Section 11: Glossary

A

Academic Board: The principal academic body of the School. All major issues of general policy affecting the academic life of the School and its development are brought to the Board. Quality assurance issues often feature on its agendas.

Aligning your teaching: The concept of "alignment" is about organising teaching and assessment methods such that they actively support the "learning outcomes" you've set for the students. For more detail see the work of John Biggs (references available from TLC).

Audio Visual (AV) Unit: Support teaching rooms and lecture theatres at LSE. From data projectors to visualises, the AV Unit supplies a wide range of audio/visual equipment for the LSE community.

C

Calendar: www.lse.ac.uk/resources/calender.  This is update annually and contains the following information; key addresses and dates; about LSE; programmes of study; learning support and career development skills; financial matters; school services; alumni relations; examinations; library and IT services; disciplinary and other regulations and procedures; diploma programmes; master's programmes; MRes/PhD in political science; research programmes.

Central events programme: The TLC offers a variety of full day, half day and lunch time sessions on a range of staff development and training topics, open to all LSE staff. Events are free at point of delivery to LSE staff.

Course: A unit of study, usually spread over 20-22 weeks of study (full unit) or 10 weeks of study (half unit).

Course Head of Department / Institute/co-ordinator: Usually a member of full time academic staff in a department who has overall responsibility for the academic direction and assessment of a particular (usually masters) course. See also teacher responsible.

Course secretary: Takes care of the administrative organisation of the course.

D

DDA (Part IV):  is an extension to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 which covers, special needs in Higher Education.

The Act introduces the right for disabled students not to be discriminated against in education, training and any services provided wholly or mainly for students or those enrolled on courses when this is provided by certain 'responsible bodies'. The governing bodies of further and higher education institutions, including sixth form colleges, fall under the category of 'responsible bodies' in the Act. Student services covered by the Act can include a wide range of educational and non-educational services, such as field trips, examinations and assessments, short courses, arrangements for work placements and libraries and learning resources."

It is unlawful for responsible bodies to treat a disabled person 'less favourably' than a non-disabled person for a reason that relates to the person's disability.

If a disabled person is at a 'substantial disadvantage', responsible bodies are required to take reasonable steps to prevent that disadvantage. This might include:

• changes to policies and practices
• changes to course requirements or work placements
• changes to the physical features of a building
• the provision of interpreters or other support workers
• the delivery of courses in alternative ways
• the provision of material in other formats

The law requires responsible bodies to anticipate the requirements of disabled people or students and the adjustments they could be making for them. A further development of the Act (2005) requires the active promotion of equality for students with disabilities, and the expectation that institutions will take proactive steps to anticipate need, rather than simply react as need arise.  The School has a new Disability Equality Scheme which addresses the steps departments will be taking in the coming few years to promote disability equality.  See the disability website for further details:  www.lse.ac.uk/collections/disabilityOffice

Dean of the Graduate Studies: Has a wide range of duties concerned with relations between the School and its students. He is available to any graduate student who wishes to raise any problem, academic or otherwise. In particular he is available for the counselling of individual students who experience difficulties, and he can help in the reallocation of students to supervisors. He is a supplementary source of help to the supervisor, the departmental research student tutor and the departmental Head of Department / Institute. The Dean will see students by appointment or during open office hours as published outside his office.

Dean of Undergraduate Studies: Has a wide range of responsibilities covering all aspects of the undergraduate experience at the School. The Dean may be consulted by any undergraduate student at the School who wishes to discuss any problem, whether academic or personal. The Dean will see students during 'office hours' or by appointment.

Departmental Managers: Managed the administrative functions of each academic department.

Departmental "mentor" for class teachers: A member of full-time staff designated as the guide/mentor/adviser to Graduate Teaching Assistants.

Departmental handbooks: Most departments will have separate student handbooks for undergraduate programmes, MSc programmes and PhD programmes. These vary considerably from one department to another and one programme to another, but often include administrative and other information about the programme, codes of practice, advice on study skills, information about course and assessment deadlines, and other interesting departmental and School information that should help students find their way around the School and their particular department/programme.

Departmental tutor: Oversees all undergraduate programmes within his/her department. http://www.lse.ac.uk/resources/schoolAndDepartmentalOfficers/tutors.htm

Director of LSE: Sir Howard Davies.

Dissertation supervisor: Guides students through the process of writing the dissertation (a common feature of many MSc programmes). Note that on many MSc programmes, students will have a supervisor and a dissertation supervisor (often different people). The supervisor has a more general academic advisory and pastoral role.

F

Formative assessment: Involves setting assignments that are designed to help students with their studies and provide opportunities for individual feedback This work may well be graded, to give students a feel for how they are progressing, but much more important will be the feedback provided, which should help them to improve and develop. In most cases, the grades on formative assessment do not "count" towards the students' final degree results.

Full unit course: A unit of study, usually spread over 20-22 weeks of study.

G

General course students: Students on LSE's Study Year Abroad Programme visiting the LSE in their 2nd or 3rd year from another university overseas (mainly, though not exclusively from the US). It is not a separate programme of study but a fully integrated undergraduate year. Each student is assigned to one of the School's twenty academic departments, in which they will pursue at least one of their four courses.

Graduate handbook: Part of the School Calendar, available on the LSE website at http://www.lse.ac.uk/resources/calendar2004-2005/   that is relevant to graduate students.  This is updated annually and contains the following: information; key addresses and dates; about LSE; programmes of study; learning support and career development skills; financial matters; school services; alumni relations; examinations; library and IT services; disciplinary and other regulations and procedures; diploma programmes; master's programmes; MRes/PhD in political science; research programmes.

Graduate teaching assistant (GTA): A member of teaching staff paid by the hour, who is also registered as a PhD student.

H

Half unit course: A unit of study, usually spread over 10 weeks of study.

Head of Department:  Every academic department has a Head of Department (until recently known as the convener), responsible for the academic management of his/her department and its relationship to the rest of the School, Institutes have 'Directors', who have a similar remit.

Higher Education Academy: Works with institutions, discipline groups and individuals, to provide the best possible learning experience for all students.  They provide an authoritative and independent voice on policies that influence this such as quality and standards, pedagogic research, teaching standards, e-learning, performance indicators and the evaluation of teaching and learning programmes. www.heacademy.ac.uk/

Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE): Distributes public money for teaching and research to universities and colleges. In doing so, it aims to promote high quality education and research, within a financially healthy sector. The Council also plays a key role in ensuring accountability and promoting good practice.

Home department: The department within which a student is registered for his/her programme of study. A student may choose courses from departments other than his/her home department.

I

Individual student support agreement (ISSA): A School ISSA is a summary of the adjustments and resources the adviser to students with disabilities has agreed are necessary to meet the individual needs of a student, based on documentary evidence, in consultation with the student and key academic and administrative personnel. See appendix 8 for an example.

Internal review of educational provision: A review of a department/institute which is conducted on behalf of TLAC every five years. The internal reviews are developmental, and are designed to assist departments in their efforts to improve the provision of their education. The review of educational provision conducted by TLAC looks back at recent activity in departments, and looks forward to planned activity.

Institute of Education (IOE): Founded in 1902, the Institute of Education has an international reputation for high quality research, teacher training, higher degrees, consultancy in education and the related aspects of professional practice and the social sciences. www.ioe.ac.uk

Institutional Audit: A new external system for auditing the quality of educational provision. LSE will be subject to Institutional Audit in the 2004/2005 academic session. For more on the audit process, contact the Teaching Quality Assurance and Review Office, or see the QAA (Quality Assurance Agency) website: http://qaa.ac.uk/

Intute: Social Sciences: www.intute.ac.uk/socialsciences/about.html

L

Lent term: The second term in the academic year running from around the second full week in January until the fourth week in March. For the 2005/2006 session term dates are 8 January 2007 to 6 March 2007.

Library stock: http://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First

LSE Degree Classifications: Undergraduate degree - the examiners for each course will determine a numerical mark for each candidate based on the following scale of honours class or division, pass and fail grades:

The final degree classification is based on a somewhat complex compilation of individual course results, details of which are given in the Calendar and on the School's website.

Taught Masters - Each paper is given a result as follows:

The final degree classification is based on a somewhat complex compilation of individual course results, details of which are given in the Calendar and on the School's website.

LSE for you: An online web environment which contains personal information such as pay information, emergency contact details etc and also contains class registers and photographs of students in your class(es).

LSE Postgraduate in HE certificate: A Higher Education Academy (HEA) accredited programme offered by the TLC. Participants who successfully complete the programme will receive a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education, which is externally recognised in the UK.

LSE teaching record: A certificate/record of teaching practice provided by the Teaching and Learning Centre. It should provide useful evidence for those wishing to pursue a career in HE in the UK, and may enable you to gain exemptions from some elements of future training in teaching which increasing numbers of HE institutions now make compulsory.

M

Mentoring: One-to-one support preferably in a situation where no obvious power relations exist. At LSE there are various student mentoring schemes in place, whereby students volunteer to act as mentors to each other (usually 2nd and 3rd years acting as mentors to 1st years). Similar systems are in place for staff. New full time academic staff should be allocated a mentor who is a more established colleague and can advise on a diverse range of School-related matters. Some departments now also have a designated mentor for graduate teaching assistants.

Michaelmas term: The first term in the academic year running from around the first week in October until the third week of December. For the 2006/2007 session it runs from 28 September 2006 to 8 December 2006.

Office hour: Weekly or fortnightly hour of support for each course on which GTAs teach, used as a way of providing additional support for individual students. Most class teachers timetable a mutually convenient time with their students and stick to the same hour each week. Ideally it should be timed on the half hour (ie: 10.30-11.30) to avoid timetable clashes for the greatest number of students.

OHP: An overhead projector (OHP) is a means of projecting acetates, or images printed on clear plastic onto a large screen. All classrooms have an OHP as standard.

One-to-one: Confidential one-to-one advice/tutoring/study support on anything to do with students' studies or (later) exams or dissertation offered by the TLC's Learning World Study Skills Programme.
www.lse.ac.uk/collections/TLC/whatWeDo/oneToOne.htm 

P

Personal tutor: Every undergraduate student should be allocated a personal tutor who should be a full time member of academic staff based in the student's home department. The personal tutor has an important pastoral role, as well as one of academic guidance (eg: the personal tutor may help his/her students make choices about courses, advise them on progress, help them consider career options, offer advice and refer students to various other support services across the School etc).

Pigeon hole: A small open compartment for keeping letters or documents, based in the department where you teach. Each GTA will either have their own pigeon hole or might have a shared GTA pigeon hole. Check this regularly for post, student work or other communications from the department.

Programme : Each student is registered on a programme either leading to an undergraduate or masters degree, or involving study at the school for a set period, eg: the one year General Course. This is the total combination of courses taken.

Programme coordinator: Oversees a single masters programme (rather than the one departmental tutor who oversees all programmes in a department at undergraduate level).

Public folders: Device for sharing information accessible to all or named members of the School via Microsoft Outlook 2000. Public Folders have been or can be set up for each department in the School. They are organised according to a tree structure, like the folders in Windows Explorer.

Q

Quality Assurance Agency (QAA): In 1997, the QAA was established to provide an integrated quality assurance service for UK higher education. It is an independent body funded by subscriptions from universities and colleges of higher education, and through contracts with the main higher education funding bodies. The Agency's mission is to safeguard the public interest in sound standards of higher education qualifications and to encourage continuous improvement in the management of the quality of higher education. http://www.qaa.ac.uk/

R

Race Relations: The School is committed to the Race Relations Act 1976, as amended by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, which requires all public sector organisations, including higher education institutions, to carry out general duties in promoting racial equality. This means that LSE - consistent with its own traditions and with Article 13.2 - must have 'due regard' to the need to: eliminate unlawful racial discrimination; promote equality of opportunity; promote good relations between people of different racial groups.

Research Assessment Exercise (RAE): The main purpose of the RAE is to enable the higher education funding bodies to distribute public funds for research selectively on the basis of quality. Institutions conducting the best research receive a larger proportion of the available grant so that the infrastructure for the top level of research in the UK is protected and developed. The RAE assesses the quality of research in universities and colleges in the UK. It takes place every four to five years.

S

Student feedback questionnaires : Each year the Teaching Quality Assurance and Review Office conducts two main surveys of students' opinions of teaching. The Michaelmas survey considers teaching by hourly-paid class teachers, and is conducted in week 7 or 8 of the Michaelmas term. The Lent survey asks for student views on each of their courses, and all aspects of those courses.

Study skills events: LSE offers a series of lectures, follow-up practical sessions, and one-to-one advice on different aspects of study and learning. The formal sessions are held on Wednesday afternoons and all students are welcome. Sessions will be particularly useful for first year undergraduates, General Course students and postgraduates who have not studied in the UK before. For more details, see the website: http://learning.lse.ac.uk/studyskills.asp

Subject network: There are 24 subject centres, based in higher education institutions throughout the UK, offering subject-specific expertise and information on learning and teaching coordinated by the Higher Education Academy. www.heacademy.ac.uk 

Summative assessment: Takes place after a period of teaching and is designed to evaluate the student's current level of academic achievement. Each LSE course will be summatively assessed or examined, most often by sit-down 2 hour or 3 hour examination, though some departments use some more varied assessments, including essays, projects, dissertations, portfolios and practicals of various kinds.

Summer term : The third and last term in the academic year running from around the fourth week in April until the second week in July. For the 2006/2007 session it runs from 23 April to 27 June 2007.

Supervisor : Each student on a masters programme has a supervisor whose role is similar to that of the undergraduate personal tutor.

T

Teacher responsible: A member of full-time academic staff in a department who has overall responsibility for the academic direction and assessment of a particular (usually undergraduate) course. See also course Head of Department / Institute/coordinator.

Teaching, Learning and Assessment Committee (TLAC): The committee responsible for determining policy and strategy in the areas of quality assurance and quality enhancement in the School.

Teaching observation: Teaching in HE is often a very "private" affair - between the tutor and students. The main feedback staff get is from students. Teaching observation brings in a new perspective, and also can trigger off ideas both within the observer and the person being observed, focused on teaching process - the "how" of teaching, rather than the content. It enables individuals to identify strengths and weaknesses, and highlight areas for development. Where colleagues observe each other both within and across departments, this can promote sharing of good practice, and can increase awareness of teaching/learning approaches - and course content.

TQARO : Teaching Quality Assurance and Review Office, which is the support office to the Teaching, Learning and Assessment Committee (TLAC). TQARO works closely with the TLC.

V

Voice trainer: TLC offers one-to-one voice training with an experienced voice trainer, along with a small group workshop on voice training for speaking to large audiences. The Language Centre offers longer small group courses, tailored to specific needs.

W

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