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As the examples here show, getting involved in university teaching is an intense experience for students. UZH has launched a special training program to support tutors and enable them to acquire teaching skills.
Carmen Muffler and Vera Tramer (see picture) spared no effort when it came to creating their reading seminar on popular culture. Their preparations involved immersing themselves in the topic they’d selected, structuring the material, deciding what points to focus on, and coming up with ideas to make each session as attractive and rewarding as possible. Tutors at UZH perform many different roles, including overseeing students doing lab work, assisting instructors with courses or – like our two featured tutors – running their own seminars. Many students become tutors to get more actively involved in academic life, make interesting contacts, or get better established at the university. Tutors who help fellow students learn also benefit themselves: On a personal level, and in terms of their knowledge of their subject and teaching skills. The initiative shown by tutors makes them great role models. For students less far along in their studies, tutors are an important contact: Door-openers to the world of science and academia.
Training program launched
UZH actively helps students involved in university teaching develop their didactic skills. University departments and professorial chairs often call on staff of the Center for University Teaching and Learning to provide support and advice to tutors. Added to this, after a one-year pilot phase, the Start! training program has now been launched to enable students to acquire teaching skills. It’s based on a combination of online courses and classroom workshops, for example sessions where participants get together mid-semester to discuss theoretical and practical issues with teaching experts. “This way tutors get an opportunity to learn from one another across subject boundaries and share their experience,” explains project manager Stefan Andreas Keller from the Center for University Teaching and Learning.
Box: Didactic know-how for students
UZH is now offering Start!, a new qualification program aimed at supporting students involved in university teaching as tutors. Organized by the Center for University Teaching and Learning, the program is designed to be practical and easily accessible. It’s a straightforward way for students with an interest in teaching to acquire basic didactic skills that could be useful in their studies or future career. The training is offered online via the OLAT learning platform in combination with individual classroom workshops and meetings. The course consists of four basic modules:
These four basic modules can be augmented with advanced subject-specific components covering areas such as the use of digital technology or the development of tutorial teaching. Participants who successfully complete the program receive an attestation of their teaching skills. An ECTS point can be credited with the consent of the candidate’s faculty. This semester’s courses are open for booking until 12 October.
More information on the qualification program:
www.hochschuldidaktik.uzh.ch/de/tutors.html
