Introduction to University Teaching
What kind of teacher are you? Four classroom scenarios reveal your default approach — and introduce the evidence-based principles this course is built on.
Discover Your Teaching Profile
Every teacher has a default mode — a habitual way of responding to confusion, designing sessions, and thinking about learning. Most of us are never explicitly taught to teach; we improvise from memory, instinct, and experience.
This short activity presents four real classroom decisions. Each scenario has three plausible responses, each reflecting a different teaching orientation: Structured, Facilitative, or Constructivist. There are no trick answers — all three approaches have value. The goal is to surface your instincts before the course gives you frameworks for making those choices deliberately.
How it works
- Read the classroom scenario.
- Choose the response that most closely matches what you would actually do.
- Read the feedback to understand the reasoning behind each option.
- Move to the next scenario.
Answer instinctively — your profile is most useful when it reflects what you actually do, not what you think you should do.
What would you do?
Scenario 1 of 4
About This Course
Introduction to University Teaching provides evidence-based pedagogical training for new university teachers across all disciplines. It covers the full cycle of effective teaching practice — from understanding how adult learners learn, to designing sessions, writing learning objectives, managing the classroom, selecting materials, designing assessments, and reflecting on practice through peer observation.
Each unit balances theoretical foundations with immediate application. The interactive design reflects the very principles it teaches: learner-centred, structured, and responsive to diverse backgrounds and needs.
Evidence-Based
Grounded in cognitive science, adult learning theory, and discipline-specific pedagogy — practical frameworks, not platitudes.
Activity-Driven
Every unit includes interactive exercises, reflective tasks, and scenario-based decision-making — learning by doing.
Course Units
- Focus on Learners
- Teachers & Context
- Classroom Management
- Instructions and Interactions
- Aims, Objectives and Outcomes
- Lesson Planning and Staging
- Materials and Resources
- Assessments and Assignments
- Peer Observation
- Teaching Practice