critical issues within a Unit

(2) a group exercise and follow-up discussion(3) A review of the Pre-Workshop Task(4) details for the workshop Assessment task(5) Summary and concluding remarks

This series of workshops is benchmarked against: Total Learner Effort4 hours

SYLLABUSUnit 1: Sink or Swim? Getting Ready to Teach

Unit 2: Making Learning Happen

Unit 3: Teaching Large Groups & Small Groups

Unit 4: Planning for Teaching: Instructional DesignUnit 5: Designing Assessment for Feedback

Unit 6: Examining, Marking & Grading

Unit 7: Managing Yourself

Unit 8: Managing the Administration

Unit 9: Technology & Learning

Unit 10: Current Issues in 21st Century Teaching

Unit 11: Research in Teaching

Unit 12: Building your Portfolio

ResourcesKey texts available in the library

Getting Ready to Teach

When you’ve completed UNIT ONE you should be better able to:

• Feel more confident and relaxed about starting to teach in higher education.

• Prepare for and give your first lectures effectively and successfully.

• Prepare for, and conduct successfully, your first tutorials and seminars.

• Undertake your first elements of marking systematically, fairly and efficiently.

• Give useful feedback to your students, to help them learn successfully.

• Continue to develop your teaching and assessing practices systematically and professionally.

these are called

‘learning outcomes’

Where am I now?Pre-Workshop Task 1a

This

is pa

rt of th

e

asse

ssmen

t

Your QuestionsActivity 1: (10 Minutes)

• Share your three questions with the person beside you• Listen to the advice or comments you receive

The purpose of this task was for you to share with yourself and the facilitator the work-to-be done immediately! The relevant learning outcome is:

You should be better able to:1. Feel more confident and relaxed about starting to

teach in higher education.

It should help you to set your expectations by giving you an idea of what to expect. However, I am certain you have a number of questions!

Who can help? With what?• Colleagues • Programme Co-Ordinators• Moodle Administrator• IT Helpdesk• Programme Leaders• Head of School• Receptionists• Librarians• Websites

• _________________________• _________________________• _________________________• _________________________• _________________________• _________________________• _________________________• _________________________• _________________________

Activity 2: Do you know the person’s name and what they do? (10 Minutes)

DBS Checklist for Lecturers OPERATIONAL Room Number? Number of

Students Attendance Sheet Moodle Page Password for AV

ACADEMIC Module

Descriptor Assessment

Details Learning

Outcomes Grading Criteria Powerpoint References My intro Quizzes Activities Handouts My outro

Can you think of anything else?

SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZList of TermsA. Learning OutcomeB. TaskC. SyllabusD. PortfolioE. LectureF. TutorialG. Small GroupH. Large GroupI. WorkshopJ. FeedbackK. Module

List of Definitions1. assigned piece of work often to be finished within a certain time2. a formal presentation by an academic staff member, usually to a large number of students3. a learning opportunity in which students discuss the key topics, concepts and ideas of the course with their

tutors. They are closely linked to assessment and often involve small group discussions and group work4. Communication on assessed work in a way that promotes learning and facilitates improvement but does not

increase the burden of assessment5. the minimum achievement that the learner is certified to have attained if he/she successfully completes a

particular programme (i.e. passes all the required assessments)6. self-contained, formally structured learning experience with a coherent and explicit set of learning outcomes

and assessment criteria.7. 40 or more students8. 60 or more9. a contract between faculty members and their students, designed to answer students' questions about a

course, as well as inform them about what will happen should they fail to meet course expectations.10. Less than 1011. A learning experience designed and offered by a provider, within the state, based on predetermined national

standards12. the collection of work which includes a reflective commentary13. This usually involves a short introduction in which a specific problem is identified and presented to students

by the lecturer or tutor. This is followed by discussion and activities in which students work collaboratively to investigate, analyse and formulate a solution to the problem

14. 2-25 students

TASK: In pairs, match the terms (A to K) with the Definitions 1-15. NB there are more definitions than terms

AnswersA 5 B 1 C 9 D 12 E 2 F 3 G 14 H 7 I 13 J 4 K 6

The Language of Higher Education

• It may appear as though institutions of Higher Education speak a different language

• When you start teaching in DBS things can seem a little overwhelming.

• This exercise covers terminology you may hear whilst you are teaching in DBS and what they mean!

• Never be afraid to seek clarification on acronyms, terms, phrases etc

• Let’s see how well you did!• Are there any other terms that you need explaining? Write them

here

1. ____________________________________________________2. ____________________________________________________3. ____________________________________________________