Part of Establishing a Teaching Persona, the course for PhD students who teach at City, involved the opportunity to chat directly with a member of LEaD about a particular type of teaching. Ali, who works in the academic team as a Lecturer in Educational Development, with special responsibility for the School of Mathematics, Computer Science & Engineering, was there to discuss lab teaching, and has produced a ‘Lab Demonstrating Guide‘ which provides advice for working with students in labs, and links to further resources.

Ali’s hints and tips for effective lab work with students:

• Ask questions that open up the subject, or other possibilities; lead students towards answering their own questions, where possible, through consideration of their actions;
• Use the lab to explicitly build on current knowledge and lead the student through chains of reasoning; do not simply answer student questions (unless the question really does warrant a simple answer, like ‘where do I…’);
• Be approachable – friendly, available, equitable and helpful – especially to those students who are new to working in a lab environment, e.g. Level 4 (first year) students;
• Be proactive as well as reactive – recognise those having difficulties. Encourage active participation by students and counter any “freeloaders” by encouraging all students to participate when you are working with groups;
• Draw comparisons and parallels between laboratory work and professional practice.

Checking on the progress of students in the lab environment is essential due to health and safety concerns. With safety as a primary concern the need for you to be alert to student activities, and prepared to intervene, is increased when compared to some other teaching situations:

• Make sure you are clear on your role in the lab environment, the protocol to be carried out, and what support you are being asked to provide;
• Clarify safety requirements and procedures and make sure there are no equipment issues; be proactive with students in ensuring equipment is used safely;
• Ensure you know any parameters for feedback you need to give, particularly if you are to be involved in assessing students’ work.