Your teaching, even better – a focus on active learning in period 1

‘How can I ensure my students engage actively with the material?’ ‘How can I ensure that even quiet students contribute during lectures?’ and ‘Do my active teaching methods actually fit in with traditional teaching spaces?’ These are just a few of the questions many lecturers find themselves asking.

Active learning increases student engagement, motivation and understanding. To help you make your teaching more active, the Centre for Academic Teaching and Learning (CAT) offers a wide range of support options. For example, on 13 October, you can attend the workshop on active teaching methods or incorporate active learning tools into your teaching. You can also make use of active learning spaces or engage your students by using games in an educational context. Alternatively, have a chat with our educational advisers; they can work with you to identify which teaching methods will help you make your teaching more engaging. With a teaching method such as the World Café, for example, you can encourage students to engage in a structured and calm group discussion on a specific topic, where there is more listening and everyone can make an active contribution. And how about investigating how effective the use of interactive elements is in your own teaching practice? Funding and support are also available from the CAT for this.

Your teaching, even better

Many lecturers know that they can turn to the Centre for Academic Teaching and Learning (CAT) for support in preparing, delivering and evaluating their teaching. However, the range of support options is so wide that they are often only familiar with a fraction of what CAT has to offer. That is why the CAT is launching a campaign in which each teaching period will focus on a theme that lecturers encounter in their teaching. Within that theme, we’ll provide lecturers with a clear overview of the options available to put these ideas into practice in their teaching. As a lecturer, you remain in charge of your teaching. You decide whether you want to enhance your teaching and, if so, how you’ll go about it. Under the motto ‘Your teaching, even better’, the CAT is here to support you in this.

Make your teaching more engaging

We’re starting with the theme ‘Active learning’, which is the focus of Period 1. To make the CAT even more accessible and user-friendly, every CAT newsletter will now open with a foreword from one of the CAT staff members, who will explain how they support lecturers in enhancing their teaching. Curious to find out how you can make your teaching more engaging?

Themes for the 2026–2027 academic year:

• Period 1 – Active learning
• Period 2 – Designing Teaching
• Period 3 – Skills-based Teaching
• Period 4 – Assessment and Feedback