About the courses
Introduction to Learning and Teaching (ILT) is an introductory suite of self-paced courses in higher education learning and teaching. It is aimed at anyone who has, or expects to have, a teaching, training, tutoring or laboratory-demonstrating role, or can be taken just out of interest by staff members, including PGTAs/PGRs, at the University of Birmingham.
- Postgraduate teaching assistants (PGTAs): need to complete either ILT001 or the PGTA Lab Demonstrator (CTL) coure before starting to teach.
- ILT001 and the PGTA Lab Demonstrator (CTL) course each take up to six hours to complete. The remaining ILTs all take up to three hours each.
- These online courses are available to take on Canvas all year round and are refreshed every September.
Choosing your ILT courses
- You can simply pick and choose any topics that are of interest.
- The courses all stand alone, but we recommend taking ILT001 first.
- If you take a total of five ILT courses, you are entitled to the Horizon Award (a certificate of attendance of at least five courses). When you have completed five or more, contact pgcertcoursebookings@contacts.bham.ac.uk to request your certificate.
- Once enrolled on a course, you will need to complete an ‘End of course activity’ to confirm completion. This is usually a discussion board or individual submission to encourage reflection. Participants are generally expected to complete the course by the end of the month they request to complete the course.
- For ILT001 and the PGTA Lab Demonstrator (CTL) course, you will also need to complete a short Microsoft Form to register your completion of mandatory training requirements. You will also receive a certificate of completion.
Courses available
There are nine courses available, including mandatory training courses. Please see the full list, course descriptions, learning outcomes and registration information.
Requirements for PGTAs
- Mandatory training requirements: you must take either ILT001 or the PGTA Lab Demonstrator (CTL) course before you teach in order to be allowed to teach at the UoB. You do not need to complete both.
- If you will be teaching or supporting learning in any of the Collaborative Teaching Laboratory (CTL) spaces you need to complete the PGTA Lab Demonstrator (CTL) course.
- For all other students who will be teaching at the University, you need to complete the Introduction to Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (ILT001) course.
- Under the University's Code of Practice on Teaching and Academic Support Provided by Registered Students you are not allowed to start teaching unless you have met the above requirements. The only exception is if your department has authorised an exemption e.g. based on higher education teaching qualifications.
- If you are asked to teach and have not completed your mandatory training course yet, your department will pay for the six hours. If you have already taken them, there is no retrospective payment. If you are not sure about your status on the training and whether or not you will be paid, you should raise this with your department/School.