A Day in the life of an academic...
A realistic Guide to life at UCLan - written by students!
Dr Chris Atherton, senior lecturer in psychology
Academics' roles can vary from academic to academic but this will give you a little taster!
Up at 6:30am and arrive at the office about 8 – early morning is when all the best work gets done. About 30 pieces of coursework need marking, and I get through four in 90 minutes, providing feedback so students can improve next time. Then email: several from students, asking about upcoming exams, and three from universities and employers who want references for students graduating soon.
10am: Chair our fortnightly research productivity meeting: colleagues set goals and chat about how to slot research and teaching together; we share biscuits and productivity tips.
11am: Answer colleagues’ questions about using plagiarism detection software. Quick chat with Head of School about some possibly-plagiarised coursework; software like Turnitin turns an 8-hour Google marathon into a faster, easier process, but still needs careful human interpretation.
12pm: Vetting email on the basis of subject-lines. Being a lecturer (or student) is increasingly about information management! A new paper’s been published in my research area, which I skim, then file for later. Squeeze in a 20-minute lunch-break.
1pm: Second-year lecture, which I’ve updated by inserting new references and improving the slides. Perhaps because it’s a big lecture theatre, nobody asks questions – though afterwards a few students do stay behind. Pity – everyone would have benefited from hearing the answers; discussion can lead to better clarity.
3pm: Winding down from the lecture. A student knocks on the door with a quick query about her exam, and a couple of colleagues stop by to discuss some research we’re considering – a lot of the best ideas arise through informal conversations.
3:30pm: Two meetings back-to-back with final-year project students who are in the last stages of writing up. I really enjoy watching students develop from shy 18-year-olds into confident, articulate graduates. Seeing a finished project is a very satisfying moment for students and supervisors.
4:30pm: Make a cuppa and work on my research project. I’m trying to get a paper published, but can’t start writing until I’ve analysed the data.
6pm: Time to go home; before leaving, update my ‘to-do’ list and review the remaining tasks. I’ll be back tomorrow to do it all again!