Current Academic Staff

I have a very academically challenging module - what support can the SLC provide to students in addition to my contact hours with them?

Whether it is due to changing entry requirements, the jump in standard each semester, or even just the particular cohort of learners themselves, inevitably there are always some modules where students are going to struggle academically.

In these cases, we find that more structured support formats such as weekly group support tutorials are the most appropriate support option available to students. This option is usually organised upon the request from students, however there are ways that you can promote such support proactively so they request the support tutorials as early as possible in the semester. These include:

• inviting the SLC Director to attend one of your lectures at the beginning of each semester to communicate the support available to students
• use the Learning Object Repository in Brightspace to import a 'Science Learning Centre' info page in each of your Brightspace courses
• including a promotional presentation slide at the end of each of your lectures to promote the support available at the SLC

I am teaching a module and just discovered that a large proportion of students never studied this subject at Leaving Cert level - help!

As daunting as this may seem, this is becoming an increasingly common situation in higher education. Fortunately, we can provide support to your students throughout the semester in various ways: 

1. Online resources: we are in the process of developing a number of self-paced online "crash courses" in a number of subject areas to minimise the gaps between learning for such students. These courses are situated in the 'Digital Learner Support Hub' (or DLSH). So far we have a 'Physics for Science Teachers' course and a 'Scientific research' course. If you would like to suggest any other online self-paced courses for us to design, please...
2. Group support tutorials: if you believe your learners would benefit from extra weekly support tutorials to help them catch up with pre-requisite information, then make sure to promote group support tutorials at the start of semester. You can do this by inviting the SLC Director to come and give a talk in Week 1-2 of the semester.

My module has to be taught in a very particular manner and I am concerned about how tutors will support my students!

This is a very logical perspective in certain fields - particular methods must be used in a Year 1 module for instance as it builds to a 3rd year module that relies on a student's ability to utilise certain methods to solve much more complex questions.

In order to ensure that our tutors are following best practice when providing support in your module, we now offer academic staff the opportunity to run a '30-minute module overview' training session to our tutors over the summer semester or in the first weeks of the semester. 

These sessions can include useful insights for tutors on: 

1. Course cohorts who are registered on this module (and possible varying levels of pre-requisite knowledge)
2. A review of the learning outcomes in more depth, main topics of the module and important indicative reading for tutors to review (please note: SLC tutors do not currently have access to Brightspace courses)
3. Areas where students tend to struggle the most in the module (and how to provide consistent support at the SLC)
4. Assessment deadlines and formats

My module has a pre-requisite module from the previous semester, and I just discovered that quite a large proportion of students did not do well in the pre-requisite module. What extra support is available to me/students?

Very often, staff can find significant variation in the standard the learner cohort, especially if the module cohort is very large. In this instance, 'Prepare and Repeat' (PAR) support tutorials can be requested by the lecturer where a large proportion of the cohort have received a sub-optimal grade in the pre-requisite module, and who may subsequently struggle with the standard of content being covered in the current module.

PAR sessions require staff to contact the Science Learning Centre in Week 0 of the respective semester, and we aim to start the sessions from Week 2 onwards.

I am a Head of Department and would like some summary data on student engagement with your services.

The Science Learning Centre generates an Annual Report every year that collates data from both the synchronous and asychronous forms of support we provide to UL students. You can request a copy of this report by emailing ctl@ul.ie (and cc'ing in slc@ul.ie).  

In addition to this, the SLC can generate anonymised reports for Heads of Departments and Faculty Heads upon request where the data cannot be discerned from the Annual Report.