What is it?

Alongside their studies, many PhD students teach undergraduate classes, in particular tutorials. This is an excellent opportunity to gain valuable teaching experience, especially as many of them will be required to teach in the future if they decide to stay in academia. Since most PhD students are fairly new to the profession, their performance is regularly evaluated not only by their supervisors, but also students. By completing module evaluation forms, undergraduate students are providing PhD students useful feedback on their teaching skills, which PhD students can then discuss with their supervisor and take forward to improve their teaching performance.

How can students make the most of it?

PhD students are encouraged to regularly review evaluation forms either by themselves or with their supervisor. This will allow them to identify their strengths and weaknesses in order to make further progress in their teaching career. They should also encourage the students they teach to provide them with as much feedback as possible as it will help them improve their teaching as well as their career prospect. It is important that PhD students do not underestimate the value of undergraduate students’ feedback, since it will offer them an alternative perspective on their teaching methods and can be just as valuable as feedback from their supervisor.