TLAC REVIEW SPECIAL Issue 21, January 2007
In this issue
In the 2005-6 academic year the internal TLAC
review team reviewed:
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Mathematics
Sociology (including the Cities
Programme, Gender Institute (GI) and
Institute of Social Psychology (ISP)
Social Policy
Statistics
Media and Communications
The reports on the reviews are available on
request from the Teaching Quality Assurance and
Review Office. This issue of Teaching Matters
draws out a number of examples of interesting
practice that caught our attention during the
reviews. It has been compiled by Liz Barnett
(TLC) and Louisa Green (TQARO). Some
particularly interesting developments noted in this
issue include:
 Extensive evidence of curriculum
development across departments
 Use of the “instant” lecture video capture
facility, Apresso
 A PhD Mentoring Scheme
 A Virtual PhD Network
 Continued improvements to GTA
recruitment and support.
Other areas of good practice commended in the
reviews, but not included here, include steady
progress in response to the recommendations of
earlier reviews, the international reputation of the
programmes as recognised by many students; the
approachability and accessibility of many of the
academic and administrative staff.
In case any Departments reviewed feel left out,
there has been no systematic attempt to ensure
representation. Nor is there any agenda here,
hidden or otherwise, other than celebrating good
practice. If we haven’t picked up on interesting
examples of departmental practice that you feel
may be of interest to other departments, please
contact Liz Barnett so that these can be included
in forthcoming issues.
Curriculum reform and development of new
courses and programmes
The review of Sociology with Cities, Gender and
Institute of Social Policy showed substantial
evidence of curriculum development across the
board. Sociology has undertaken a major
overhaul of its undergraduate teaching,
developing a “spine” that holds the
programme together and shows progression
across the three years of study. This has been
well received by students, who also appreciate the
degree of flexibility the new programme offers in
the third year in particular.
There have been several developments at the
MSc level, including a new MSc in Biomedicine,
Bioscience and Society coming out of the new
BIOS Centre, an MSc in Gender, Development
and Globalisation in the Gender Institute and
MScs in Social and Public Communication and in
Health, Community and Development in ISP. The
combined units are currently developing a new
MSc in Race, Ethnicity and Postcolonial Studies.
The main development in the Department of
Mathematics is the introduction of a new MSc
programme in Applicable Mathematics, run for the
first time in 2004/5 and now with a regular intake
of 30+ students. The Department has also
developed a new first year undergraduate course
for students with limited school qualifications in
mathematics – MA110. This replaces a similar
course formerly run in the Economics Department.
Media and Communications has developed a new
MSc in Politics and Communications, and is
involved in the development of a new programme
with Sociology on Culture and Society.
Social Policy has introduced two new
undergraduate programmes - Social Policy with
Economics, and Social Policy and Criminology. It
has also rationalised its MSc provision, leading to
a reduction in the overall number of programmes,
but adding a new MSc (research) which is ESRCrecognised. Whilst the number of programmes
has decreased, there are many new courses, and
a move to turn several full units into half units in
order to increase flexibility and the range of
options open to students. The Department has
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also formed "clusters" of programmes to ensure
greater clarity and coherence. Four clusters have
been created: Social Policy, Development, Health
and Population.
The Department of Statistics has also introduced
a new MSc, in Risk and Stochastics.
potential in reducing some of the administrative
aspects of teaching - such as selecting SSLC
representatives, and having students sign up to
workshops and office hours. The Department is
also experimenting with ways in which the writing
of blogs can be used within the educational
process.
Teaching and learning
Student support and guidance
The newly expanded Sociology Department,
incorporating the Cities Programme, Gender
Institute and Institute of Social Psychology, is
beginning to see the benefits of sharing of
different approaches to teaching, learning and
assessment. Arising from this, an event has been
planned for April 2007 for staff to discuss their
practices and share ideas.
The Departmental Tutor plays a proactive role in
the Mathematics Department in ensuring that
students receive effective personal tutoring and
adequate feedback from class teachers. This
includes prompting staff on their tutorial duties,
providing a student log for recording tutorial
meetings, and a timetable of tutorial duties
through the year (an example is provided in the
new TLC Departmental and Personal Tutor
Handbook. See Appendices:
http://www.lse.ac.uk/resources/departmentalAndP
ersonalTutorHandbook/ ) The DT works with a
vital member of the administrative staff, the UG
Course Coordinator (Jackie Everid). She books in
students to see the Departmental Tutor, and as
she does this, asks why they need the
appointment. This enables her to redirect some
students to other support services where this is
appropriate, and to prepare any necessary
documentation for meetings with the DT. The UG
Course Coordinator also reminds tutees to book
tutorial appointments, and chases up students
who fail to attend.
ISP continues to experiment with innovative uses
of WebCT, incorporating multimedia, videoed
lectures and case studies. It is also doing
pioneering work on the use of creative learning
spaces, making full use of the "Robinson Room"
facilities (A316). The Gender Institute is using
WebCT increasingly for discussion forums and
student information and ideas sharing. Sociology
has significantly increased its WebCT usage
across undergraduate courses and is
experimenting with on-line news feeds, on-line
discussion and a newsletter to support the new
MSc in Biomedicine, Bioscience and Society.
The Gender Institute continues to make good use
of its "facilitation" model for MSc seminars.
Students receive feedback on their facilitation
skills. They indicate that they receive excellent
support in preparing for seminars, and high quality
feedback, thus increasing their confidence and
enjoyment.
The Department of Mathematics has also
continued to experiment with learning
technologies. One recent development is the use
of video to capture what the lecturer writes on the
visualiser, so that after the lecture, students can
replay those points in the lecture where they need
to review/ consolidate their learning. This has
proved very popular with students. The technical
support for this approach has improved
dramatically in some of the large lecture theatres
with a system called Apresso, where the recording
process is now more or less automatic, and the
lecturer receives a weblink to their presentation as
soon as they return to their office after the lecture.
The lecturer can then decide whether, where and
how to make the link available to students.
(contact Steve Ryan, Centre for Learning
Technology for further information on this).
Media and Communications is another innovative
user of WebCT, and is now keen to explore its
The DT also plays a key role in advising students
on course choice. He prepares and circulates
details of course choice options to 1st and 2nd year
students in the Lent Term, and runs a briefing
meeting for students to explain the programme
structure and how options fit into it.
One particularly time-consuming aspect of tutorial
support for many tutors is reference writing.
Statistics has developed some reference
templates, which staff can adapt as necessary.
This is an idea that TLC/Careers are keen to
explore further and to make available more widely
to colleagues. Whilst there is no intention here of
requiring staff to take a formulaic approach to
reference writing, it may be a useful device
particularly where tutors are requested to provide
references for part-time work or internships.
Media and Communications has organised a
number of internal events to put students in
contact with the media industry, and runs an
annual "meet the media" event, which is
combined with the MSc end of year party. The
Department is now exploring ways of increasing
media sector access, in collaboration with the LSE
Careers Service.
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Student assessment issues
Media and Communication have responded to
earlier concerns about variability in the quality and
quantity of formative feedback by undertaking a
review of staff practice on early written work for an
MSc programme. The investigation showed
considerable inconsistency in approach. The
exercise was used to highlight variations in the
extent of feedback provided and also led to minor
revisions of the Department’s standard feedback
from.
The Mathematics Department is well supported by
one of the student societies, the Maths and Stats
Society. This runs weekly “Homework Help”
sessions, where students support students.
Mathematics, like other departments in the
School, does not provide students with direct
feedback on examinations. However, it has
recently decided to release the detailed answer
scheme for exam papers shortly after the exams,
so that students can self-assess and go over any
aspects of the exam which they found particularly
difficult. All past exam papers, along with advice
on how to tackle mathematics exams, are
available on the website.
both their course work and lectures. This provides
an important feedback mechanism for students and also suggests the value of using on-line
learning environments, where the response to one
student query may prove useful to many of the
students on a given course.
PhD issues
The combined Sociology Department now has the
largest PhD intake in the LSE. It has invested
considerable effort in improving its PhD
programme This has involved major restructuring
in Sociology including changes to the upgrade
process, improved guidance, gaining of ESRC
recognition, increased efforts in supervision
training and the creation of a new crossdepartmental committee. Students are already
noticing changes and recognise the benefits of the
more systematic approach.
The MSc in Criminology now includes a student
placement, which many students build on for their
dissertations. Meanwhile, ISP offers a
Professional Seminar Series, a number of
practical seminars and workshops which are
voluntary additions to the formal programme, and
are very well attended by students.
ISP PhD students have introduced and evaluated
a PhD student mentoring scheme, supported by
funding from TLC. The scheme aims to "develop
a student-led professional and emotional support
system and team work skills within the Institute,
involving students from each year of the PhD
programme"1. The project was coordinated by
Sharon Attia, a prize winning GTA in ISP. PhD
students involved in the mentoring scheme for the
most part found it helpful. As one example, a
mentee commented: "What I found most useful
was a thick orientation in the matters at the LSE
and the Institute right in the beginning. It saved
me a lot of time and effort, and it also felt very
welcoming."2 The approach is now being
promoted to other Departments. Any Department
interested in exploring the PhD mentoring scheme
who has not yet been in touch is invited to contact
Rhiannon Thompson in TLC for further details
(r.thompson@lse.ac.uk).
A similar scheme has been established in Social
Policy with a student placement scheme for
students on the MSc in Health Policy, which
provides useful contacts with government
agencies, international organisations, and the
private sector.
A particularly innovative and energetic student
from ISP has also established "PhD net" - a virtual
PhD network, with associated PhD social events,
supported by the Teaching and Learning Centre.
The PhD net is a Yahoo Group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=lse+phd
ISP students indicate their appreciation of clear
guidance and teaching on essay on dissertation
preparation, plagiarism and exam preparation.
Social Policy has strengthened the annual
monitoring process for PhD students, requiring
them to submit a 1-2,000 word progress
document at the end of each academic year.
Social Policy also encourages all PhD students to
consider the risks involved in field work, promoting
the School's Risk Assessment for Fieldwork
document in its information for research students
on its website.
Sociology has piloted the JISC Plagiarism
Detection Software, and has invested more efforts
in raising student awareness of academic integrity
issues.
The Gender Institute also provides a writing
workshop for MSc students. In addition, it "stages"
marks for assessed essays, such that the first
submission counts for fewer marks than
subsequent essays, and students are provided
with detailed feedback on early assignments.
Statistics has noted the increased use by students
of email to query staff about matters arising in
1
Attia,S. LSE Teaching Development 'Best Practices'
report on the mentoring scheme ISP Oct 2006 p.3
2
ibid p.19
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Social Policy students have set up their own
"Social Committee" which organises informal
gatherings through the year, and runs an annual
Research Student Day.
Supporting graduate teachers
Mathematics has a healthy tradition of support for
its guest teachers and graduate teaching
assistants. This includes a peer observation
scheme, which also extends to full-time academic
staff. All new teachers are observed in the first
term, and new full time faculty once more in the
first year. Other teachers are peer-observed every
two years. Statistics runs a similar scheme.
Mathematics produces a guide for class teachers.
It also runs its own survey in week 7 of the
Michaelmas Term, with the results available
before the end of term. Any problems arising from
the survey are followed up by the Class Teaching
Officer, who may call on the TLC for further
assistance where necessary.
For large courses where there are several class
teachers, there is a pre-course briefing, weekly
e-mails from the lecturer outlining key
issues/potential areas of difficulty, and opportunity
for class teachers who are finding problems with
the classes to observe other classes and be
observed.
Sociology has improved its selection procedures
for GTAs, requiring CVs and references and
interviewing candidates to ensure that they are
capable of teaching effectively. ISP focuses on
pre-programme briefings, follow-up meetings after
classes, teaching observation and feedback and
marking moderation.
Increasing numbers of GTAs from across the
departments are now opting to undertake the TLC
Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education, and
Social Policy is notable for the high number of
staff who have joined the Higher Education
Academy.
Forthcoming reviews
Following an extensive review cycle of all
Academic Departments, TLAC has revised the
review process to offer a “light touch” whilst still
ensuring that review remains beneficial to both
Academic Departments and the School as a
whole. Rather than consisting of a wholesale
health check of all academic provision, TLAC
review teams will now focus on a small number of
key issues. For the coming year, the issues
identified for close attention are:
 Tutorial and supervisory arrangements
 Research degree programmes
 Feedback to students on formative and
summative work
The 2006/7 review process is now underway, with
reviews of:
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Government
DESTIN
Methodology Institute
European Institute
International Relations
NEWS FLASH! National Teaching
Fellowship Scheme see
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/NTFS.htm .
Staff with suggestions of nominees/ interested in
nomination are strongly encouraged to contact Liz
Barnett in the first instance.
Teaching Quality Assurance and Review Office Contacts
The TLAC reviews are run by TQARO. The officer responsible for them is Louisa Green. She is
supported by Phil Kneebone who undertakes most of the logistical work, and Caroline Wilson, who
has put the statistical data used for the reviews into an altogether more authoritative footing.
Louisa Green
Assistant Registrar, TQARO
Room V600, Ext 7762
Email l.j.green@lse.ac.uk
Phil Kneebone
Administrative assistant, TQARO
Room V600, Ext 6765
Email p.kneebone@lse.ac.uk
Teaching and Learning Centre Contacts
Dr Liz Barnett
Director, TLC
Room U603, Ext 6623
Email l.barnett@lse.ac.uk
Gaydene Bunn
Departmental Manager, TLC
Room U600, Ext 6624
Email g.bunn@lse.ac.uk
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