University Teaching Qualification

The 4TU University Teaching Qualification (UTQ, or BKO in Dutch) programme provides new university teaching staff with the opportunity to develop competencies necessary to carry out their current and future teaching duties.

The programme is designed around typical questions new teachers are confronted with, such as: How can I make my lessons interesting? How do I keep my students motivated? How do I assess if my learning objectives have been achieved? How do I prevent problems concerning students ‘not pulling their weight’?

Candidates complete their 4 compulsory UTQ basic modules: 

• DEVELOP 
• TEACH 
• ASSESS 
• SUPERVISE 

Each module is concluded with a Proof of Competence (PoC). Throughout the UTQ you will be allocated a mentor, who will guide and advise you during the trajectory.

The programme will be completed by giving a presentation and an interview with the assessment committee.

Target groups

New/less experienced lecturers
The UTQ programme is mainly intended for all new or less experienced lecturers with teaching duties of more than 0,2 fte. Obtaining the UTQ qualification is obligatory for all new lecturers at TU Delft with less than 5 years of teaching experience. They are obligated to obtain the qualification within 3 years after their appointment. The various sections of the programme are also open to other lecturers wishing to further develop their didactic qualities.

PhDs, Postdocs, and Researchers
PhDs, postdocs and researchers can take part in the UTQ but the (tenure track) teachers have priority in enrolment. This means that an enrolment for a module for a PhD, Postdoc or researcher is preliminary and can be cancelled until two weeks prior to the start of the module. For PhDs with teaching tasks, we recommend the educational modules in the Doctoral Education Programme. Postdocs and researchers can also take part in the Doctoral Education Programme provided there is enough space in a course.

Practical Information 

Duration
The programme has an average study load of 160 hours. These hours do not entirely include all your time spent on developing and preparing your own teaching activities. The UTQ-programme enables you to use your own teaching materials as footage for the proofs.

It is not recommended to take more than one course at the same time. Since the courses are blended, some of them are quite condensed. ASSESS is perceived as the most intensive module and will require on average 4 hours homework per week for the whole duration of the course on top of the course sessions. Make sure that you have this time available when following ASSESS. Also, the other courses have preparatory assignments before the first course session.

Dates
You can find all the UTQ course dates here. 

Language
The complete programme is in English, unless the entire course group consists of Dutch speakers.

Admission requirements
There are no special pre-requisites for the UTQ programme in terms of background knowledge. During the programme, participants have to be involved in developing education and/or teaching activities. On top of that each of the courses has specific requirements. For example when participating in SUPERVISE you will have to be supervising a (PhD) student while taking the course. Please check the course descriptions for specific requirements for each course. You can also discuss this with your UTQ mentor.

Order in which to take the modules
The UTQ trajectory always has to start with module DEVELOP or module SUPERVISE. DEVELOP has to precede TEACH and ASSESS! If you start with SUPERVISE, you should follow DEVELOP before joining TEACH and ASSESS. After this, the other modules can be taken in any desirable order.

Enrol

To see dates, practicalities and to enrol, visit https://tudelfttls.opleidingsportaal.nl/.
If you have trouble logging in, please email bko@tudelft.nl.