LONDON’S GLOBAL UNIVERSITY
Faculty Learning and Teaching Strategies:
Guidance for Drafters
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Introduction
All UCL departments/divisions which offer undergraduate or masters degree programmes are required to produce a
departmental/divisional learning and teaching strategy (DLTS). This is subject to review at regular intervals, in line with
changes to the Institutional Learning and Teaching Strategy (ILTS)
Faculties are asked to use these departmental documents to inform an overarching Faculty Learning and Teaching
Strategy (FLTS) which outlines how the Faculty will support its departments / divisions to deliver the ambitious
transformation vision set out in the 2011 Council White Paper.
The Faculty Learning and Teaching Strategy template provides a framework for that document which aims:
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To encourage Faculties to set out how they will implement the White Paper’s student-centred vision for
education;
To stimulate reflection and encourage Faculties to engage with departmental learning and teaching strategies;
To enable Faculties to produce a statement of intent that accurately reflects their own circumstances;
To support Faculties with the process of producing strategies which are aligned with institutional priorities
(particularly those outlined in the Institutional Learning and Teaching Strategy 2011-15).
It is hoped that Faculties will be able to use the text they produce using this template over the life of the document in a
number of different contexts, including bids, annual monitoring statements, and other public texts.
We refer to Faculty throughout for the sake of brevity - but please substitute 'School’ / 'division' / 'PGI' / ‘programme
committee’ if you are developing a strategy for a different organisational unit.
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Developing a Faculty Learning and Teaching Strategy (FLTS)
Drafters are strongly encouraged to work collaboratively on the development of the FLTS, and to incorporate a range of
opinions as to how the Faculty might seek to enhance and develop its teaching provision over the next four years.
Strategies should be formally discussed and approved by Faculty Teaching Committees (or an equivalent body) before
submission to the Vice-Provost (Education). Departmental and Faculty Learning and Teaching Strategies will be reviewed
by a panel appointed by the Vice-Provost (Education) before the end of the 2011-12 academic year. The information and
ideas that come out of that process will inform the 2013 review of the Institutional Learning and Teaching Strategy, and
will shape the strategic priorities of both the Vice-Provost’s office and the Centre for the Advancement of Learning and
Teaching.
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Further information
The Centre for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching is able to provide support to departments and Faculties with
the process of producing learning and teaching strategy documents.
This support can be tailored to a department or Faculty’s requirements, but might include:
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Facilitating the development of DLTS / FLTS documents
Workshops which encourage debate and discussion about the key issues in the strategies
Work with key staff to scope the content of departmental / Faculty documents
To discuss the support available for the production of these strategy documents, please contact the CALT Teaching
Fellows associated with your School:
BEAMS:
Jason Davies ([email protected])
Jenny Marie ([email protected])
SLASH:
Nick Grindle ([email protected])
Paul Walker ([email protected])
SLMS:
Rosalind Duhs ([email protected])
Teresa McConlogue ([email protected])
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Timeline
The deadline for completion of Departmental Learning and Teaching Strategies will be confirmed in due course. They
should be submitted simultaneously to the Vice-Provost (Education)’s office and to the relevant Faculty Tutor.
The deadline for completion of Faculty Learning and Teaching Strategies will be confirmed in due course. These should
be submitted to Judith Hillmore in the Vice-Provost (Education)’s office ([email protected]).
Template for Faculty Learning and Teaching Strategies 2011-2015
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LONDON’S GLOBAL UNIVERSITY
Learning and Teaching Strategy for
[insert Faculty name here]
Stage 1: the ‘narrative’ or vision
How does the Faculty support, celebrate and enable teaching excellence at UCL? How will it work with
departments over the next four years to drive innovation and prioritise teaching?
This section of the strategy is an opportunity for drafters to outline the strategic role that the Faculty plays in supporting teaching, and
the Faculty’s ‘vision’ for learning and teaching over the next four years (2011-15). Drafters should consider how the Faculty’s role may
need to develop in order to realise this vision.
Responses here should be free-form, and cover the issues which drafters consider to be of most relevant to the Faculty’s context. As
with the Departmental/Divisional Learning and Teaching Strategies (DLTSs), this section is intended to encourage Faculties to produce
individual statements which reflect their priorities for learning and teaching, and which may be used in other contexts (e.g. promotional
statements; internal policy documents).
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Stage 2: the Faculty in context
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Strategic Environment
a) What factors influence the design and delivery of teaching across the Faculty?
This question encourages drafters to recognise the factors which influence how departments/divisions approach their teaching and to
identify any overarching trends or areas that may require particular support or further exploration over the coming years.
Drafters may wish to consider general trends in any or all of the following. Responses should indicate where there is disparity between
departments/divisions, and comment on how this affects the support that the Faculty provides.
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Changes in school curricula and in the skills / knowledge base of the student cohort on entry
Changes in the Faculty’s student profile (international student numbers; WP students)
The need to respond to innovation elsewhere in the sector
Student expectations
The requirements / expectations of professional and accrediting bodies and employers
The ways in which collaboration with overseas institutions may impact upon ideas about learning and teaching
Funding issues and the need to generate income to support teaching activity
Any additional issues as determined by the Faculty’s context, or which are particular to a subset of the departments within
a Faculty
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b) What will the key external challenges for teaching and learning for the Faculty over the next four years?
This question invites drafters to consider how the above factors influencing teaching might change, and how this might affect the
Faculty’s role. The response should therefore develop out of the response to question 1a).
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Aims and Objectives for 2011-15
a) What are the Faculty’s key aims for learning and teaching for 2011-15?
Drafters are asked briefly to outline the Faculty’s strategic aims for teaching, given the external factors outlined at 1, above, and the
aims set out in UCL’s Institutional Teaching and Learning Strategy and the 2011 Council White Paper.
Responses should indicate whether the Faculty’s aims are the same for all of its departments, and explain the context and rationale for
differentiation, if not.
They may consider:
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Ways of improving the profile of teaching as a core academic activity
Mechanisms for sharing innovation and good practice in content, delivery and assessment methodologies more widely
across the Faculty
Mechanisms to encourage research-led teaching at all levels of programmes
Income generation strategies and financial support for strategically valuable teaching activity
Ways of increasing reward and recognition for individuals who are exemplary teachers
Collaborations with institutions overseas on teaching and learning
Other aims as determined by the Faculty context
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b) What objectives and timelines has the Faculty set with a view to ensure it achieves these aims?
Responses should cover objectives for the next four years, as well as longer-term activity if this is appropriate.
c) How will the Faculty monitor its progress against these strategic aims?
Drafters should indicate the structures and processes that are currently, or will be, put in place to ensure that the Faculty strategic
objectives for teaching are met. This may include discussion of:
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The role of the Faculty Tutors and the Faculty Teaching Committee in maintaining teaching standards and encouraging
innovation
How the Faculty gives leadership in teaching and learning at the most senior level
The role of staff-student consultative committees and engagement with student views at Faculty level
The use of objective quantitative data (e.g. student attainment and progression data, student recruitment data)
The use of external feedback, including that from external examiners
Central reporting mechanisms (e.g. annual monitoring)
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Approaches to Learning, Teaching and Assessment
a) What Faculty-led mechanisms are in place, or will be put in place, to monitor the effectiveness of teaching
and assessment across the Faculty?
This question requires drafters to outline the ways in which the Faculty monitors the effectiveness of its teaching. This should
encourage reflection on the way in which the following support that goal:
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Initiatives led by the Dean or Faculty Tutor
The use of departmental teaching and learning strategies
Reporting requirements (e.g. to DTCs and FTCs)
Student feedback
Feedback from external sources
Inter-departmental peer observation of teaching
Data on student attainment, progression and employment on graduation
b) How will the Faculty work with departments to prioritise excellence in teaching across its disciplines, and
encourage innovation to learning and teaching at a strategic level?
Where the previous question focused on current teaching practice, this question invites drafters to consider how the Faculty will
encourage departments to innovate in course design and delivery, and in the use of different assessment methodologies. Drafters may
wish to consider how the Faculty uses the following:
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Strategic leadership from Deans, Faculty Tutor and Heads of Departments/Divisions
Faculty teaching away days
Departmental and Faculty Teaching Committee agendas
Mechanisms for rewarding / recognising commitment to teaching from academic staff
Sharing expertise in teaching across the Faculty
Involvement in collaborations across UCL or nationally / internationally
Inter-departmental peer observation of teaching
Inter-Faculty teaching strategy days
Intra- and inter-Faculty collaboration (on teaching, programme development, evaluation of assessment methodologies)
Opportunities for Faculty staff to share expertise
Financial or administrative incentives
Reward and recognition for staff
Staff training opportunities
Work with CALT, E-Learning Environments and Museums and Collections etc.
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c) What strengths will the Faculty draw on to support learning and teaching across its departments/divisions,
and how will it do so?
Drafters should use the relevant departmental learning and teaching strategies to identify examples of particular strengths in teaching
within their departments, and consider how Faculty resources and structures might be used to capitalise on these strengths over the
next four years.
d) What areas might the Faculty need to work with departments/divisions to address, and what plans are in place
to do so?
Again, drafters should use the relevant DLTSs to identify areas where action or additional support is needed, and consider how Faculty
resources and structures might be used to make this happen.
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4
Alignment with institutional policy
a) How will the Faculty work with departments to address UCL’s key priorities for learning and teaching in its
provision over the period 2011-15?
Drafters should outline how the Faculty will support its departments/divisions to realise UCL’s strategic aims for teaching. Where
drafters identify areas under any of these headings where additional development is necessary, this should be indicated in the
response.
Education for Global Citizenship (internationalisation of the curriculum):
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Global issues / perspectives considered in course content wherever appropriate
Teaching and assessment approaches which are accessible to students from a range of educational and cultural backgrounds
Integration of study abroad opportunities into the curriculum
The ways in which students at UCL develop their sensitivity to cultural difference
Programmes developed which equip students for employment in a range of countries
Assessment tasks devised to encourage students to communicate with a range of audiences, and to work in teams
Collaboration on curriculum content or delivery with overseas partners
Consideration of methodologies used in other cultures
Innovative and effective learning and teaching methodologies:
Under this heading, drafters should consider the following, in the context of their Faculty:
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Increased use of digital technologies to support course development, delivery and student collaboration
Student-led research
Distance and blended learning
Peer-to-peer learning
Redesign of learning/teaching spaces
Engagement with Museums and Collections’ resources
Engagement with information literacy and digital resources
Improved support for students’ learning:
Drafters should comment on the ways in which the Faculty might support:
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Implementation of the revised UCL personal tutor system and the Higher Education Achievement Report
Any other pastoral structures which operate within the Faculty
Student reflection on skills development
The provision of appropriate and timely feedback to students
The use of student feedback in programme development and course management
Employability, entrepreneurship and leadership:
Drafters should consider the role of the Faculty in the ensuring the following:
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A high profile for careers advice within departments/divisions and for the support structures, which encourage students to
prepare for life after UCL
The development of the curriculum with an eye to students’ future employment prospects
Scope within the curriculum for students to show intellectual and practical leadership
Scope for students to pursue their own research and to set the pace of their own learning
Student representation within the department’s decision-making structures
Other academic opportunities within the department for students to show initiative and to develop their entrepreneurship skills
Higher profile for learning and teaching:
Drafters should consider how Faculties will support their constituent departments/divisions to ensure:
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An effective balance between research and teaching as academic activities
The level of training and teaching expertise required of staff with teaching responsibilities
Promotion of staff achievements in teaching
The staff appraisal and promotions process
The processes by which the teaching load is apportioned across the staff body
The way in which the peer observation of teaching system operates
The expectations of staff who have been asked to develop new courses
Other opportunities for staff to develop their teaching practice
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b) What central support or resources are necessary to enable the Faculty to support departments to achieve
their objectives in each of these areas?
c) How will the Faculty support departments to respond to the targets and expectations set out in UCL’s Access
Agreement?
Drafters may wish to consider:
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Faculty-wide strategies for mitigating any projected impact of the 2012-13 increase in tuition fees
Mechanisms for ensuring that departments contribute to the realisation of UCL’s targets for applications, student intake and
progression
The quality of information available to prospective students
Faculty support for outreach activities
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Business Planning
a) How will the Faculty work with departments/divisions to ensure a strategic approach to the resourcing of
teaching activity?
b) What are the financial / resource implications of the Faculty’s strategic aims for 2011-15, and how will the
Faculty address these?
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