Who is the course designed for?
The course is designed specifically for Postdoctoral Early Career Researchers. ECR-Teach will train participants in the key skills sought after by Higher Education Institutes in course design, teaching, assessment and evaluation. It will provide the opportunity to develop, and potentially deliver, a short course suitable for adult learners.
Aims of the programme
- To promote students’ knowledge and understanding of how adults learn drawing on a broad range of research and scholarship into higher education;
- To promote meaningful employability skills related to designing a course, teaching, assessment and evaluation strategies, and, potentially, the delivery of a course to adults in a University of Cambridge continuing education context;
- To develop collaborative learning strategies and to create new courses which deploy current research to progress the Impact and Outreach agendas of ECRs;
- To develop the capacity of reflective practice and a critical evaluation of research and scholarship into higher education as a route to fostering a personal perspective on (or philosophy of) teaching.
The focus of the courses developed during ECR Teach will be adult learners as befits ICE’s remit. However, the aims and content of the programme will be broadly applicable to many forms of course design and development relevant to ECRs.
Teaching and learning
The ECR-Teach programme will run for approximately 15 weeks with the delivery of successful courses occurring 6-12 weeks later. Participants will be required to: attend two day schools and five workshops; engage with the online learning resources; participate in reflective practice; and contribute to the course design process in their allocated team.
Day school 1 – Designing your course – 13th January 2020- So much more than choosing a topic
We will introduce you to key issues that surround Higher Education course design. These include student needs, teaching and learning principles and approaches, higher education standards and getting the academic level right, course structure, innovation in teaching, administration, ethics, and models of course design. You will form your course design teams, each of which will be allocated a mentor, and consider issues relevant to collaborative and cross- or multi-disciplinary course development.
Workshop 1: Audience – 21st January 2020 - Who is your course for?
What do you know about your audience? What should you know and why is this important? How are you going to find it out? Is there a market need for your course and how will you find this out? How will all of this influence the design of your course?
Workshop 2: Content – 4th February 2020 - What should your course include?
Aims and outcomes, why are these important? How do you design a course syllabus and what does it need to include? What are the core principles of course design and how can these help you meet the needs of your audience and relevant quality assurance requirements?
Workshop 3: Delivery – 18th February 2020 - What is the best way to deliver your course material?
What teaching strategies and delivery methods are available? What are the advantages and disadvantages? How do you choose which are most appropriate? What are the specific demands of different groups of learners?
Workshop 4: Technology – 3rd March 2020 - How can technology enhance your course?
What approaches are available for using online learning and classroom technology in your teaching? How do you make sure these tools are of educational benefit and support student learning?
Workshop 5: Assessment & Evaluation – 17th March 2020 - Did your students learn anything? How can you improve the course next time?
Why is assessment important? What different methods of assessment are available? When and how should they be used and can they go wrong? How should assessments and learning outcomes be aligned? Why is course evaluation important? How can evaluation be carried out and what should be done with the information to improve your teaching?
Independent Team Orientated Course Design
Using the knowledge gained over the previous sessions your team will design a short course suitable for adult learners and aligned with your research interests and skills. You will have about four weeks for this.
Day school 2 – 15th May 2020 - Pitching your course – what’s its unique selling point?
You will present your course proposal to a panel of ICE academic staff who will evaluate the syllabus along with example teaching materials, a supporting case, and your assessment and evaluation plans to determine whether it has sufficient academic rigour to be marketed to the public. You will be given feedback and provided with the opportunity to reflect on the learning journey.
