Getting started
Familiarise yourself with resources to help you support your students, such as the fold-out guide to Personal Tutor and support services, supporting students guide, and the guide to advising students who are thinking of leaving.
Get to know your students
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Most lecturers have tutees; new UG and PGT students will be keen to meet you. Each department provides opportunities for you to meet them in Welcome Week.
- Students value their lecturers getting to know them; including their aspirations and prior learning experiences, so you can make them aware of any relevant opportunities and support at the university. Don’t forget to welcome returning students (eg. repeat year/second year/final year students) and offer to review the previous year and discuss the year ahead.
- Consider how you share your passion for your subject with your students.
- Your departmental office can print you off a list of all your students with their names and photographs.
Help your students to get to know others
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Give students an ‘excuse’ to get to know others on their course; for example, interactive activities in lectures/classes/laboratories, or problem-solving tasks in groups.
- Encourage all students to get involved and give examples how; for example, through societies, becoming a peer mentor, vTeam projects, etc.
- Encourage all students to attend departmental social events and join the department’s society
Tell your students what you expect, the steps involved, and the help available to develop the skills and knowledge required.
What students need
Tell students what they can read before they start to help them become familiar with the subject; becoming familiar with the subject and specialist vocabulary can help build confidence.
- Ensure students, tutors and markers understand the marking criteria for coursework before and after submission. For example, issue the marking criteria when coursework is first assigned. Another way to check the understanding is by group marking of similar anonymised assignments in class against the criteria before the deadline.
- When providing feedback, specify what they did well, what they need to improve, where they can find help to improve, and how it relates to the marking criteria. Ensure feedback is specific, timely, actionable and constructive.
- Consider how students on your module/course/within your department are followed up with if they are struggling to progress academically.
- Encourage students to begin revision months before exams, as well as signposting them to support available, and incorporating past papers as a task within class alongside peer discussion.
- If students are taking resits, share information about when academic support is available immediately after the exam board, ensuring students are able to make informed decisions if the exam board gives a choice of options.
Celebrate student success and how they did it
- Encourage students who receive the Dean’s excellence award to describe how they succeeded, including the time and effort required
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- Encourage your students to consider opportunities available, e.g. summer internships, frontrunner opportunities, etc.