Dear Colleague.
You may know that the Open University includes courses on Science and the
Public and Science Communication within its Masters programme. Students
numbers are sufficiently buoyant at present (about 100 for each of these
courses) for us to think of appointing at least 1 extra tutor.
Does the prospect of becoming a part-time 'associate lecturer' (AL) with the
OU appeal to you - or perhaps you know of someone it might suit?
The immediate opening relates to Science and the Public S802. We have 4 ALs
at present throughout the UK ; the central team at the OU work very closely
with them about all aspects of the course's delivery. The role of ALs
include meeting students, marking their assignments and (of increasing
importance) offering guidance/support via our dedicated computer conference
network, especially in relation to students' project work. There are also
formal moderated computer conferences, over a weekend or a succession of
evenings. The course itself looks at a wide range of public issues in
science and at a range of controversial science topics. I 'd be happy to
send more details of the content to anyone interested.
We're looking for someone to whom this exciting form of teaching appeals and
who likes the notion of working collaboratively within teams. The OU has a
very well-established system for the appointment of ALs, which involves our
regional OU colleagues. There's a great deal of guidance offered to those
appointed and you have the benefit of support from the central team and from
other ALs. The pay, while not generous, means that you're not working
entirely for love. At a rough guess it averages out (very roughly) at
between 0.5-0.8 day a week between the OU academic year of February and
November.
If you are interested, I can respond with more details but you'll appreciate
that there is a formal OU application procedure quite separate from these
preliminary overtures., where all the OU's usual equal opportunity rules
operate.
Kind regards,
Jeff Thomas,
Chair of S802, Science and the Public
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