You Said ... We Did

Better library induction and literature searching instruction

We have created an area in the handbook with Google Scholar and StarPlus videos.

We are also in the process of designing a new library workshops tailored to our student needs.

Would it be possible to have a the weekly discussion prompts released earlier than Friday, because we sometimes we are able to have more self directed time on a Friday.

We now release weekly discussion prompts on Thursday.

Clearer guidance to say essay is more about sharing experience than the literature – not so much literature available and I was searching for lots before realising experience was more important. This would be good to emphasise early. 

Each module assessment explanation regarding the balance between literature and personal experience are being reviewed.

Essay feedback was really helpful in parts but quite generic in others.

Face-to-face tutor marker training has been re-introduced (Post Covid-19) to ensure all markers provide effective and consistent feedback. 

Include more references on powerpoints

review powerpoints to ensure where possible references are included

Perhaps part of the online learning could be devoted to teaching "how to write better essays".

Online Induction Day highlights that a number a students express a lack of confidence in writing essays.

We have developed a range of strategies to help support the academic writing skills and confidence of students. These are contained within the Graduate Writing Development programme, which is available in every module. These strategies include, for example, face-to-face academic writing taught sessions aligned with the module LOs and assignments, video resources and one-to-one tutorial sessions with an academic writing specialist.

Group discussion board not completed very regularly by the lecturer. 

The comments on our group online discussions were always very generic and not helpful.

We are planning additional training for tutors in providing effective feedback on student's weekly posts. The intention is to improve consistency amongst tutors.

We have further clarified the student guidance regarding expectations for engaging with the online discussions. These are published on every Module Blackboard space.

We have added a message onto the discussion boards to remind students that if they post outside of the themed week, they should email their online tutor to ask for feedback.

We have added the following statement to the online discussion guidance. We plan to also mention this in the assignment sessions on study days. "Maximum word count - In relation to how much you might write for each post, we advise to not write more than you would expect to for that section of your assignment."

Release of information prior to the day of teaching to allow for preparation and understanding of taught topics.

We design to the course to release course information in a staged manner to enable better engagement with the content. Prior to study days, we communicate pre-study day readings, reflection and other activities which help prepare students for the first study day.

Some of the advice about the layout for the assessment submission could perhaps be a little bit clearer. Although, faculty was always available to answer questions and very prompt with responses.

As a course team, we systematically review each module's  assessment, including the guidance (for example, marking rubric and assignment prompts) to ensure student's feel comfortable and confident in approaching the assessment. We also provide Ask Us Anything webinars and discussion boards to answer any questions students might have.

There was no flexibility regarding attendance. I understand the dates are given far in advance but there was no real discussion/understanding RE clashes. 

Where students are unable to attend a study day, for whatever reason, we provide catch up sessions with tutors at a time which is convenient to them, to cover missed content and to discuss the assessment and next steps for their online learning.