University Teaching (Coursera)

University Teaching (Coursera)

University Teaching is an introductory course in teaching and learning in tertiary education, designed by staff at the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning at the University of Hong Kong. With input from instructors, guests and interviewees, including teaching award winners, students, and experts in the fields, you will be exposed to research evidence in relation to effective university teaching and practical instructional design strategies. You will also be exposed to multiple examples of effective teaching, and hear the views of teachers whose teaching has been judged to be excellent.

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More specifically, University Teaching will help you to address the following questions:

  • What does teaching in higher education involve?
  • What does research evidence tell us about effective teaching in higher education?
  • How can we ensure that our instructional design will help our students achieve their intended learning outcomes?
  • What pedagogic options do we have to make our teaching successful?
  • What assessment and feedback practices can help our students learn more effectively?

After completing the learning tasks in this course, you will be able to:

  • Discuss the teaching and learning context in higher education and reflect on the potential challenges and opportunities you might encounter.
  • Explain key teaching and learning concepts and relevant evidence in relation to effective university teaching.
  • Analyse the relationships between various aspects of teaching and student learning.
  • Identify a range of instructional strategies to support effective student learning.
  • Apply key concepts to the structuring of course outlines and lesson plans in order to create learning experiences to support successful student learning.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Course Introduction
What does it look like teaching in higher education?
This module focuses on a wider scope of what it is like teaching in higher education, such as, what responsibilities are involved, where challenges and opportunities might occur, and how experienced academics approach their teaching development, to help you to think about your teaching role in a broader context.

WEEK 2
What does research tell us about effective teaching in higher education?
This module focuses on a selection of established research evidence on effective university teaching in higher education for you to learn what works, what doesn’t, what helps, and what hinders. No overwhelming literature review. These are only selected essentials.

WEEK 3
How shall we go about curriculum and instructional design?
This is a practical module where you will be introduced to some key ideas you can immediately apply in your instructional design. You will also hear directly from the founders of one of the concepts in this module, Professor John Biggs and Dr. Catherine Tang.

WEEK 4
What pedagogical options can we find from successful examples? – An instructional toolbox
Module 4 presents a range of real instructional examples from different disciplines, hoping to inspire you to design your own course. Depending on your interest and discipline, you are invited to choose three (or more) examples to watch. For almost every example, there are one or two readings for those who are interested in exploring more.

WEEK 5
How to design effective assessment?
This module will provide you with some principles and practical examples for designing assessment that is effective and enhances students’ learning. It will introduce the purpose of different types of assessment, the design principles, and a number of exemplary practices.

WEEK 6
How to provide constructive and high-impact feedback?
This module will offer advice and strategies on providing constructive and high-impact feedback to students. We will show examples supported by evidence and theories. We will also look at some common concerns among teachers on giving feedback and discuss possible solutions to make feedback manageable and sustainable.

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