How your voice has made a difference
This page provides an opportunity to see the valuable feedback received from students across a wide range of communication channels, and to see what the OU has done in response.
Please note this video is now a couple of years old so some people no longer have the same title. The current Students Association leadership can be seen on their website.
Choose a topic from the drop-down list below to see how students can have an impact on their university experience and be empowered to help shape the University. Next time you are asked to give your opinion, you know that the OU is taking this feedback seriously and will respond.
You said...
Online tutorials had been affected by lost connections and other disruptions in Adobe Connect.
We did...
We raised the problems with the relevant areas of the University.
Mathematics and Statistics
Posted on:
You said...
You would like more highlighting of the role that non-Western cultures and under-represented groups have had on mathematics and statistics
We did...
The School is currently actively exploring the development of an OpenLearn resource which would showcase historical contributions of mathematicians and statisticians from under-represented groups. This would be linked to from the M&S study site in order to give greater visibility. The new Mathematics Education module, ME322 (Learning and doing algebra) carefully considered inclusivity within its design and includes material from different UK contexts and from countries outside of Europe.
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You said...
You were not aware of the full range of employability resources available via the ‘Succeed’ tab in the Arts and Humanities Study website.
(Employability provision in the Arts and Humanities)
We did...
We will do more to make these resources visible to you in the normal course of your study, particularly on module websites.
Student Consultations
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You said...
You would like to see more employability resources catering explicitly for career changers and mature students.
(Employability provision in the Arts and Humanities)
We did...
We will explore how best to provide self-help material designed specifically for students planning to change their careers. Work on this to begin in autumn 2021, with the release of some initial resources in 2022.
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You said...
You would like access to more resources for Arts and Humanities students who aim to go into teaching.
(Employability provision in the Arts and Humanities)
We did...
There are a range of resources on becoming a teacher available from the following page in the OU student Help Centre, many of which are relevant to Arts and Humanities students: https://help.open.ac.uk/becoming-a-teacher
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You said...
You value insights into how Arts and Humanities alumni progressed their careers, and would like to see the range of student stories in the Study website extended.
(Employability provision in the Arts and Humanities)
We did...
Three sets of student stories are already available on this page of the Arts and Humanities subject site:
- Student stories and OU alumni Q&As: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=207009&cmid=1611061
- PhD student lecturer Q&As: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=207009&cmid=1843291
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You said...
You want to know what employers are looking for in Arts and Humanities graduates
(Employability provision in the Arts and Humanities)
We did...
There is already a substantial amount of material on this topic available on the OU’s Careers and Employability Service website: Careers and employability | Help Centre | The Open University
However, we agree that it would be valuable to hear directly from a range of employers about what they value in Arts and Humanities graduates.
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You said...
You would welcome opportunities to network with people already employed in the career areas that interest you.
We did...
Virtual careers events with employers and students are already run on the IVent platform: Events (open.ac.uk)
IVent has live networking area, where students can interact directly with other students as well as employers.
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You said...
You would welcome additional help with creating tailored searches and alerts in the Opportunity Hub.
We did...
This is useful feedback and we agree that these refinements would be very helpful to students. We will ask our employer engagement team to explore how the use of search criteria in the Opportunity Hub can be made more effective and focussed for Arts and Humanities students.
Posted on:
You said...
You would like to see more employability resources catering explicitly for career changers and mature students.
We did...
We will explore how best to provide self-help material designed specifically for students planning to change their careers. • Work on this to begin in autumn 2021, with the release of some initial resources in 2022.
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