A week at Forward

Teaching mostly takes place during seminars with one Forward Fellow (Member of faculty) and 15 students on average. Seminars are flipped: they are not designed to deliver content but to help students answer difficult questions, solve problems in teams, debate or simulate real-life situations after having been through the content. Students are expected to be highly engaged and come to class fully prepared which requires 4-8 hours of work before each academic seminar to:

– study their course independently (readings) and apply it and/or answer questions depending on the subject

– meet in small study groups (2-4 students) to share difficulties and support each other.

– escalate most aspects of the learning material to their Fellow so that he/she can ensure the maximum impact of their class.

Inspired by the “Oxbridge” tutorial system, these weekly sessions (in year 1) aim to ensure students have a deep understanding of their performance in their last formative assessment and identify training activities to improve specific aspects of their performance. Students are progressively expected to come to the tutorial with their own analysis of their performance. In year 2 and 3, depending on students autonomy, tutorials may take place with 2 students and the Fellow to foster emulation.

Tutored revisions Groups are meant to help you in your preparations before the weekly formative assessment. They cover both methodological techniques and most challenging aspects of the courses to review.

As part of forward flipped classroom approach, you are expected to go through the learning material (readings, videos…) independently before each seminar. Your Fellow often expects you to complete an individual (or team) assignment to apply the new knowledge. You are also expected to share the most challenging part of the course with your Fellow before the seminar.

Regroup with your team (two to four students) to share what you’ve learnt in that week. This is the opportunity for mutual aid and going one step further completing the assignment sent by your Academic Fellow before the seminar.

Each week, you will complete an Academic Assessment task in exam conditions. These tasks last between 60 and 90 minutes, and you will get weekly individual feedback in the follow-up Academic Tutorial.

After a short quiz or Q&A session to test the group understanding of the topic of the week, students engage with their Fellow in a range of learning activities to better understand the reasons behind your decisions and behaviours, and consider ways in which you can act upon them. Each week, at the end of the seminar, you will commit to an assignment in small teams of students who share the same ambitions on the topic.

Each year, you will self-assess your progress in a range of cognitive (intellectual), social, emotional, and practical skills. You will also receive feedback from your Teaching Fellows and peers. You will debrief the results of this holistic assessment with your personal coach to reflect on your progress and set your goals and aspirations for the coming year (2 sessions of 45 min.).

Each week, you will prepare for the seminar thanks to readings, videos and/or taking a test to discover where you stand on the topic of the seminar.

As changing our behaviours requires constant practice, you will train with your peers on the assignment given by your Personal Development Coach. You can expect to be engaging with a range of training practices for about 1 to 3 hours each week.