Teaching Arrangements at Clare

List of Teaching Fellows at Clare

In Cambridge, responsibility for teaching is shared between the Colleges, and the Faculties and Departments of the University. Broadly, the Faculties and Departments decide and design the courses offered, organise lectures, practicals and classes, and set, supervise and mark the examinations. Since the courses are offered by the University rather than the Colleges, all students in each subject take the same course, whatever their College.

The academic role of the College is rather different. It is in and through the College that students receive the small-group teaching, ‘supervisions’, that are a particular characteristic of Cambridge. Thus, students attend the lectures, practicals and classes organised by the University, but then have a chance to explore their content in much greater depth, to make connections with other areas in the field, to have problems discussed and written work marked, in the small group teaching situation. The supervision thus provides a unique opportunity for students to get personal help and feedback, and often to work very closely with supervisors who are themselves leading scholars in the field. It is this aspect of the teaching in Cambridge which attracts many students to the University, and makes students’ time here intellectually memorable. Supervisions also provide an opportunity to get out and visit other Colleges. This is because students in Cambridge are not supervised entirely within their own College, but are rather sent to the best supervisors available in each subject specialism, which often means going out to other Colleges.

Clare is committed to making the supervision system work for the best possible benefit of its students. Each student is assigned a Director of Studies in their subject, who is responsible for their overall academic progress and wellbeing. It is the Director of Studies who advises on subject choices, who arranges supervision teaching for each student, who is available to help sort out problems, and who liaises generally between the College and the University on the student’s behalf. Often, a Director of Studies will act as supervisor if a student is studying a subject in which he or she specialises. Many students get to know their Directors of Studies extremely well, and in Clare we try hard to make this relationship a rewarding one. We have our own internal Directors of Studies in most subjects, who see all students under their care at the start and end of every term, and are also readily available each week to give advice and deal with difficulties.

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