University Lecturers and Tutors
Prepare and deliver lectures and conduct tutorials in one or more subjects within a prescribed course of study at a university and conduct research in a particular field of knowledge.
A busy week for a lecturer
You are a university lecturer in the middle of semester, teaching two courses, marking assignments and trying to finish a research paper. It is Monday. Marking is due back in four days, you have a lecture at noon, and your inbox has several messages that need a careful reply before you can think about anything else.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
I am so sorry to ask, but I need an extension on the essay. My grandmother has been very ill and I have been looking after her. I know the due date was last week. I can show documents later if you need them.
Grant a short extension, follow the university process for support, and let her know about counselling and study support
Priyanka is grateful and submits the essay on the new date. Following the process protects her and also treats all students fairly. She later says she was close to giving up.
Refuse, because the due date is the due date and others have handed theirs in
Priyanka submits something rushed and fails. She stops attending, and the missed essay becomes a missed course. Rules need judgement, and people sometimes need more than a rule.
Grant a long open extension without paperwork, since you trust her
She is relieved, but without a plan the essay drifts and the extension ends up creating more stress. Kindness helps most with a clear structure.
I'm marking the lab reports and two of them are almost word for word the same, including a strange mistake in the third paragraph. I do not want to accuse anyone. What should I do?
Tell Josh to give them both a low mark and say nothing, to avoid a fuss
The students do not know what they did wrong and cannot learn from it. The problem is not recorded, and it could happen again.
Tell Josh to raise it with the course coordinator and follow the university's academic integrity process, which gives the students a chance to explain
The process is followed and is fair, but it takes a few weeks and Josh feels stressed throughout. Doing it properly is right, and he needed more support while he waited.
Look at the two reports with Josh, note what matches and why it is a concern, then start the formal process so both students can respond
One student explains they shared notes without meaning to copy, the other admits more. The outcomes are fair, differ and are recorded properly. Josh sees how to handle a hard case without panic.
I need you to represent the department on a new committee that meets weekly. It would help your promotion later. I know you have a paper to finish, but nobody else seems keen. Can you take it on?
Say yes without question, since the head asked and you want to be seen as a good team player at all times
You take it on and the paper stalls. A year later you are tired and behind. Saying yes to everything can quietly cost your own work.
Say yes and plan to do your paper in the evenings and weekends, however tired you are
For a few weeks it works, then your teaching suffers and your health follows. A heavy load is not solved by working harder in hours you do not have.
Explain your workload, ask what could come off if you accept, and offer to serve for one term
Professor Ng agrees to move one of your marking duties to another staff member. You join the committee for a semester and finish your paper. Honest talk about workload gets better deals.
How it went
By Friday the extension is arranged, the lab reports are in a fair process and your paper has some time protected. University teaching is a balance of subject expertise, fairness to students and the demands of research. Do you like the idea of teaching and discovering at once?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The tutorial that lost the plot
A fictional case set in a university campus: a lecture theatre, a tutorial room, a shared office and a research lab.
The situation
Dr Iyer was a university lecturer in biology, and her first year tutorials had gone flat. Attendance was dropping and the students who came sat silently. A tutor, Josh, told her the students were intimidated by the material and by each other, and were embarrassed to ask basic questions. The department head suggested she make the lectures harder and the assessment tougher so that students took the course more seriously.
What they did
Dr Iyer watched one of Josh's tutorials and saw what he meant. She and Josh changed the format so that each tutorial started with a short puzzle in small groups, and nobody was asked to speak alone first. She also made a short anonymous question box for the lecture. She met with the department head and explained why she wanted to try this for a few weeks before changing the assessment, and agreed to collect attendance and feedback.
How it turned out
Attendance went up and students asked more questions. The assessment results stayed similar, so the department head allowed the changes to continue. Dr Iyer said that she had to give up some lecture time, and that the course felt less polished but more alive.
What would you do?
- Why might a hard course make students less willing to ask for help?
- How would you use feedback from a tutor who is closer to the students than you are?
- What would you want to measure before deciding whether a change worked?