7 September 2006

Lecturers become students again at University of Dundee

The University of Dundee's Teaching Qualification in Further Education (TQFE) is being launched at Sensation, Dundee on Fri 8th Sept.

The year long course is aimed at providing a qualification for people who are already teaching, but who may have been working in industry previously - for example plumbers who now teach plumbing or journalists who now lecture on the same subject.

Speakers at the launch will discuss topics such as the roles of mentors on the course and the switch from book based learning to online.

The course has been running since 2000 when it started with 12 students. This year over 220 students from 48 Colleges, from Dorset to Shetland, hope to complete the new online course while continuing with their jobs. We are one of only three providers in Scotland but have over the past two years taken the market share, including breaking into the English market.

Carey Normand, Programme Leader, says "What is unique about the University of Dundee's course? The programme is offered, uniquely, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, and has been developed in collaboration with the College Sector and College staff. This close partnership ensures we are responsive to Sector changes and needs and that the programme is fully grounded in practice. We have a programme which is offered completely online using state-of-the-art educational technology, which fully meets the needs of the professional, practising college lecturer. The new programme will build on the old distance learning model, by being delivered entirely through a newly designed, state-of-the-art Virtual Leaning Environment (VLE). In addition we have incorporated the latest research findings on distance and blended learning approaches."

From 2007 the course will also be offered in China.

For media enquiries contact:

Anna Day
Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: a.c.day@dundee.ac.uk