learn about different teaching delivery methods

Lectures are one of the most well-known forms of teaching at university. The lecture can be an extremely useful way of imparting information, particularly to large groups of students. Lectures are designed to give background knowledge and information, and offer an opportunity to engage with students in a different way to other modes. They are also useful to introduce students to the debates and arguments in your subject discipline and to get students to think about and engage with those debates.

Lectures can be used as an introduction to a particular subject area, from which students may then be expected to undertake further reading or activity to improve their understanding. Lectures are often different from seminars and tutorials but may well be backed up by either one or both of these teaching and learning modes.

Dr David Smith, Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry at Sheffield Hallam ran an event on engaging lectures.

Blended learning is a term which describes a course or module where the use of face-to-face (F2F) and online delivery has been considered together for the best overall learning and teaching experience. Where blended learning works well when both modes of delivery (F2F and online) are seen as equally important and both are being deployed in a way which plays to their strengths. Blending the learning experience can make the face-to-face time more valuable and the online delivery more purposeful.

Flipped learning is a term which has emerged from the Flipped Classroom work of Bergman & Sams whereby the traditional use of classroom and homework activities are “flipped”. In Higher Education the flipped classroom model can be used to deliver information as videos which students access prior to attending the lecture. The lecture time can then be used to engage students in quizzes and activities to deepen their learning. One of the tools you can use to create videos is the centrally supported Panopto  available on your desktop.

Here is an example from the University of Wolverhampton:

A tutorial can be an opportunity to clarify students’ understanding of a particular issue, theory, book, or argument. They are also usually used for students to engage in learning activities including analysing results from experiments or engaging in technical skills development. Tutorial sessions may also be discursive and can really help students progress in their studies and may be run similar to seminar sessions. Tutorial sessions are usually delivered to smaller numbers of students.

In seminars, the focus is generally on the group and the interaction between its members. It is likely that individual students or groups of students will take a leading role in the seminar by delivering a presentation, presenting a paper or discussing an idea. Although the academic member of staff is likely to be present, he or she will normally not play a leading role but is there to offer guidance and support.

One of the most important things students need to be aware of is that they must be prepared for seminars - in other words, you would usually have provided material in advance of the session for them to read or engage with. This is really important so that you can get the most out of the session. Seminars are usually very good at deepening students’ learning.

There are other methods that teaching can be delivered than the main ones listed above. These include scenario based learning, Bob Croft ran a session on scenario based learning.