SGCL follows various teaching and learning methods and modes of delivering its courses. Whatever your choice of course, you will have the significant advantage of small group sizes and individual attention from the academic and support staff. SGCL’s academic staff are encouraged to develop innovative and exciting teaching and delivery methods
The basic modes of delivery, communication of course content and the development of technical and other skills is as follows:
Lectures
The purpose of formal lectures is to provide an in-depth content of the specific topic being studied. Many UK education institutions deliver their lectures in very large groups of a hundred or more students; at SGCL you will have the benefit of being part of a much smaller lecture group.
Lectures are not normally seen as the forum to ask detailed questions (it is not customary to interrupt the lecturers’ delivery of his/her topic) but at SGCL students are encouraged to ask any immediate questions at the end of the lecture.
The normal format of any lecture is for the lecturer to talk about a subject and for the students to take notes. You will gain more from these sessions if you take notes which you can review later.
At SGCL students are given detailed guidance on how to gain the maximum benefit from both the formal classes and their own independent study.
Seminars
These are more informal sessions than lectures, where students and the tutor meet together to discuss a specific topic.
Sometimes the topic set will be directly linked to the lecture; on other occasions students will have been asked to prepare a new topic. The purpose of the seminar format is to encourage students to engage in discussion, to share views and to identify areas where the topic can be developed. A good seminar will have a range of views expressed by the students and the seminar leader’ At SGCL you will be constantly encouraged to question conventional wisdom and develop your capacity for “critical thinking”, which will be of immense benefit in your later career.
There may be written work associated with seminars which will be assessed by the tutor; and seminars provide opportunity for students to engage in discussion and critical debate as well as to help academic staff to assess student progress and overall understanding of the subject matter.
