Classroom Teaching: Frequently Asked Questions

Teachers encourage participation from all learners in evidenced and reasoned discussion and debate. This can at times present a challenge when the topic is either sensitive or controversial.

Almost any topic can become sensitive if emotional responses are raised, if there are competing explanations about events, if there are political differences about what should happen next or challenges about how issues could be resolved. 

- Lowe et al, 2015

Information and support around researching sensitive issues is common in academic enquiry and research. These discourses formally recognise the importance of respect protocols and the protection of participants while providing frameworks for those people researching to consider the well-being of participants. Whilst guidance for teaching sensitive issues exists, it is relatively sparse, therefore, we can learn a great deal from this area of practice.

The Content here considers three areas.

1. Planning for the content of challenging or sensitive subjects.
2. .Planning for the delivery of challenging or sensitive subjects.
3. Communication with students regarding the delivery of challenging or sensitive subjects.

• Have a clear understanding of how the content and associated discussion of a potentially sensitive issue relates to the learning outcome/s for the session.
• Consider personal assumptions and views on the topic to prevent personal opinions from influencing the discussion inappropriately. This will also assist with identifying any potential areas of personal discomfort that may arise.
• Be conscious of learners’ personal and individual experience.
• Ensure that sensitive topics do not form a compulsory part of the assessment for the module unless necessary. For example, would it be possible for a learner to base their assessment around an alternative topic?
• If the unit is an option unit, learners should be informed of the potential for sensitivity before deciding to undertake the unit.
• When planning the unit ensure that there is a clear reference to support services available to students should they be required. This information should be made available on Moodle, in unit handbooks and at the beginning of sessions.
• It may be useful to seek peer support from colleagues who have experience teaching sensitive issues to discuss strategies and share practice.

• Topics and debates should be raised in a carefully considered way. For example, learners should be forewarned about potentially sensitive materials – consider ‘care warnings’, sometimes referred to as ‘content warnings’ delivered through verbal or written notices that proceed the discussion of potentially sensitive content. These can be provided as appropriate before and/or at the beginning of a session.
• Consider the group size; exploring such topics in smaller groups may be preferable/more manageable.
• Establish clear boundaries and guidelines for learners engaging with sensitive topics at the very beginning of the programme, ensuring that all perspectives are considered and the parameters of the discussion are clear. Ensure that learners have a clear understanding of concepts by providing key definitions.
• Do not ask direct questions or require individuals to provide opinions about a sensitive issue. Learners can express their opinions on a particular topic. However, this should not be sought directly.
• It is generally good practice, even if the material is not considered to be challenging, to ensure that students know what to do if they are uncomfortable or upset during a teaching session.
• Have a planned response to support, for example, having a set time to follow up with students or make a second staff member/ support service immediately available to students.
• Consider using an anonymous approach to the discussion - for example using a platform such as Padlet or Vevox to collate views.
• Recognise that a learner may express a view that is potentially controversial or upsetting to others. While personal opinion should not be censored, if this directly impacts the well-being of other learners, it may be necessary to manage and/or potentially close down the conversation. Phrases such as ‘this feels a little personal, I think we may need to refocus’ or ‘What evidence underpins that statement?’ might be useful.
• You may wish to avoid sensitive terms, try to be fairly ambiguous when discussing particular topics. For example, you may refer to child exploitation rather than ‘grooming’ specifically.

• Whether the student has the option to watch a recorded version of the content at a more appropriate time (although this may have implications for the provision of support).
• The opportunities students have to discuss their concerns. It may be that support will be made available immediately after the session. Students may also be pointed to departmental and University support provision as well as external agencies.
• That students have permission to leave the session if necessary.
• That students will have the opportunity to make written rather than verbal contributions to the session, although noting that other students may have access to this. Once again, students should be reminded not to share personal information.

References

Lowe, P (2015) lessening sensitivity: student experiences of teaching and learning sensitive issues, teaching in higher education, 20:1, 119-129 DOI: 10.108 0/135 6251 7.20 14.95 7272

This will depend on the type of teaching activities taking place and the room you’re teaching in; some rooms are more flexible and adaptable than others. If you’d like to arrange tables and chairs in a particular format to enable different group work activities, you may wish to contact timetabling to find out what teaching is happening directly before and directly after your session. You may be able to arrive early to set the room up as you would like. If you require help to move furniture around you may wish to contact the university’s portering service to arrange assistance in advance. Always remember to put the room back to the standard layout before you leave. 

It is advisable to always arrive a few minutes early to teaching sessions so that you can test out the technology beforehand. If you are teaching in a new room, try to visit the room a few days in advance to familiarize yourself with the set-up before you start teaching. If there are technologies or equipment in the room that you are unfamiliar with, you can arrange an appointment with IT Support to give you a tutorial. Colleagues from your department may also be able to help. If technology does fail on the day, all teaching rooms should be equipped with a notice saying who to contact (this will often be IT Support), so once you’ve done a few quick checks, if things still aren’t working, make contact as soon as possible to avoid long delays to the teaching session. It is advisable to always have a short activity planned which students can undertake individually or in pairs/small groups whilst you deal with unexpected technology issues.  

Contact IT Support to make an appointment to talk through options for amplification in the various rooms you are timetabled in. A clip-on microphone should enable you to move around the room and still be heard. 

The University has several approved teaching apps enabled and ready to use. Find everything you need to know about teaching apps via the Digital Education Intranet pages. 

The beginning of any teaching session is crucial. Don’t be tempted to launch straight into the subject matter; a proper introduction takes time and needs to be factored into the overall session plan. Things you will need to do during the introduction include: 

• Introduce the topic/theme/purpose of the session and relate it to previous and upcoming sessions as relevant. 

• Explain how the session fits into the overall unit and, importantly, how it links to summative and formative assessments.  

• Display and talk through the Learning Outcomes (LOs) for the session (you may also want to link these to the broader unit/programme LOs.  

• Address housekeeping items, e.g., announcements; review of homework tasks; links to essential readings; technology requirements, etc. 

• Outline expectations on student participation, e.g., what activities will be coming up and how they will be expected to engage, how they should be taking notes during the session or using the materials provided, etc.  

You may want to think about starting your session with a pertinent question or problem related to the subject matter to stimulate curiosity and get students thinking. Other warm up activities which will grab students’ attention at the outset of a session, include: a personal experience or story; a link to current affairs; a short film clip; an intriguing picture or photo; a Twitter thread, etc. 

Much like introductions, conclusions to teaching sessions can often be undervalued and rushed. They are however, vital for consolidating students’ learning and should be planned properly and given sufficient time. Things to cover in session conclusions include: a recap of the session key themes; revisiting LOs; checking on students’ understanding (perhaps using technology); links to upcoming sessions; links to assessments; and, what’s expected of students before the next session. One approach to ensuring that you always have enough time for a ‘proper conclusion’ is to plan the penultimate section of your session as a flexible or optional section/stage, or a ‘flexi section/stage’. If you are doing well for time, you can use the ‘flexi stage’ and then move on to the conclusion of the session. If you are running short on time you can skip the ‘flexi stage’ to ensure that you have sufficient time to conclude the session. 

Man Met is committed to the principles of Active Learning which promotes student-centred approaches to learning and teaching and moves us away from traditional notions of expert lecturers delivering and transmitting ‘knowledge’. Active learning approaches force us to reconsider the balance between ‘content’ and student interactions in our teaching sessions. The University Teaching Academy has a webpage about Active Learning with details of many ideas for activities that you can undertake with your students in the classroom.  

Man Met is committed to the principles of Active Learning which promotes student-centred approaches to learning and teaching and moves us away from traditional notions of expert lecturers transmitting ‘knowledge’. Two helpful ways to re-frame teaching sessions and to move away from teacher-centred, content-driven, lecturing, towards student-centred, learning-centred, active learning, are:  

• Planning teaching by thinking about learning outcomes, rather than content ‘to get through’; and, 

• Planning teaching sessions by thinking about the use of face-to-face contact time PLUS associated independent study time that sits around sessions, e.g., pre-, and post-reading, online videos, Moodle activities, etc. 

Aim to reduce the amount of knowledge transmission in face-to-face sessions, by asking yourself ‘What will students know, be able to do, and/or value by the end of the session AND the associated independent study time?’ Since adult attention span can be limited to around 15 minutes at a time, a helpful approach for planning sessions is to ‘chunk’ them into 5-, 10- or 15-minute blocks of content and/or activities with regular breaks and time for student discussion, questions, and reflection. Chunking also helps to regulate the pace of a session and provides convenient breaks for summarizing key learning points. 

There is no easy answer to this question. You may need as few as 8 slides for an hour-long session, but in other instances 20 might be appropriate. If you find that you’re approaching 25 slides for an hour-long session or that you are often running out of time while teaching, you might want to think about reducing and streamlining course material. Asking yourself these questions might also be helpful: 

• How long are you spending on each slide? Is it enough to sufficiently explore the concepts being introduced? 
• Are you rushing through content and speaking too quickly? 
• How large is the font on the slides and how many words are you building into each slide? Are slides too densely packed with content? 
• Are you building in time for students to engage in active learning activities, e.g., group work? 
• Are you building in time to ask students questions and to allow them to ask you questions? 
• Are you checking on student understanding throughout the session? 

There are several reasons why students may not respond to questions asked during teaching sessions, these include: the use of ‘closed’, rather than ‘open’ questions; poorly worded or unclear questions; and students not feeling confident to respond in front of the class. Simple steps can be taken to help to alleviate these issues and to encourage student responses. 

• Question wording: try to avoid asking ‘closed’ questions that elicit a yes/no response, or a very limited set of responses, for example: ‘Has anyone got any questions about that?’ ‘Does that make sense?’ Do you think you’ll be able to apply that theory for the assessment?’ Instead ask specific and ‘open’ questions that invite students to actively think and that will help to reinforce understanding. For example, questions may start in the following ways: 
  • In what ways do you think X relates to… 
  • What would happen if…? 
  • Supposing we replace X with Y, what do you think might happen to Z? 
  • Can someone please summarize three key features of…? 
  • What order does this happen in… 
  • Can someone describe two pros and two cons of this approach… 
• Prepare questions in advance of sessions: questioning is most effective when some questions have been thought about and prepared in advance. Think about things such as: the purpose of the question(s) and how these link to the Learning Outcomes (LOs) of the session; the skill(s) you want students to activate in answering the question, e.g., recalling, describing, analysing, critically reflecting, etc.; the order you will ask questions during a session to ensure logical progression; and possible student responses and misconceptions. Read more about questioning here from the University of Illinois. 
• Re-phrase questions: re-wording a question might be necessary if you don’t get any responses from students. You may need to provide students with additional information or break the question down into component parts. 
• Think-Pair-Share: this a simple technique whereby a question is asked, students then spend a few moments thinking by themselves before discussing for a minute or two with the person they are sitting next to, before then being asked to feedback their ideas to the wider class. The best reflections will come if students have an opportunity to bounce ideas off each other before having to contribute to the whole group. Crucially, this pairing activity will enhance students’ confidence to respond to the class, which may be particularly important for some international students, neurodivergent students and students with some anxiety disorders. 
• Polls: for particularly important questions/discussion points you may wish to use a web-based polling app to garner students’ opinions. This can serve as a springboard to further discussion and debate. Find out about suitable apps via the Digital Education Intranet pages. 
• Asking a specific corner of the room to respond: whilst singling out individual students to respond is not an inclusive approach to take, you may want to ask a specific row, table, or corner of the room to respond. This puts onus on a particular group of students and can encourage responses without forcing a response from an individual. 
• Nominating a spokesperson: you can ask groups to assign a spokesperson at the beginning of an activity to set the expectation for feedback from each group/pair of students. 
• Don’t take the first correct answer: although you don’t need every student to respond to every question, it can be useful to gain feedback from several students before analysing responses and drawing themes. Even if the ‘correct’ answer surfaces immediately, it can be useful for the whole group to explore and reflect on different interpretations. 
• Allow wait time: ensure that you allow at least 5 seconds (or longer if appropriate) after asking a question before speaking again. Students need time to process questions and to start to formulate responses. Don’t be afraid of silence! 
• Ask students to write down their answer: even just 30 seconds to 1 minute of individual time to write down an answer can help to enhance the number of students willing to share their ideas. 

This depends on the purpose of the question and what the student’s answer is. It may be necessary to probe a little further and to ask a student to elaborate on their answer. A follow-up question might be needed to refocus a student’s response if they have misinterpreted the question or provided an answer that isn’t quite correct or is slightly out of context. Reinforcement and praise are also advisable when students have provided a good/correct/thoughtful response. Make sure that praise given indicates why the answer was useful and relevant, rather than just using superlatives, to ensure that others can learn from the answer. If a student provides an ‘incorrect’ response you may wish to acknowledge the response and then seek further responses from across the room to start to draw more of a consensus about the answer. Read more about questioning here from University of Illinois. 

If you can hear the people at the back, then you can simply repeat the answer which the person at the back has given. If you can’t hear them either, you may need to move closer to that person, listen to what they say, and then repeat the comment/question back to the room. You may wish to arrange a technical solution for the next time you teach in that room, e.g. a radio microphone which can be moved around the room (contact IT Support).  

There are many options for checking student understanding during a teaching session, including: 

• Asking students questions about the material. 
• Using learning apps to create online questions/polls. 
• Using post-it notes: for students to write answers on. You can then deconstruct answers and get a handle on how students are finding the material. 
• Using a variety of student activities: to allow students to discuss ideas and apply their knowledge and then feedback to the class. Activities such as a ‘One minute paper’ can also help to elicit issues students are finding with the course material and areas that might need further exploration and explanation. Read more about the ‘One Minute Paper’ and other active learning approaches on our Active Learning webpages. 
• Use ‘rounds’: this is where you ask an open question to a group and then go round the room giving everyone the opportunity to say one comment about the question. Students can pass if they wish. 
• Implement a listening detective: ask one student to volunteer to be a ‘listening detective’ during a group activity, going round all groups and listening to what is being said. The listening detective can then summarize and report back directly to the lecturer or to the whole group, flagging up any topics/themes of concern for students. 
• Stand on the line: this is a great way to trigger conversation and check understanding about a question that elicits different viewpoints, e.g., one end of the line is agree and the other end is disagree. You can ask students questions about why they have stood where they have, and you can let students move places once they’ve heard other arguments that may have changed their minds. 

Group working is the key ingredient of taking an Active Learning approach, which is central to Man Met’s Education Strategy. The benefits of Active Learning are vast; you can read more on the UTA’s Active Learning webpages. Groupwork is also a vital part of formative assessment which necessitates effective classroom discussions and other learning tasks, that elicit evidence of student understanding. Groupwork is also key to university employability agendas and providing students with opportunities to work in teams akin to real-world working environments. 

There is little definitive research in this area, and it really does depend on the purpose of the group work, the activity that has been set and how long students have to work on the activity. A general rule of thumb would be no fewer than three and no more than six students per group. 

Options for forming groups include: 

• Random groups. These are easy to allocate from class lists before a unit commences, in class using lettering or numbering systems, within Moodle or using relevant apps. A downside of this approach is that students have no ownership over the process and may struggle getting to know each other and therefore getting on with the task(s) at hand. 
• Friendship/self-selected groups. These can be beneficial as students may feel more enthusiastic about working with people they choose to work with, people they already know or those with shared interests. However, this approach risks students from single disciplines, single nationalities, friendship groups, etc. sticking together. Some groups may then have advantages or disadvantages due to prior subject knowledge, disciplinary skills, study skills, language skills, etc. This method also risks people feeling rejected if they do not form into a group easily. 
• Tutor-generated diverse groups: can be pre-decided by the unit leader by placing students into teams based on different criteria to maximise the diversity of groups. 
• Self-selected diverse groups: strike a balance between ensuring diversity in groups, but also facilitating students’ ownership over the group allocation process. Students are asked to pick their own teams within relevant specified criteria to ensure diversity within groups.  

Where possible, it’s advisable to keep groups fluid over the course of a teaching semester to offer multiple learning opportunities, help build confidence and to support students to meet and interact with a number of different students. 

Ground rules for group work, work best when students create the rules themselves and have ownership over them. This is a good introductory/ice breaker activity to undertake with groups of students. You can work towards a shared class set of rules that can be referred to during the process of the group work being carried out. You may wish to first ask students what their expectations are of the class/unit, e.g., engaging sessions, interactive materials, marking on time, etc. You can then flip this around and ask them what they are going to do to uphold their half of the agreement, e.g., arrive on time, contribute to group work, etc. You can ask them to sign this agreement once finalised. Another idea is asking students to minute group work meetings and submit minutes as part of appendices to group work. This can help to make group working activities and processes more transparent and mirrors professional workplace processes. The UTA has a useful resource around promoting positive classroom cultures that may also be useful here. 

The University’s Digital Education team runs a training session which covers all the basics for ensuring that your teaching resources are accessible; past recordings of the training session are also available. The University Teaching Academy (UTA) also has resources about designing an inclusive curriculum which you may like to explore. 

Yes that’s correct. There are lots of important reasons why the university has a policy that all teaching resources are to be made available to students at least 48 hours in advance of teaching sessions. For many of our students the opportunity to simply prepare themselves in advance for teaching sessions is a key enabler in balancing the needs of their learning with their lives away from the university. For others, the ability to download, read, print, edit and amend size/fonts/colours, etc. may be part of personal learning plans that enable them to fully engage in their learning. Overall, it is our duty under the Equality Act 2010 and The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations to anticipate the learning needs of students with different disabilities, take proactive steps and make all reasonable adjustments to meet those needs. Access to teaching resources in advance is one of the most basic but important reasonable adjustments we can do to provide flexibility and accessible learning for our all of students.  

The University does not have a central policy for dealing with classroom disruption specifically. The University Teaching Academy suggests the following strategies for attempting to deal with such issues: 

• Try to take a reconciliatory rather than an escalatory approach where possible. Talk openly, honestly, and calmly to students about classroom disruption and provide positive reinforcement when behaviours improve. A simple first step is often asking the person who is talking if they are alright, there may be a genuine issue that needs to be resolved, e.g., they cannot see the screen, they are having technology issues, etc. 
• Speak to colleagues at the local level. Find out if there is a programme/departmental strategy or policy in relation to classroom behaviour which provides strategies or approaches. You may also wish to speak with experienced colleagues in the department, including the Department Education Lead (DEL) to gain advice and guidance about dealing with disruption. It may also be appropriate to bring this up at a programme/departmental meeting for discussion. 
• Create a Student/Tutor or Learning Community Code of Conduct. It may be helpful to spend some time at the outset of a unit/programme/academic year, co-constructing a behaviour code of conduct with your students. Giving them ownership of this process will help to gain their buy-in and compliance with the contract and set both your and their expectations. 
• Make students aware of MMU’s Student Code of Conduct. You may wish to highlight specific behaviours that are regarded as misconduct and the procedures the university has adopted for dealing with such behaviour. 
• Ask yourself some important questions which could help to explain students losing interest in sessions:
  • Is the course material too difficult or too easy? 
  • Is there too much material and/or is it being delivered too fast meaning that students cannot keep up with the pace? 
  • Can you be heard in all parts of the room? 
  • Are the students active participants in the class, e.g., are you asking them to engage in active learning and group activities? 
  • Are you talking regular breaks from ‘content delivery’ for students to undertake application activities/have a rest, get a drink, use facilities? 
  • Do students understand the importance of the course material? I.e., have you explained to students the importance of the session? 
  • Have you outlined the Learning Outcomes (LOs) of the session/unit so that students understand what they should know/be able to do/value after a particular session/the whole unit? 
  • Have you linked the session/course material to formative/summative assessments, to previous and upcoming sessions, to employment and other opportunities? 
  • Have you gained any feedback from students early in the unit about how they are finding the course? 
  • Have you been observed by a colleague to gain some developmental feedback on your teaching approach and student engagement? 
  • Have you considered how playful or dynamic the activities are? Variation and creativity can really support engagement and foster problem-solving.