The Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE) programme is a master’s level teaching qualification for staff at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China.
It is designed to support staff with teaching responsibilities to be effective teachers. The course provides a practical and theoretical grounding in learning and teaching in higher education and emphasises the links between conceptual frameworks and teaching practice. The PGCHE aims to encourage participants to develop a scholarly, reflective inquiry base to inform teaching and its development.
University requirement
As part of its commitment to maintaining the highest academic standards in teaching and learning, the University of Nottingham Ningbo China expects all newly appointed or promoted teaching-related staff to complete a required number of credits of the PGCHE.
PGCHE structure
The PGCHE course is a 60-credit qualification and comprises three 20-credit modules.
Module 1. Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
This module focuses on ensuring that participants understand the context within which they are teaching and developing their capacity to plan, deliver, and evaluate effective learning. Participants are required to engage in peer observation processes and critical reflection to enhance their own practice, consider the nature of their students, and explore both generic and discipline-specific literature to inform their work.
- Credits: 20
- Places available: Approximately 25 / Cohort
- Class frequency: Once or twice a year according to demand (Autumn Cohort in October & Spring Cohort in March)
- Duration: 3h workshops, once a week (6 sessions in total)
Module 2. Curriculum Design and Assessment in Higher Education
This module builds on Module 1 to allow participants to examine their current teaching context more deeply and review learning activities or modules that they facilitate. This module entails participants to engage in a scholarly process of reviewing learning activities they facilitate or modules they have designed. This involves reflecting on the principles of curriculum, planning and designing learning activities or modules, considering assessment methods, creating effective and inclusive learning environments, and considering digital accessibility and practice.
- Credits: 20
- Places available: Approximately 25 / Cohort
- Class frequency: Once or twice a year according to demand (Autumn Cohort in October & Spring Cohort in March)
- Duration: 3h workshops, once a week (6 sessions in total)
Module 3. Educational Inquiry Project
This module entails the researching and writing of a substantive piece of scholarship within the field of the PGCHE. Participants choose a topic in consultation with the module convener and an appropriate supervisor. This module builds on previous PGCHE modules to allow participants to undertake an inquiry project which makes use of the understanding of Higher Education gained in the previous two modules. It is rooted in the principles and practices of educational inquiry. This is prefaced on a commitment to the centrality of inquiry in educational practices and emphasises the benefits of an inquiry perspective on teaching for educators and students alike. The participants who take this module spend most of their time undertaking a project negotiated with their mentor.
- Credits: 20
- Places available: According to demand / Cohort
- Class frequency: Once or twice a year according to demand (Autumn Cohort in October & Spring Cohort in March)
- Duration: 3 meetings (1 workshop, 2 set tutorials plus additional mentoring support where appropriate)
The PGCHE programme has been accredited by Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy, HEA), which means the programme is recognised within and outside the university. It also means that you have the opportunity to become an Associate Fellow and Fellow depending on how many credits you complete as explained below.
- If you complete 20 PGCHE credits, you will gain automatic recognition as an Associate Fellow of the Advance HE
- If you complete 40 PGCHE credits, you will gain automatic recognition as a Fellow of the HEA
Please find more course details from our Moodle page: