Teaching fellows: why we need them

I'm writing this on the way home from a teaching fellows' meeting, organised by the RSC to find out how it could establish a network and support role for university chemistry teachers. For me, the day provided an insight into some of the issues and challenges teaching fellows face. Their role in universities is to provide a learning experience that allows our undergraduates to obtain a well-rounded degree, which meets not only academic requirements, but also those of prospective employers and the students themselves. This is not an easy task.

Well-rounded graduates must develop three sets of skills - chemical knowledge and lab skills, professional skills (such as being able to communicate and work in a team) and employment skills (such as being able to write a CV). Many teachers now try to embed these in the degree course; however, employability skills demanded by prospective employers are not easy to assess. Of course, all of this has to be fitted into the allocated teaching time. When I was an undergraduate, we just learnt the chemistry!