In some ways a teaching semester has similar characteristics to a large project, with specific start and end dates and certain goals to achieve. Drawing on this approach provides the basis for 7 critical success factors for delivering a large subject.
1. Clear pedagogical approach
When preparing for the subject it is imperative to have a clear pedagogical approach which sets the tone for the way in which the learning and development environment is established and the approach adopted by the teaching team.
2. Deliver within set timeframes
Start to plan out the key activities for delivering your subject. A plan will help with allocation of responsibilities, monitoring and follow-up where necessary. This includes:
- Recruiting and/or resourcing the teaching team.
- Orientation/kick-off meeting with the teaching team.
- Adding the curriculum and assessments to the Learning Management System (LMS).
- Developing a communications plan for students and the teaching team
- Dates to complete marking activities.
- Details of data assurance checks across the LMS.
3. Risk and issues management
Risk and issues management is not only for big businesses. There are risks and issues in delivering a large subject. At a minimum, start to think about the things that could go wrong and develop risk-reducing strategies for them, such as:
- Key contact numbers: provide your teaching team with key phone numbers for when issues arise. They include the contact number for security; the subject coordinator; building maintenance; counselling; and IT.
- Contingency planning for teaching staff: if someone from the teaching team falls ill or cannot conduct a scheduled lecture/tutorial, have a backup plan. Perhaps it is to move to an online format, recorded version, or another teacher who can fill in.
- Room or IT issues: have a backup plan for technology or room problems. Always have a laptop with you when teaching. You can still refer to your laptop if you lose the internet or power while teaching.
- Plan for addressing and managing academic integrity issues.
- Preparing for situations that require security to be called. Make sure your teaching team have these details.
4. Regular communication
In a small team, it might be feasible to organise ad hoc discussions with the teaching team. However, with a large teaching team, there are other options than repeating the same messages. At the beginning of the semester:
- Develop a channel for content and communication with the teaching team.
- Identify other stakeholders and how best to keep them updated or how to draw on their expertise when required (perhaps to manage a problem that may arise).
- Produce templates for key messages to the cohort.
- Plan for formal and informal sessions with the teaching team.
5. Integrity of data
The integrity of grades and marks is precious to any educational system and organisations will typically have data governance requirements. Some important questions are: who is allowed to capture marks/grades? How do you conduct quality checks? Who can make authorised changes? When managing a large subject, it is important to have these controls in place at the beginning of the semester and to enforce them throughout.
Make sure your LMS is ready for large subjects. This means that the LMS is ready for the volume of students accessing the technology, the number of teachers, and establishing student resources, such as links to library texts, referencing, and support areas.
6. Team recognition
Throughout the semester and at the end, take the time to recognise the team’s efforts and accomplishments.
7. Continuous learning and improvement
Identifying the areas that have worked well and those that can be improved is important. Incorporate these learnings into your planning activities for the following semester. This is also an excellent time to proactively identify where technology or other processes did not perform as expected. Make the changes now – gain traction for continuous improvements.
In addition, this is also the perfect time to consider strategies for maintaining and developing professional practice.
Where to from here?
Need help planning your subject for Spring? The LX.lab are here to provide learning and teaching guidance and support. Learn more about LX.lab services here.
References
ISO. (2018). International Organization for Standardization. Risk Management – Guidelines 31000. https://www.iso.org/iso-31000-risk-management.html
Maslam, W. (2023). Project Manager. What is a Project? Definition, Types & Examples. https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/project-definition