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| University of Cambridge > Department of Engineering > Teaching Office index page |
The nature of supervisions varies widely, depending on many factors including the subject, the level and the individual characteristics of the supervisor and supervisees. This document sets out some general tips which may be useful to graduate students and staff with little experience of supervising undergraduates reading the Engineering Tripos.
The University Staff Development Office will be running courses on Undergraduate Supervision near the beginning of the Michaelmas and Lent terms. If you have not supervised before, or would like to improve your supervision skills, you are strongly encouraged to attend.
If you wish to supervise first and second year Engineering courses, you should contact Directors of Studies stating which subjects you would be interested in supervising, how many hours a week you would be able to do, plus a little about your background. You can contact DoS individually, or you can email them using the aliases: dos-1@eng.cam.ac.uk (all the first year DoS) or dos-2@eng.cam.ac.uk (all the second year DoS).
If you wish to supervise for a third year Engineering module, you should contact the Module Leader directly. Contact details and syllabuses outlining the modules on offer for 2007/08 are available from the Undergraduate Teaching Homepages at: http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/teaching/index-staff.htm.
CUED Training Courses for New Supervisors
If you have not previously supervised third year Engineering students, the Engineering Department requires your attendance at a training course. (This includes supervisors of any of the Engineering Management modules.) You will be paid for attending, and the sessions take place in the Department from 1.30-4.30pm early in the Michaelmas and Lent Terms. (Please note, whilst this course is compulsory only for those new to supervising third year engineering modules, all new supervisors are welcome to attend.) Please email the Teaching Office (teaching-office@eng.cam.ac.uk) to say which module you are supervising and that you would like to attend. [NB: Please also email if you are a new supervisor for a third year module and unable to make the CUED sessions. In this instance, you will be required to attend one of the Staff Development Office sessions instead]
The notes below answer the main questions asked by new supervisors:
In Cambridge University, the large group lectures in the Department of Engineering are supplemented by 'supervision' of small groups of students (usually 2, but sometimes 1, 3 or more) paid for by the students' Colleges. Each undergraduate will usually have one or two supervisions a week during Full Term, each lasting one hour. The 'supervisors' are often Fellows of the College or graduate students.
Lecturers issue sheets of problems, known as 'Examples Papers', for undergraduates to work at in their own time, to develop and test their understanding of the lecture material. A large proportion of engineering supervision time is usually devoted to discussion of these Examples Papers.
What are the aims of the engineering supervisor ?
Important aims of the supervisor include:
Who arranges the supervisions ?
Each College has one or more Director of Studies in Engineering responsible for appointing supervisors. For first and second year undergraduates, the Director of Studies appoints supervisors directly. For third-year undergraduates, DoS usually rely upon the 'Module Leaders' of the approximately 40 modules offered, of which each undergraduate studies 10, to recommend/appoint supervisors. Anyone wishing to supervise should therefore contact Directors of Studies for Part I courses, and third-year module leaders for Part IIA. There are no supervisions for fourth-year modules.
NB: The standard number of hours of supervision in third year modules is 3 + 1 for revision (not one per examples paper). Any additional supervision must be approved in advance by the appropriate Director of Studies.
How much supervising can I do ?
New graduate students are usually advised not to undertake supervision in their first year, as this may distract them from devoting attention to their first priority of establishing their research programme. In the first year of supervising it is advisable to limit supervision to 2 or 3 hours per week, as preparation for supervising a new course involves significant effort. Supervisors should master all the material of the courses and be able to answer Examples Papers questions with only minor and occasional recourse to the 'cribs' provided. It is more efficient and therefore advisable to concentrate on one course rather than supervise several different ones. Six hours per week is regarded as the usual maximum; this is often dictated by College regulations and by the normal conditions for graduate students receiving research grants from the EPSRC or other bodies.
You need to find a suitable room. It may be your own College room or your office in the Engineering Department. Ideally it should be a small, quiet, well-lit room, free from possible disturbances by visitors, telephones, printers etc. It should also contain a suitable table or desk with seating arranged so that you may work easily with two or three students, sitting alongside and between them (a round table can be very convenient). Colleges may also have supervision rooms available. As a last resort, Lecture Room 3A in the Engineering Department may be used for supervision from 2 to 6 pm, but there may be several supervision groups (and project students) using the room simultaneously, and so use of this room is not recommended. NB It is not possible to book a lecture room at CUED for supervision purposes.
Traditionally the period 4.15 - 7.15 pm is popular for supervisions. First and second year students have commitments (lectures and labs) from 9 am to 1 pm from Monday to Friday, and may have some afternoon commitments from 2.15 - 4.15 pm. Many College and University sports fixtures take place in the afternoons. It is for the supervisor to discuss and agree times with undergraduates. Third-year students may have some free slots in the mornings (see timetable). It can save time and confusion if a regular day and time can be established.
How do I contact the supervisees ?
For first and second year students, the Director of Studies may consult you and the students to arrange mutually convenient times. Alternatively, he/she may give you a list of students' names and email addresses, from which you can email the students requesting them to come to see you at a specific time to arrange their supervision times; or you can send out a proposed schedule (a week in advance of the first supervision if possible) requesting them to contact you immediately if your proposed times are not acceptable. For third-year students, the list of students will come to you via the Module Leader. It is then up to you to contact the students to arrange suitable supervision times etc. You may find it helpful to introduce yourself to the students at the end of a lecture; some supervisors put a booking sheet on their door (with the appropriate number of empty one-hour slots) and email the students to book in as convenient.
All the Colleges pay the same rate for supervision; it varies according to the number of students in the class. You can find out the current hourly rate from the Tutorial Office of any College that you supervise for.
Part I: Directors of Studies issue questionnaires to students to monitor the effectiveness of supervisions in years one and two. At the end of each academic year, the Directors of Studies that employ you will be prepared to pass on advice to help you improve the quality of your supervisions.
The Teaching Office also issue all supervisors with a brief questionnaire to monitor the receptiveness of students to courses. Your assistance with this is greatly appreciated and feedback is passed to course leaders at the end of each term.
For third year supervisions, feedback is obtained from the students as part of the Fast Feedback Facility and passed on to the relevant module leaders. You should consult the leaders of the modules that you teach at the end of each year to ensure that all is well.
There is also an 'Error Report Form' if you spot a mistake in an Examples Paper or Crib (for any year!). Copies are available from the Teaching Office, or the Web.
Form SUP1: Sent out to all Part I supervisors by the Teaching Office in September (and thereafter available on request teaching-office@eng). Use this green form to request which examples papers and cribs you would like to receive throughout the year - Without one of these, we won't know what to send you!. (NB Part I lecture handouts and third year lecture handouts/examples papers are only available by direct request to the lecturer.)
Supervision Record forms for years one and two are available on request from the Teaching Office to aid you in compiling your College reports. These are optional but may help you until you develop your own system of note keeping.
CamCORS (Cambridge Colleges On-line Reporting System for Supervisions) is the on-line system used for submitting supervision reports and payment claims.
To use CamCORS, you will have to obtain a CamCORS supervisor account. If you are an engineering supervisor, you will almost certainly not have to do anything yourself - you should be registered by the College (for Part I) or by the Department (for Part IIA; by the Teaching Office when you attend the New Supervisors' Training Course). The CamCORS Homepage http://www.camcors.cam.ac.uk/register/ explains the registration process in detail.
Once you have a CamCORS supervisor account, you will be able to create, write and submit supervision reports on the students you are supervising, and to claim payment for giving the supervisions. The CamCORS Manual for Supervisors explains how to do these.
Usually, one report must be submitted each term for each student supervised, to indicate your impressions of ability, effort and progress. These must be submitted at least a week before the end of Full Term. This allows time for your reports to be reviewed by the students' Directors of Studies and Tutors, before they see them in the last week of Term. If your reports are submitted late, the College cannot discuss them with the students until the next term and the value of the report is greatly reduced.
Please note that the CamCORS system allows a supervisor to email a student's Director of Studies or their College Tutorial Office. You should use this facility immediately if any aspect of a student's performance is giving you serious cause for concern. Some Colleges also issue 'early warning cards' to assist in rapid identification of students causing concern.
Many Colleges now ask students to complete forms to assess their own progress and to offer any comments on their supervisions. Students can also see the reports on CamCORS themsleves, unless withheld for some specific reason. Details vary from College to College - please consult the Director of Studies.
What teaching materials are available to supervisors ?
TEACHING STRATEGIES
What should I do in the first supervision with new students ?
They should prepare for the supervision so that when they come along:
... and in subsequent supervisions ?
How do I deal with "Show me how to do question number 5" ?
Help students to work it out for themselves. For example:
How do I deal with "We've no problems this week" ?
Should I set work, and expect it to be handed in before the supervision ?
The supervisor has some freedom here, and you may wish to consult the Director of Studies. The important issue is that you must be in a position to judge whether students are working and progressing satisfactorily. Many supervisors set work for the Vacations, e.g. catching up on all outstanding Examples Papers and completing some specified past Tripos questions, for discussion at the first supervision of the next term.
Can undergraduates see the 'cribs' ?
Examples Paper Cribs
Past examination cribs (for all years)
These are available at all times for inspection by students in the Engineering Department library and in most College libraries. They are also available on the web via the Undergraduate Teaching Homepage.
What if student attendance, attitude or progress is unsatisfactory?
On the first occasion a student misses a supervision, is very late, is uncooperative or is ill-prepared, explain that such behaviour is discourteous to you and the supervision partner, is a waste of a valuable opportunity to learn, and is a matter of serious concern to the College. Any recurrence should be reported immediately to the College Tutor or Director of Studies: waiting until the end of term can be too late, as the student's behaviour may be symptomatic of a wider problem (e.g. ill-health, depression etc) requiring immediate attention. Some Colleges issue early warning cards to assist in rapid identification of students causing concern.
Where can I get further advice?
Most Directors of Studies have considerable experience of supervising, and should be able to answer most queries. Likewise, for third year courses, Module Leaders will be able to help you.
You can also contact Dr Hugh Shercliff, the Director of Undergraduate Education, for advice (email hrs@eng.cam.ac.uk).
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© Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge Information provided by the teaching-office |