Strategy for learning and teaching: Executive Summary

The following is a summary of the strategic points that appear in the Department's Strategy for Learning and Teaching document. The full document is available from within UCL as a PDF document.

1. The Department of Chemical Engineering encourages and supports its entire teaching staff in the use of innovative and effective teaching methods to enhance the learning of its student population.

2. The Department of Chemical Engineering prides itself in being at the forefront of educational development, both nationally and internationally, in terms of transferable skills training, developments in computing and information technology (C&IT) and maintaining a modern and relevant curriculum.

3. The Department values its strong interaction with industry, which provides its students with added awareness of the world of work.

4. The Department encourages its students to adopt the practices of active enquiry, prevalent in research, to enhance the learning process.

5. The Department is keen to enhance the learning process of its students. To this end, the academic staff are supported in developing ways of teaching that encourage student interaction and participation, creativity and critical thinking.

6. The Department has been, and is, at the vanguard of the College’s aim to internationalise the student experience at UCL.

7. The Department recognises the importance of multidisciplinarity in the degree programmes it offers, not only to widen student participation, but also to broaden the learning experience and foster transfer of knowledge between disciplines. The Department will continue to investigate new ways of encouraging multidisciplinary teaching.

8. All research students are encouraged to participate in the Graduate School skills development activities and to assist with teaching duties in the Department, including laboratory demonstrations, coursework assessment, tutorial supervision and teamwork facilitation, for which training is given in-house.

9. The Department will continue to review the manner in which the feedback from teaching questionnaires is used to improve teaching provision, to ensure actions are seen as appropriate and transparent.

10. The Department recognises the demands and challenges that are put on its staff to achieve its stated learning and teaching aims, particularly on staff time and availability.

11. The Department recognises the importance of being involved in the development of good practice in teaching and learning within UCL, as well as externally.

12. The Department recognises the importance of raising the awareness of all its undergraduates of the learning process and how this can be enhanced. In particular, an extensive induction week programme and first-year tutorials have been introduced to enable new students to successfully make the transition from school to university life.

13. The Department believes that Study Weeks provide an excellent opportunity for both staff and students to augment the teaching and learning experience with innovative activities relevant to core courses.

14. The Department continues to review the success of its undergraduate recruitment with a view to increasing numbers in both home and overseas students.

15. The Department recognises the importance of enabling its students to successfully make the transition from university to professional life and emphasises the value of career planning and development of workplace skills from the very start of their time at UCL.

16. The Department values the contribution made to its courses by mature students and will continue to review ways in which the numbers of such students could be increased, in line with UCL’s Strategic Plan.

17. The Department continues to emphasise to all its students the importance of transferable skills in relation to the learning experience and life beyond UCL and will continue to offer training in such skills throughout its degree programmes.

18. The Department will continue to examine ways of increasing its staff numbers in-line with its strategic plan to expand its teaching and research activities. Effective teaching methods, particularly in transferable skills training, place considerable demands on staff time and availability and hence sufficient staff numbers should be seen as a principal resource requirement.

19. The Department will continue to source funding from the College and external bodies, in collaboration with the Department of Biochemical Engineering, to improve the quality of the C&IT provision, both in terms of new computers and computing facilities and in network access for personal lap top computers.

20. The Department is placing increasing emphasis on the use of Information Technology in the administration and management of teaching and learning.

21. The Department recognises that, whilst recent construction work has led to the availability of new, state-of-the-art lecture theatres, in both the Roberts Building and the Malet Street Building, there is still considerable room for improvement in the older lecture theatres, particularly in regards to noise and exhaust pollution, seating and decoration. In this regard, the Department will continue to apply to the Estates Division for minor works to address such issues.

22. The Department will continue to investigate and adopt external resources to enhance its teaching and learning provision.

23. The Department recognises the value and importance of developing CPD courses and will continue to review new opportunities in its short course provision, in line with UCL’s Strategic Plan.

24. The Department will continue to collaborate with EISD to enhance its learning and teaching provision and to widen participation through Continued Professional Development.

Professor S J R Simons
Departmental Learning & Teaching Co-ordinator
November 2007