Teaching with other staff

Team teaching

A good deal of teaching at UTS is done collaboratively. That is, a number of staff teach together in the one subject, each giving a series of lectures or other classes on a particular component. Alternatively, one member of staff may give all the lectures while others conduct tutorials or lab sessions. In any form of team teaching it is vital that all the staff involved have a common understanding of the aims, content, appropriate teaching methods, timing, assessment methods and grading criteria, and administrative details of the subject. If you are teaching in a team, or working as a tutor, make sure that you know what everyone else is doing and that they know what you are doing, before the beginning of semester and during the actual conduct of the subject. The best way to do this is by arranging meetings at which all the staff concerned will be present.

Co-ordinating a subject

The subject co-ordinator is the person formally responsible to the Head of School or course program director for the administration of the subject. In particular, the co-ordinator must ensure that all the assessment results are properly compiled and forwarded to the administration by the due date. The co-ordinator should also ensure that there are no anomalies in the student enrolments. The co-ordinator has a special responsibility to ensure that all other staff are thoroughly briefed on the matters discussed in the team teaching section above.

Working with part-time staff

Part-time staff face particular difficulties, and it is largely up to the full-time staff, and in particular the subject co-ordinator to make sure that these difficulties are kept to an absolute minimum. Many attend the campus only in the evenings, i.e. when the bulk of the full-time staff and general staff are not present. Most have other work, study and/or family responsibilities, but also enjoy their teaching and are committed to doing it as well as possible. It is important for both the part-timers and their students that co-ordinators take responsibility for dealing with the administrative aspects of their subjects and keeping part-timers informed.

Before the beginning of semester, you will need to make sure that your Faculty is aware of the existence of your part-timers and that arrangements have been made for them to receive payment contracts and be allocated pigeonholes for mail. Inquire at your school office if you are uncertain of the procedures.

It is highly desirable to have a meeting before the beginning of semester of all staff involved in a subject. At this meeting, part-timers should be given subject outlines, timetables and room allocations and preferably a list of students enrolled in their sessions. Discuss with part-timers how the sessions they will be teaching fit into the subject, and how the subject fits into the course as a whole. Outline the assessment system and assessment criteria for the subject and the relevant UTS assessment policies and conventions. It is also useful to discuss the desired procedures for dealing with student requests (or complaints) - e.g. assignment extensions or marking queries. Inform your part-timers of any teaching evaluation activities in which you would like them to participate.

During the semester, it is important to keep part-timers up to date with the progress of the subject, get feedback from them and inform them of changes and deadlines which affect them or their students. If you give handouts of lecture notes etc. to students, make sure your part-timers are given a copy. If part-timers are running parallel tutorials, communicate the topics, problems etc. for each week at least one week in advance. It can be helpful to include suggested ways of approaching topics. If you require part-timers to use resources such as videos or films, ensure that they know how to book and use them and who to contact for help after hours. Make sure you have a regular time at which part-timers can contact you, and give them an alternative person to contact if you will be away. Part-timers may require full-timers to act as intermediaries to arrange copying of handouts, booking of audio-visual materials etc.

Try to meet with part-timers as a group to discuss the criteria for marking assessment tasks or exams. Distinct differences in the mark ranges given by staff may unfairly disadvantage some students and in some cases lead to appeals. Don't assume that part-timers will mark the same way you would. Let them know what you would expect for a student to pass, be given a credit, distinction etc. (As an aside, students should also be given this information.) If despite your efforts there are large differences in marking standards the co-ordinating examiner or assessor for the subject may need to remark examples of work and adjust marks accordingly. This should be done in consultation with the original marker.

After the end of semester, try to arrange a meeting with part-timers to seek feedback on the subject. Part-timers who tutor or teach in practical classes usually have close contact with students and are a good source of information for improving the subject.

It is easy for part-time staff to become isolated from the overall teaching process, as the usual informal mechanisms of interaction with colleagues are not available to them. As a co-ordinator it is your responsibility to ensure that this isolation is minimised. It is useful to have meetings during the semester, but frequent meetings can place an unfair burden on part-timers who are not paid for attendance. Alternatives include regular notes in pigeonholes, e-mail or phone calls. Informal discussions with your part-timers over coffee can be a good way to improve communication.

UTSOnline can also be used to brief and de-brief part time staff, for example by setting up a group for tutors and using the group area to discuss issues and exchange documents.