While recognizing the diversity in effective teaching practices, there are some common aims and principles. Generally, university teaching aims to enable students to reach their highest possible level of learning during their time of enrolment, and to prepare them for lifelong learning. Courses should challenge students to think by motivating them to learn and encouraging them to develop their own ideas and approaches to problems. Teaching encompasses a wide range of activities including one-to-one consultations, postgraduate supervision, classroom teaching, supervising students' practical experience in laboratories, clinics, schools and industry, supervising projects, advising students, assessing students' work, preparing teaching and course materials for on and off-campus students, and contributing to course design and improvement and to curriculum development.
a) Course content and management
Students can expect that academic staff will:
- Select the most appropriate content for their courses, given the intellectual and professional needs of the students.
- Regularly review the course content and focus and revise as required using feedback from a variety of sources.
- Ensure conformity between announced course objectives and what is taught and tested.
- Provide opportunities for and receive and respond to feedback during the course.
- Provide students with information about their performance so as to enable them to improve the quality and level of their learning.
- Use established procedures, such as the Class Representative System, for seeking feedback from students on matters affecting their studies and involve them, where appropriate, in decisions and discussions which affect their studies.
- Provide a range of activities in the overall course, such as lectures, practical work, reading and assignments.
- Ensure that courses comply with University and Faculty guidelines on workloads in relation to the credit value, the level of difficulty, class contact and recommended individual study time, &and assessment.
- Make reasonable attempts to avoid conflicts with the requirements of other courses.