CHEM40340

For the academic year 2021 - 2022, this module will be offered in both the Autumn and Spring trimesters. However, participants will be expected to have attended demonstrator training and briefing sessions during the 1st trimester if assigned demonstrating in that trimester.

The module will consist of 3 strands, a practical, a theoretical and a professional. The module will be delivered with a mixture of face-to-face and online environment and participants must be in an active teaching role.

The practical component will consist of an initial presentation on the realities of demonstrating and attendance at a presentation to undergraduates on laboratory safety. There will also be preparatory sessions specific to individual experiments. Although these will be for all demonstrators they will constitute contact hours for those taking this module.

In the theoretical strand, the participants, who are in the role of graduate teaching assistant, will engage in a scholarly critique of their teaching performance in supporting student learning in their disciplinary context. Participants will apply some of the basic generic and discipline specific skills in their teaching. They will be expected to engage in a scholarly discussion with their peers on best practices in teaching and learning in their context. They will be encouraged to self-assess based on feedback from their peers and/or their students, i.e. encouraged to take responsibility for judging the quality of their teaching.

The professional strand will require that students display a suitable standard of preparation, punctuality, presentation and safety awareness. Administrative competence will also be expected with regard to timely marks entry and custody of laboratory notebooks, which are effectively examination documents.