Teaching

Designing and giving lectures

• ETH lecturers are responsible for the teaching they carry out in their particular discipline. They orient their teaching to the qualifications for the degree programme and shape it according to pedagogical and didactic criteria.
• All information on the course units, including the proof of academic achievement, is published in the Course Catalogue and is binding.
• The student workload required to complete a study achieve- ment is expressed in credit points. These are published in the programme regulations and in the Course Catalogue.
• The lecturers ensure that students submit a declaration of originality for their semester, Bachelor’s or Master’s theses. They may also require a declaration of originality for other written work.
• When organising excursions, field courses or similar events, special attention must be given to safety, insurance, and responsibility. The Safety, Security, Health and Environment Department (SSHE) offers support in this regard.
  

Performance assessments

• Performance assessments are designed to improve student learning and development. They assess whether the learning objectives for the course unit have been achieved.
• Lecturers assess the academic achievements independently and take full responsibility for this. They treat all students objectively, fairly and impartially. Assessments must be based on uniform criteria and standards; model solutions, point schemes etc. can be helpful here.
• When marking exams, the performance assessment must be comprehensible for the student within the context of the exam review. The review should be instructive and assist students in preparing for any exam resit.
• The written performance assessments and minutes of oral performance assessments must be inaccessible to unauthorised persons and archived in accordance with legal requirements.
• If dishonest conduct, such as the use of unauthorised aids or plagiarism, is discovered, the facts and circumstantial evidence must be recorded. The disciplinary investigator in the Rectorate must be informed immediately and is responsible for leading the procedure. If the suspicion of misconduct is substantiated, the Rector or the Disciplinary Committee may impose disciplinary measures.
  

Teaching evaluation
ETH Zurich maintains and develops outstanding quality in its teaching through centrally managed quality specifications and evaluation instruments. All departments are subject to regular peer reviews, which include an assessment of teaching quality. Teaching is also regularly rated by the students.

Lecturers must fulfil their teaching duties and responsibilities in accordance with the relevant formal and legal requirements. As part of their management duties, Directors of Studies must ensure that the study regulations are properly implemented.

• Treat student data (examination assessments, exercise submissions, lists of grades, documents with student names or matriculation numbers, etc.) confidentially. Access by unauthorised persons must be prevented. Student data may not be stored on unencrypted mobile devices and data carriers. Course lists (including those partially anonymised by using matriculation numbers instead of names) must not be made accessible to other course participants. The use of cloud services in teaching is subject to the IT guidelines and the IT baseline protection rules of ETH. Be careful when redirecting your own mailbox to a cloud email service (e.g. Gmail), as this makes student data accessible to third parties without permission.
• Do not give anyone a guarantee that they will be admitted to a degree programme before the official decision on admission has been made. This applies to admissions at all levels (Bachelor’s, Master’s, doctoral programmes and academic continuing education).
• Announcement of grades: Any informal announcement of a grade, e.g. immediately after an oral examination, is not permitted. It is always the department or the Study Administration Office that decides on the grade and communicates it to the student.
• After the grading conference or after the performance evaluation has been approved and announced via myStudies, grades are binding. They may no longer be changed, except where there is a correction error. 
• Correction error: If you find a clear correction error (e.g. uncorrected or overlooked parts, points incorrectly added up) and would like to readjust a grade, you must submit a request form to the Student Administration Office.
• Disciplinary measures: In the event of a possible disciplinary offence, please contact the disciplinary investigator immediately; do not impose your own sanctions.

Details of the responsible contact persons/staff units including the Vice Rectors can be found in the Rector’s section of the website