Sage Study Skills Series

Teaching at University

by Kate Morss and Rowena Murray

Published 1 January 2005

Are you a postgraduate student just beginning to teach? Are you a contract researcher, teaching fellow or instructor who has been asked to do some teaching? If you are, you may feel you have been `thrown in at the deep end'. You may quite rightly, feel unprepared for the task, and, like other postgraduate teachers, you may be facing a number of dilemmas: you may not have much time to feel your way into this new role; you may not be happy with what looks like a `trial and error' model of learning to teach; you may even feel you have not had much choice in what you are to teach or what kinds of sessions you've been asked to facilitate. Someone in your department may have tried to reassure you -- `You know all this stuff. You'll be fine' -- on the basis of your first degree, but you may still be worried about whether or not you are really ready to teach.

Teaching at University has been written to provide you with the basic skills required to enter those first lectures, tutorials, lab-sessions and assessments with confidence. Clear and engaging throughout, this guide will offer:

" Accessible and generic language to support postgraduates in all disciplines

" Basic but relevant advice

" Portfolio sections at the end of each chapter

" A direct and practical approach and style

" An emphasis on helping you to get started and build up your confidence in the first few classes you teach

" Integration of theory (in small doses) with practice

With an application spanning the disciplines, Teaching at University is the essential companion for all teaching postgraduates and new lecturers.