University teaching and learning

Lectures are likely to be one of the main forms of teaching that you will have. Lectures will usually be led by an academic member of staff and will focus on a particular topic. They may give a presentation during which you will take notes.

Many lectures will involve opportunities for you to discuss ideas with other students and the lecturer, or to ask questions. You may also have some activities to complete. The lecturer may ask you to complete some reading or an activity before the lecture, and ask you to share your thoughts.

Tutorials or seminars are usually for a smaller group of students than lectures. They are usually led by an academic member of staff, but offer an opportunity for a more informal discussion. You may be asked to complete an activity or undertake some reading, and present your ideas to the rest of the group. You will generally be expected to share your own thoughts and findings, and discuss or debate these with other students.

Many engineering courses will involve practical sessions, which may be based in a laboratory. These allow you to practice techniques and methods you have learnt about, and put your knowledge into practice in a more real-life situation. You may work in groups, pairs, or individually and your work in the laboratory may form part of your assessment.

Courses such as Education may involve a placement, where you are able to gain experience and practice what you have learnt in real life. As you progress, you may take on more responsibility in your placement, and may have chance to practice particular skills or experience particular situations. You may be asked to reflect on your experiences as part of your studies.

Canvas is the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) here at the University of Birmingham, and you will use it throughout your studies to access learning resources, academic information, and more.

Canvas is similar to other VLEs that you may have used before, such as Moodle or Blackboard. It will be your main source of academic information throughout your time as a student here. You will use it throughout your time with us, on almost every module. You can use Canvas to:

• Access your course materials online 24/7
• Submit your assignments
• Access grades and feedback
• Find lecture recordings and notes
• Access Zoom meetings for live teaching sessions and online weekly group tutorials
• Access multimedia content and resources for learning outside of your lectures
• To discuss and share ideas with coursemates and tutors

You will also use Canvas to access a range of other courses, such as the Digital Skills courses from the Academic Skills Centre, and English Language support from the Birmingham International Academy.

Need help with Canvas?

You can view our Canvas tutorial to help you understand how to use it, or access 24/7 Canvas support if you have any problems.

If you have any problems with your username or password, you will need to contact the IT Service Desk.

Find out more about your student username and password, and logging into University services.

Identify your strengths and weaknesses in English grammar and vocabulary and do some focused practice in academic writing with our Canvas module, 'Assess Your Academic English!'.

The module covers academic style, effective paraphrasing and summarising, synthesising from sources, understanding citation, language accuracy (sentence structure, verb agreement, tense etc), understanding lectures and seminars as well as understanding feedback from your tutors.

You can self-enrol onto 'Assess Your Academic English!'.

Access the AYAE! module

For focused self-study materials, access the EAP toolkit. It contains 80+ hours of activity-based learning, including online exercises to test your language and study skills.

The EAP toolkit covers:

• Learning skills
• Academic writing
• Reading and critical thinking
• Listening and note-taking
• Communications skills
• Grammar for academic purposes
• Vocabulary for academic purposes

Access the EAP toolkit

Good writing starts with good reading. Whether you are a social scientist or a STEM scientist studying Computer Science, Economics or Mechanical Engineering, From Reading into Writing is an online course developed to help you understand what’s expected of you when you write your assignments.

The courses take you through the process of assignment writing, including topics such as understanding essay questions, reading to increase your knowledge, paraphrasing, argumentation and avoiding plagiarism.

You’ll have access to 50+ academic language and skills quizzes, discussion boards, videos, study tips and reflective tasks.

Self-enrol on one of the courses and choose how much to do and when best to do it.

Access From Reading into Writing for STEM

Access From Reading into Writing for Social Sciences

Explore the context and culture of university life with our specially-produced e-guides.

Working together with students and staff from many cultures is exciting, but at times it can be challenging. Learn how to analyse the influence of culture and develop strong intercultural skills for effective study.

Working together across cultures

Being a student at the University of Birmingham