What am I expected to say about teaching plans in an interview (UK)?

Question

I got short-listed for an interview. I will have to give a 15 minutes presentation and I need to address 1) past and present research; 2) future research; 3) teaching plans.

About the position: I need to provide 6 hours of tutorials per week; organise lectures and practical classes in a specific module; produce lecture/class notes, course materials, reading lists, and reference guides; undertake advanced academic study; undertake academic research; identify sources of research income and make applications to secure it; write research articles.

The teaching component only lasts for 8 weeks for the entire year - the rest of the year is dedicated to the tutorials and research. What are they expecting me to present in 15 minutes regarding my teaching plan? Should I go in with the assumption that I have to design a full course all by myself (even though in reality this will be coordinated with other lecturers as well)?

For clarification, the position is being advertised for a particular module only. I'm not supposed to help with several different courses, just with the one that they are advertising.

Answer 1

You can always ask if they can give you any further guidance about what they are looking for in the 'teaching' part of the presentation. I imagine this is also somewhat field-dependent: what is expected in a humanities department may be rather different from what is expected in a lab-based science area. However, generally people:

• Summarise what teaching they've done in the past, highlighting anything impressive (positive student outcomes, innovative approaches to teaching...);
• Identify which aspects of the department's current courses they could contribute to, and particularly any areas where the department is currently lacking expertise (tactfully!);
• Perhaps sketch an idea for a new course that they'd like to put together if they got the job.

In a 15-minute talk, one slide on each of the above is probably a reasonable starting point.

In response to OP's clarification that the advertised position is specific about the module to be taught: I think the same general points apply, but you should focus a bit more specifically on that module: Why is it important? How would you approach teaching it? What makes your version of that module better than the other candidates' versions? However, I don't think it ever hurts to show versatility: don't focus on that module to the exclusion of all others.