Overall teaching provision:
The balance between ‘scheduled contact hours’ and ‘independent study’ remains the same.
Teaching includes lectures, seminars, workshops (includes team-based learning), practicals, computer labs, and tutorials. The aim is to have a blended approach to teaching and learning across all levels/years.
We aim for students to have in-person, on-campus teaching sessions two days per week. These teaching sessions will be timetabled and students will be allocated a specific day and time to attend – In some blocks, the Block Leader will allocate students into groups, and students are to attend on the allocated time-slot.
The remaining three days, students will attend live (synchronous) online teaching sessions, and have self-directed learning periods, where they will be required to engage with asynchronous teaching materials.
Asynchronous (pre-recorded online) teaching:
High quality asynchronous (online) material will be provided to students to support their learning and their engagement with the live (online or in-person/on-campus) teaching sessions. This material includes:
- There is a set reading each week, as provided in the Talis Aspire reading list (e.g. journal articles, e-books etc.).
- Additional digital resources for study blocks/modular blocks are provided on Blackboard Learn (e.g. didactic short videos, TED talks, YouTube videos, web-links, discussion forums, quizzes, etc.) to support student teaching and learning.
- Some study blocks/modular blocks may include asynchronous (online) tutorials to further support students in their learning – these will be ‘how-to’/’step-by-step’ recordings.
Live (synchronous) Online Lectures:
- When a big cohort is involved (100+), live (synchronous) online lectures will be used to teach lecture material accompanied by lecture slides (where applicable) and will take place on a weekly basis. Lectures normally take place before any relevant in-person, on-campus seminar(s), workshop(s), practical(s), computer lab(s).
In-person on-campus Lectures/Seminars/Workshops/Practicals/Computer Labs:
- When a small cohort is involved (30 or less), in-person, on-campus lectures will be used – if safe and with appropriate social distancing – to teach lecture material accompanied by lecture slides (where applicable) and will take place on a weekly basis. Lectures normally take place before any relevant in-person, on-campus seminar(s), workshop(s), practical(s), computer lab(s).
- For each study block/modular block, there is a variety of interactive activities designed to complement the lecture and to put the learning into practice. Each block will have a combination of in-person, on-campus activities such as seminars, workshops, practicals, computer labs, quizzes, Q&As with opportunity for students to interact with their peers and lecturer(s) – if safe and with appropriate social distancing. The cohort will be divided into smaller groups where appropriate.
Other Support/Resources:
- Tutoring and Pastoral Care – Students will have six timetabled, in-person, on-campus interactive sessions – if safe and with appropriate social distancing – (three per term) where the Personal Tutor covers information to help students navigate university life. Additionally, Personal Tutors will hold weekly tutoring hours (one hour/week) for tutees who have questions or would like to discuss issues/concerns and seek pastoral care. Students who are unable to attend these set tutoring hours can contact their Personal Tutor to make an appointment outside of these set hours. This appointment can take place online or in person/on campus (if safe and with appropriate social distancing).
- Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL) – Students are encouraged to engage with PAL, which are sessions facilitated by their peers (Level 5/Year 2 and Level 6/Year 3 students). These student-led sessions are held every two weeks and are designed to help students with the development of academic study skills and provide insight into adjusting to university life.
- Feedback and Consultation Hours – Academic staff will hold weekly Consultation and Feedback hours (two hours/week) where they will be available for students who have questions or would like feedback. Students who are unable to attend these set Consultation and Feedback hours can contact the academic member of staff to make an appointment outside of these set hours. This appointment can take place online or in person/on campus (if safe and with appropriate social distancing).
- Students with Additional Needs – Recordings will include captions; this applies to materials created by the lecturer(s). This may not be possible for other recorded material (e.g. TED talks, YouTube videos), but we will endeavour to provide captions whenever possible. Live (synchronous) online sessions will use platforms which allow for live captions.
Assessment:
There are no changes to coursework assessments. Examinations will be in person, on campus using WISEflow.
PY3600/PS3300 Dissertation – Does not apply to BSc Psychology (Sport, Health & Exercise)
• If face-to-face research with human participants is not permitted, all empirical projects will be carried out without such contact. A wide range of options are available including remote research with human participants such as online survey studies (using Qualtrics) or online experiments (using Testable), and also meta-analyses, secondary data analyses, etc. In a typical year, a large proportion of UG projects are already carried out without face-to-face contact with human participants – so we have a lot of experience in this area.
• There will be a programme of regular lectures, briefings and workshops running from Week 1 until Week 27 (one week before submission date), following the guidelines above – These will be a combination of in person/on campus and live (synchronous) online teaching sessions. These will cover a range of topics including project planning, research methods, research ethics, data analysis, and dissertation writing.
• Dissertation supervisors will hold regular group/individual supervision meetings with groups of their dissertation students. These meetings can take place online or in person/on campus (if safe and with appropriate social distancing).