Information for Lecturers of Part B or Part C Courses
The main source of information about undergraduate teaching is the document 'Teaching the Undergraduate Mathematics Course'. However, below is a summary of points particularly relevant to lecturers of Part B or Part C courses.
Intercollegiate Classes
The intercollegiate class scheme is run in support of the lecture courses given in Parts B and C, with each lecture course being accompanied by one of more sets of intercollegiate classes. The classes are administered centrally under the supervision of the Director of Undergraduate Studies but lecturers will be consulted on the allocation of class tutors to their course.
The main responsibilites of lecturers are to provide problem sheets together with specimen solutions for the use of the class tutors and teaching assistants, and to organise an initial planning session with the class tutors and teaching assistants for their course at the start of term. In addition, many lecturers will opt to give at least one set of intercollegiate classes themselves.
Further information about intercollegiate classes can be found in the class scheme guidance notes. The Minerva database, which is used for the administration of classes, can be accessed at https://minerva.maths.ox.ac.uk/. The list of graduate students willing to act as teaching assistants can be found here.
Consultation Sessions
During Trinity term consultation sessions are run to support students as they revise for their examinations. Those who have given intercollegiate classes are asked to provide a set of consultation sessions (usually a set consists of four one-hour sessions). For each lecture course there should be at least one consultation session given over to the discussion of past examination questions.
Course webpage
Each lecture course has a webpage on the Mathematical Institute's website (listed here) where they problem sheets and lecture notes can be posted for students to access.
Examinations
Undergraduate
Part B and C lecturers will be assessors for the undergraduate examinations, setting and marking the examination paper for their course. The examiners will send out detailed instructions at the start of Michaelmas term but generally Michaelmas term lecturers will need to submit a checked draft of their paper by week 0 of Hilary term and Hilary term lecturers by week 8 of Hilary term. The exams usually take place during weeks 6-8 of Trinity term and assessors will have one week to complete their marking.
MSc Examinations
Some courses (B5a, B5b, B21a, C10.1a, C12.1a and C12.2b) are also core MSc courses and the lecturers will be assessors for the MSc examinations, setting and marking the questions on their course. The MSc examiners will send out detailed instructions to all assessors. Examinations on Michaelmas term courses take place in week 0 of Hilary term and those for Hilary term courses are in week 0 of Trinity term.
Students on the MSc. in Mathematics and the Foundations of Computer Science (MFoCS) and the MSc. in Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computing (MMSC) are required to submit special topics/mini projects on the optional lecture courses they take. The course lecturer will usually be asked to be one of the assessors for the submitted work and may also be approached by the student for guidance on selecting a topic. Again the MSc examiners will send out detailed instructions about the assessment process. The list of courses open to MSc students can be found here for MMSC and in the course handbook for MFoCS.
Graduate Training
All research students (starting after Michaelmas term 2011) must undertake broadening courses for 100 hours during their DPhil studies. This can include attending a Part C lecture course. Students off ering a Part C course must submit a short mini-project essay (or equivalent if appropriate, for example a documented computer program), along the lines of those for the MSc courses . The topic should be chosen by the student in consultation with the lecturer and the fi nal write-up should normally be between 5 and 10 pages long. The lecturer will be asked to assess the write-up and should provide a summative outcome (pass/fail), and other formative feedback if appropriate. Lecturers are also asked to complete a form confirming that the student has successfully completed the course.