Excellent teaching practice is central to the student experience at the Coventry University Group. We recognise that individual colleagues will be teaching across a range of disciplines with different learning outcomes, as well as working with distinct- and often diverse- groups of students.
As a Lecturer (Teaching), you will build on your understanding of pedagogical theories to both enhance your own practice and support the development of Assistant Lecturers (Teaching). Doing so will also enable you to identify the most appropriate methods for the context that you are teaching in.
Essential Background
- Familiarise yourself with Coventry University Group’s established teaching observation scheme. Whether observing a colleague or being observed yourself, the scheme offers a great way to develop and inspire your own practice. Note that apprenticeship courses have a different teaching observation form to incorporate Ofsted requirements -details available at the link. You may be observed as part of an Ofsted inspection, see this document for further information (requires login)
- Coventry University Group uses an innovative Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) called Aula. It is essential that all teaching staff are familiar with its key functions. Explore how to use Aula for active learning, get tips on teaching online with Aula, and view Aula assessment guidance.
Getting Started
- At times, teachers may be required to deal with challenging or disruptive behaviour in class. You may find this advice from the University of Wolverhampton useful.
- The Coventry Educators Digital Fluency Course is designed to help colleagues to gain a deeper understanding of all things digital in relation to teaching and learning at Coventry University Group. The course takes around 4 hours to complete in total and it will be helpful to complete it in the first month of your contract.
Take it Further
All new staff with less than five years teaching experience are required to undertake the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice in HE (PgCAPHE). Complete the application form and discuss this with your line manager as their support will be valuable. This course is aimed at new staff joining Coventry University Group with less than five years full time teaching experience in Higher Education, who do not already hold a PgCAPHE equivalent. If you have more than five years HE teaching experience but do not have a PGCAPHE equivalent then you could join the course under accreditation of prior experiential learning (APEL) or you could consider applying directly for AdvanceHE Fellowship.
- As a Lecturer (Teaching), you may already have a teaching qualification, such as the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice in HE. If you have more than five years HE teaching experience but do not have a PgCAPHE equivalent then you could join the course under accreditation of prior experiential learning (APEL) or consider applying directly for AdvanceHE Fellowship.
- If you are a more experienced educator, you could consider upgrading your Advance HE fellowship to Senior Fellowship.
- Evaluate your digital skills using the Jisc discovery tool, available to staff and students.
- Further advice and how-to guides from colleagues across Coventry University Group can be found on the Teaching Knowledge Base and the Digital Toolkit, focusing on tools across the EdTech Ecosystem.
- Explore AEPD’s case studies eBook for some great examples of teaching and learning in practice from across the University Group.
- For Apprenticeship courses, ensure your teaching preparation aligns to the Active Scheme of Work (download, login required) for your module. This should be available from your Module Leader or Apprenticeship Course Director and explains how key aspects of the apprenticeship such Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours are reflected within the curriculum.
Try it out!
- Schedule some time to compete the Digital Fluency course mentioned above- the first section should take about an hour.
- Think of a time when you experienced challenging behaviour in the classroom. What did you do? Would you do anything differently in the future?
- Sign up to Vygo, the university’s peer led observation and mentoring platform. You could observe a colleague’s practice or receive support and mentoring in a specific area of interest such as active learning or assessment design.
Finished here?