Students on this programme learn through a combination of lectures, seminars, tutorials, practicals, fieldwork (school placements), informal but scheduled one-on-one support, and self-directed learning, such as research, reading, and writing. All of these are supported by a state of the art virtual learning environment, Durham University Online (DUO). Seminars, tutorials, and practical classes are much smaller groups than lectures, with tutorials often involving no more than eight students working with a professor or lecturer; seminars and practicals can be larger but are still small enough to allow one-on-one interaction with tutors.