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Perspectives on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

This module is aimed at academics and/or academic-related professionals who teach and support student learning and who may be new to a teaching role. The module enables teachers in higher education to clarify conceptions of, and reflect on their own approaches to, teaching and learning in higher education. Module participants are empowered to evaluate their teaching role, articulate their own teaching philosophy, and to apply theories of education and the principles of teaching and learning to their discipline.

Module participants will explore how to apply the theories and principles of teaching and learning to their practice. The module will introduce strategies for teaching online and in hybrid environments and explore the fundaments of curriculum design & assessment. The module is designed to develop a supportive community of practice through formative peer feedback.

For those early career academics taking the Special Purpose Cert for credit, this module should be completed as one of their three 5 ECTS modules. The modules form part of the Special Purpose Certificate in Academic Practice, where modules are taken individually and built up to a professional qualification in academic practice (15 ECTS).

Module learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module participants should be able to:

Discuss concepts, theories and philosophies of teaching and learning.
Demonstrate how appropriate teaching and assessment strategies have been developed and applied to promote learning.
Demonstrate critical awareness of the literature of teaching and learning.
Articulate/illustrate how their professional values about academic practice, have been influenced by engagement with this module.

Assessment

Participants must demonstrate continuous and consistent engagement with weekly activities (e.g. online discussions) to proceed to final submission. Some of these will be collaborative in nature whilst others can be done on an individual basis.

Module participants taking the module on a for-credit basis should also select one of the following two assessment options:

OPTION 1 consisting of two parts, A and B
OPTION 2 consisting of a critical reflection as part of the SpCert Professional Teaching Portfolio – this option is only available to those completing the Professional Teaching Portfolio for the purposes of the SpCert.

OPTION 1

Part A: Teaching Philosophy Statement
Develop (and critically locate) a comprehensive Teaching Philosophy Statement c. 1000 words or equivalent, the final 200-250 of which should explore influence of engagement with this module and actions planned for future.

Part B: Observation, Resource, or Session Plan
Module participants should either:

Undertake an annotated peer observation, with assignment submission comprising a short session plan (c. 500 words) and a critical reflection (c. 1500, excluding reference list) identifying actions to enhance practice, linking to current literature.

OR:

Produce a small resource in the medium of your choice which is intended to enhance practice in your disciplinary context, e.g. to explain a threshold concept visually with a short video or infographic, with an accompanying reflective commentary explaining your purposes and design and linking to current literature (c. 500 words or equivalent for resource, and 1500 for commentary excluding reference lists).

OR:

Produce a fully worked one-hour session plan including at least three distinct teaching strategies, and at least one formative assessment type, with a reflective commentary explaining your rationale and decisions, and linking with current literature (c. 500 words for the session plan, and 1500 for the commentary excluding reference lists).

OPTION 2: A critical reflection as part of the SpCert Professional Teaching Portfolio

Participants completing the Professional Teaching Portfolio for the purposes of the SpCert Award should develop a critical reflection on the module’s impact on your practice, as one of the four elements of the portfolio. This critical reflection may be text-based or developed as a digital artefact (c.2,500 words or equivalent) for the critical reflection.

Please see Rubric on Page 38 of the handbook.