Introduction to Academic Practice (IntroAP)
About the Introduction to Academic Practice course, an Advance HE (formerly Higher Education Academy) accredited course aimed at University of Edinburgh tutors and demonstrators.
Accreditation
This course is accredited by Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy) for Associate Fellowship.
Dates
Please note, this course will not be running in Semester 1 of AY2023-24 due to the need to transition the course onto the new Professional Standards Framework. It will start up again in Semester 2 of AY2023-24 and continue as usual.
Normally, semester 1 will be delivered fully online, and Semester 2 will be delivered in person and on campus.
For full detailed information about dates see our IntroAP Sharepoint Site
Eligibility
To be eligible to participate in the Introduction to Academic Practice you need to:
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Be able to attend four seminars during the course, either online in semester 1 or on-campus in semester 2;
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Have at least two semesters of recent university teaching experience before the course starts (within the last 3 years);
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You need to have CURRENT teaching responsibilities in Edinburgh University during the semester you are taking the course, so that you can participate in a teaching observation exercise. Since this exercise is required for course completion, you cannot complete the course if you cannot guarantee teaching responsibilities during the semester. Alternatively, for online teaching, you can use a recent recorded online teaching session that you have permission to share.
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You need to have a University staff ID during the time you are completing the course (you will have this as part of your teaching contract with the university), otherwise Advance HE charges you an admin fee of £150 at the point of course completion.
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You will need to supply 1 reference regarding your teaching practice, one with your application and one with your final assignment submission. Further details may be found in the Handbook.
What the course entails
Semester 1 will be delivered fully online, and Semester 2 will be on campus, with seminars spread out across the semester. Before and after the seminar dates you will be asked to submit regular online tasks, to contribute to a discussion board, and to carry out a teaching observation exchange. There is also a draft assignment of around 700 words and a final assignment of around 1,400 words to submit after seminar 4. These tasks and the seminars are fully supported with a dedicated set of course materials in LEARN to which course participants are enrolled at the start of the course.
Workload: Previous participants have reported that between 40-50 hours’ input is required to complete all aspects of the course. We do not expect this to change for either semester.
Detailed course information
For detailed course information please see
The site includes further details on:
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eligibility criteria
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full course dates
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the course handbook
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information sessions
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how to apply
Applying to the course
Please ensure you have read and meet the eligibility criteria before applying.
Apply to IntroAP on our SharePoint site
How places are allocated
Places are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis as much as possible, but if we are oversubscribed, we may need to prioritise participants. We will take applicants who cannot be accommodated into account for the following intake.
Priority order if needed:
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PhD candidates in their final years
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Staff on short term contracts
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Other PhD candidates
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Other Staff
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Masters students
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Undergraduate students
How to get in touch with us
You can email the IntroAP team at:
Find out more about Advance HE accreditation
More information about Advance HE (formerly Higher Education Academy) accreditation is found on the HEA website:
Advance HE webpages on accreditation
More information about the different ways by which you can work towards accreditation at Edinburgh is found here: