Innovative Teaching

 

New Teaching Tools

The teaching in our course doesn’t simply “bend” traditional methods around online activities: instead, we have completely rebuilt the way we teach from the bottom up so that you get the best of both worlds. This means you will do the sort of learning that’s best done online at the computer – in your own time and at your own pace.  Our short, attractively-produced online lectures and interactive content will give you the chance to learn about topics and review them. This content includes videos, quizzes and animations as well as images and slides, produced in a professional and engaging style.  

You will then exercise this knowledge in a deep way through in-depth, small group tutorials with a tutor. This will allow you to bring questions and thoughts to the seminars, creating a more interactive and responsive session that is customized to your needs. This will encourage you to think independently and get the most out of their time with the academic tutors.  Instead of passively listening to a pre-written lecture you will be able to focus on what interests you. Additionally, as students will be able to return to the lectures later, this should make truly effective revision easier.

Sharing Ideas

Working a lot of time online doesn’t mean you are going to be alone.  Even while working online, students will contribute to a wiki and forums, sharing their knowledge and learning from their peers, helping them to cement difficult ideas in their minds and see new perspectives and ideas on familiar topics.  And away from the computer, you will team up with other students to work on competitive team-based projects, contribute to scientific discussions, and meet outstanding UCL scientists.

Equipping you for the scientific and medical workplace

Most courses teach you all the book-learning you need to get your degree, but leave many other skills – the ones you will need from the first day of your first job  – to be picked up later by trial and error.  This course is different.  As well as giving you a solid academic grounding, we also directly teach the students the practical skills that they really need in the workplace, such as giving talks and presenting ideas contributing to scientific debate and grant-writing. 

Scientific Skills

We will have a strong focus on practical lab skills. Our graduates will be proficient in the laboratory work that makes up the ‘bread and butter’ of scientific research, and we believe this will give them an advantage when seeking internships and jobs.

Students will also be asked to review the work of their peers, training them for the practice of peer review which is an essential element of scientific practice.