You Said, We Did
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.
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...
You would like more support for full time study
We did...
set up a full-time study page/forum on the Science study site. This includes TMA submission date calendars for the most commonly studied combination of modules.
Life, Health and Chemical Sciences
Posted on:
You said...
You would like more opportunity to develop practical skills via lab schools.
We did...
we now offer five lab schools at our labs in Milton Keynes as well as a number of Field Schools run by the Field Studies Council. We are also exploring the feasibility of offering day schools for our new modules/qualifications. Reflecting the cancellation of the lab schools in 2020 due to Covid-19, we ran a Chemistry Online Summer School. As a result of your feedback we will be running a similar school in 2021 covering both chemistry and biology.
Posted on:
You said...
Some of the material on SDK100 is getting out of date.
We did...
We will be refreshing some of the data for October 2021.
Posted on:
You said...
The amount of assessment on SDK100 is too much.
We did...
We will be reducing the number of assessment points on SDK100 from 6 to 5 TMAs from October 2021 as well as updating the essay support materials.
Posted on:
You said...
The density of materials in SD329 and its assessment materials is too much.
We did...
We have reduced the workload and revised the assessment strategy on the module, adopting single component assessment moving from an exam to an EMA.
Posted on:
You said...
There is too much to revise on SK320
We did...
Published information on the exam topics a month ahead of the exam.
Posted on:
You said...
You did not like the fact that your TMAs did not count towards your final module grade.
We did...
We moved more of our modules, including some at Level 3, to a single component assessment model to produce a greater blend of assessment types across our qualifications. Most recently this has included SK298, SK299, S315 and SD329.
Posted on:
You said...
You’d like more advice on careers choices and taking your next steps
We did...
We have increased signposting to science careers information from module and qualification websites and ran science careers events during the year. We are also incorporating more activities about science careers and sector awareness when we make new modules.
Posted on:
You said...
You wanted quick replies to questions on forums
We did...
We started a pilot of a “rapid response” forums, called “TMA advice forums” and currently available on one module at each level where students only see responses to their own questions.
Posted on:
You said...
You want more online lectures
We did...
We asked module team chairs to give online “Welcome” sessions for students at the start of modules and are encouraging more lecture-style sessions from module teams.
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