“By creating we think, by living we learn” Patrick Geddes
We are looking forward to welcoming you to the University of Dundee, a vibrant place of learning, with research-led teaching. Our goal is to help you become an independent and confident learner and we use a variety of methods to help you develop the skills and knowledge you need to succeed at University.
Lectures, seminars, laboratory and practical classes will give you a structure and the key building blocks from which to explore your subjects further in self-directed enquiry and study. To support you there is face-to-face teaching support, learning centre support, extensive on-line resources and of course academic staff are on hand to give you plenty of support and guidance. University is very different in this approach from school and to some extent college but all students face this challenge together and you will quickly find a way of working that you will not only achieve results but that is very rewarding. The skills you will develop are very much in demand in the workplace so all the hard work you put in will help after you graduate.
Remember great students all begin as undergraduates and genius is "1% inspiration and 99% perspiration".
Over the academic year, there are a number of programmes run by the Academic Achievement Teaching Unit that are designed to provide students with the opportunity to enhance their learning.
This series of workshops is offered in Welcome Week. It helps to bridge the gap for students who are coming into the University after a career break or coming straight into Level 2 or 3 of a degree programme after gaining a preliminary qualification in a further education college. We will send you information about Gateway to Learning before you join the University.
Academic Writing Programmes are offered to support students as they progress through their academic studies. These programmes provide one-to-one tutorials. Each programme in its own distinctive way helps students to perform to their full potential by helping them to help themselves.
Visit the Academic Writing Programmes website for Undergraduates or Postgraduates.
The P@SS course encourages students to take a longer view of the academic year and to the level of work they will be expected to produce. Instead of focusing attention on the immediate tasks, the course activities introduce students to ways of making the coursework more manageable and the learning easier by introducing strategies and approaches that help achieve success and the best marks possible. Visit the P@SS webpage
We provide one-to-one tutorials to help students develop strategies to prepare for exams. Alternatively, we offer the chance to attend our Ready, Steady, Exams workshops where we look at revision strategies including time management, memory tips and suggestions for learning effectively as part of your preparation. We then look at the practical tactics and approaches for the day of the exam. Our tutors have years of experience in setting, assessing (and also taking) exams, so they can guide students in all disciplines in the mysteries that may seem to surround the way to achieving a good grade. Visit the Exam Skills webpage.
This course is offered in the two weeks immediately prior to the August Resit Examination Diet. It is open to any student who has failed any examination in the earlier examination diets of that academic year. The course aims to tackle the fundamental factors which may have contributed to exam failure and which may continue to lead to poor results unless these are addressed constructively. Visit the PREP webpage
The University has invested heavily in the infrastructure and technology for e-learning. The Learning Centre is the catalyst for delivering one of the most innovative teaching experiences in Scotland.
Among the e-learning initiatives coordinated by this Unit are:
The VLE, using Blackboard software, enables students to keep all their work (lecture notes, assignments, etc) in one easily accessible database and to communicate with their lecturers and tutors and vice-versa.
One aspect of VLE is Computer Aided Assessment, using QuestionMark Perception software, which helps students to practise for exams by providing immediate feedback. This is just one example of the educational technology initiatives designed to develop students' academic skills.
This is a unique intranet resource written for University of Dundee students by University of Dundee staff - to provide online assistance on all aspects of university study and related student issues. This is password controlled and you will have access to this when you arrive in the University.
My PDP is the University's scheme for undergraduate personal development planning (PDP). Developed by the Careers Service, Learning Centre and others, it runs through Blackboard ® Academic Suite, and consists of a resource providing guidance to users, plus templates that are used to construct an eportfolio-based action plan. Students attend a PDP induction session jointly delivered by a member of the Careers Service and a member of academic staff, at which they are told about the benefits of PDP, how to create their PDP portfolio, and what PDP-related activities are present in their curriculum.
Overseeing the teaching standards that have given Dundee the best ratings in Scotland and among the best in the UK is the Quality Assurance Unit with its robust and rigorous procedures for course approval and monitoring.
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