Help yourself, help your students – check out the NEW Learning and Teaching Toolkit

University teaching staff and support staff now have access to a unique online Learning and Teaching Toolkit offering everything from innovative teaching methods to guidance on giving feedback.

At the click of a mouse, staff can access a wealth of good practice from colleagues across the University who want to share how they are implementing policy and enhancing their teaching.

Whether you want to get more creative using new technologies in your teaching or find out how to be the most effective personal tutor, the Toolkit offers guidance and solutions, as well as further reading and links.

Claire Allam, Learning and Teaching Development Manager, said: "We’re delighted to launch the University's Toolkit for Teaching and Learning. The Toolkit is the central resource for all staff who teach or who support teaching.

"The Toolkit provides guidance, good practice and University policies to help staff be effective and innovative in their teaching roles, providing the best possible learning experience."

The Toolkit is split into six sections – introduction and pathways, modes of teaching, learning technologies, modes of learning, assessment and feedback and student support and development. The toolkit also offers helpful hints and tips, as well as further reading to support continuing professional development.

One of the innovative teaching methods to be shared on the Toolkit is the experiences of Dr Ruth Stirton in the School of Law. She used Twitter to hold revision sessions with her students and as a great resource for answering students’ general questions more quickly.

How can Twitter help? Dr Ruth Stirton discusses the advantages here.

The School of Architecture shares its student led findings in the area of feedback.

They have developed a resource that looks at some of the key questions around feedback such as making the most of feedback, giving effective feedback, and offers helpful advice for both staff and students. Want to know more? Click here.

Benefiting students is a central theme to the Toolkit and effective personal tutoring is another area covered by the extensive resource. For example, The Department of Psychology talk about a roadmap for personal tutorials. Why not take a look.

The roadmap is set out on a timeline corresponding to personal tutor meetings. It provides tutors with guidance and online resources to aid students’ personal development along with suggestions as to when in the academic year they might best be given to students.

Professor Paul White, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Learning and Teaching, said: "The Learning and Teaching Toolkit is an excellent resource that has fantastic benefits for both the student experience and the continued professional development of our staff.

“I would encourage all staff to spend time looking at this dedicated resource and see how it can meet their individual needs. With so much good practice all in one place, it’s a resource not to be missed!”