About Teaching

Cambridge's year is divided into three terms: Michaelmas, Lent and Easter. The (shorter) period in each term during which teaching takes place and members of the University are normally expected to be in residence is known as 'full term'. Term dates for the next few academic years are available online.

There are some important dates if you are supervising undergraduates and/or directing of Studies.

Teaching at Cambridge is done through a variety of methods: formal lectures, seminars and classes, demonstrations and supervisions. For an overview of how they complement each other, see:

• Learning and Teaching
• The lecture-list for each Tripos is published each year.

All undergraduate students belong to a college which is responsible for their teaching and welfare. Most students will live in or around their college. Lectures are for the most part organised by departments and held centrally, as are other forms of teaching such as lab-based practicals or language classes. For more information about teaching follow the link.

Peer observation of teaching is used in a variety of ways in UK universities. In some it constitutes a compulsory element of professional practice. At Cambridge it is promoted in some Faculties and Departments. PHEP peer observation of teaching is voluntary and has a purely developmental purpose: it is not connected with formal evaluation of teaching, nor is it concerned with notions of a 'right' way to teach. Instead, it is intended to enhance the importance attached to quality of teaching and to the provision of a high quality educational experience for students. It provides an opportunity to discuss and improve teaching practice. Its benefits are derived from feedback and self-reflection.

Further readings:

GA Martin, Developing higher education teaching skills through peer observation and collaborative reflection, Routledge, 1998

Arrange a PHEP Peer Observation

Feedback

The Transkills Project aims to facilitate the academic transition of first year undergraduates from school to university to enable them to take full advantage of the educational opportunities provided during their first year. The project is run in collaboration with Colleges in support of academic development activities for first year undergraduates by means of on-line resources and interactive workshops. If you are a Director of Studies, you might like to get involved.

Supervisions are arranged by Colleges. Supervisions are focussed teaching with a teacher and a small groups of students (normally in groups of two or more, and occasionally as a one-to-one). For more information about:

• What is a supervision?
• How does it work?
• Practicalities
• Reporting
• Student support

The University’s Board of Examinations publishes an Examiners’ Guide

If you are responsible for setting a University exam, you may wish to check Statutes and Ordinances (‘Ordinances’, Chs III and IV) for regulations concerning exam procedures and contents. Also, be aware of the conventions of phrasing exam questions in your discipline.

You may not have a free hand in determining the types of questions to be set in exams during the first year or two of your appointment.

Reading the examiners’ reports for individual papers for the last few years will give insight both into the way a faculty or department expects material to be covered. Previous years’ exam papers are also available in college and subject libraries, as well as in the University Library.

Read about preparing examination questions (essays) and marking examination essays