New to Teaching

Starting out in teaching may seem a bit daunting at first, however help is at hand.

The Learning and Teaching Academy is here to support you throughout your teaching career. If you’re new to teaching here’s how to get started:

  1. Attend the ‘Learning and Teaching induction workshop‘, as soon as you can, to learn more about the HW teaching model and key contacts within the University.
  2. Attend the ‘In at the deep end workshops’, as soon as you can, for support on how to teach.
  3. Read the ‘In at the deep end’ resource and explore the other resources on this website.
  4. After you’ve attended our ‘In At the Deep End’ workshop, join the Talking Teaching Network and attend the network meetings.

More information on this support is provided below.

In At The Deep End

This resource aims to help you cope well with those first critical elements of your work in teaching in higher education. It also provides tips and tactics that may be useful to those of you more experienced in university teaching, adding further insight and approaches to your repertoire.
Read the 'In at the Deep End' resource

‘In at the Deep End’ Workshops

We offer ‘In at the Deep End‘ workshops throughout the year. These consist of two x 2-hour workshops (participants need to attend both workshops). They are designed to support anyone new to teaching to effectively prepare for and deliver their first few teaching sessions.

The ‘In at the Deep End’ workshops are open to all staff and postgraduate students who are supporting teaching and learning.

More information, along with the dates and times of forthcoming sessions, is available on the events page.

Talking Teaching Forum

The Heriot-Watt Talking Teaching Forum is a community of practice facilitated by the Learning and Teaching Academy.

The Heriot-Watt Talking Teaching Forum provides an opportunity for all those involved in teaching and supporting learning to share ideas, explore classroom craft and provide mutual support.

Each semester the forum will focus on a few specific themes with a mix of online and on-campus sessions. These sessions offer the opportunity to share challenges and successes in your teaching with other Forum members, and to gain ideas and resources to support you in developing your teaching practice.

The network is open to anyone involved in teaching and supporting learners at Heriot-Watt.

More information, along with the dates and times of forthcoming sessions, is available on the events page.

If you have any questions regarding this network then please contact Rob Daley via PGCertTL@hw.ac.uk

Hints and tips for those new to teaching

In this video, Prof. Phil Race shares top tips for people who are new to teaching in higher education.