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...
that online tutorials had been affected by lost connections and other disruptions in Adobe Connect
We did...
raise the problems with the relevant areas of the University.
Mathematics and Statistics
Posted on:
You said...
that you would like a return to face-to-face tutorials after the pandemic.
We did...
note this for future planning, and to represent this view to the relevant areas of the University
Posted on:
You said...
that non-Scottish students are unable to access counselling services via the OU
We did...
highlight this issue with the appropriate sections of the University
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.
Posted on:
You said...
You wanted tutorial recordings to be in a downloadable format
We did...
Passed this request onto those responsible for maintaining the online tutorial system, but have been told this is unfeasible for various reasons.
Posted on:
You said...
You wanted online versions of module materials to have known errata addressed, and to include hyperlinks and contents pages.
We did...
We are looking into this as part of improving the online versions of module materials.
Posted on:
You said...
that you wanted course-work to contribute to postgraduate module scores
We did...
include this in a forthcoming review of the assessment of our postgraduate modules.
Posted on:
You said...
Tutors assume students on names degrees and make reference to previous modules
We did...
We are developing resources for tutors to better support students on an Open Qualification.
Open QualificationsPosted on:
You said...
Tutors aren’t always aware that students are studying towards an Open Qualification
We did...
We have raised this issue with IT systems colleagues to flag Open students to tutors.
Open QualificationsPosted on:
You said...
Are Open students being unfairly disadvantaged with module cappings and quotas?
We did...
We undertook analysis of this and were able to confirm that Open students weren’t being treated differently to other students on named qualifications. We were also able to confirm that only a small number of Open students had been affected by module quotas
Open University
Posted on:
United Kingdom and online
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