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...
You wanted more options for starting routes for physics qualifications.
We did...
The Integrated Masters qualification (MPhys) will have three different starting routes to match the background, experience, and interests of our students. Psychology
Physical Sciences
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You said...
You would like more information about applying for a PhD
We did...
Produced an OpenLearn short course to provide further information about studying for a research degree and support for develop an initial idea for a PhD into a proposal Applying to study for a PhD in psychology
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You said...
When studying at full-time intensity, clashing or close deadlines is the biggest challenge
We did...
In addition to providing assessment deadline resources for modules across the psychology programme: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=206348&cmid=1378010 We have planned new Level 1 curriculum to avoid clashing deadlines for FTI students (due to present in 23J)
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You said...
You would like more opportunities to gain focused psychology and counselling careers guidance.
We did...
Provided a virtual careers fair with representatives from psychology and counselling professional bodies including the British Psychological Society and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.
Live events such as this are designed to complement existing psychology and counselling careers resources found here: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=206348&cmid=1252638Posted on:
You said...
You disliked not having the same tutor for each tutorial/day school, and to tutors’ variable skills in the use of Adobe for delivery of tutorials/day schools.
We did...
The Director of Teaching (DoT) and Director of Student Support (DoSS) have asked AL managers and disciplines to make sure practice in the use of Adobe Connect forms a key part of staff development in 21/22. Tutors at level 1 have around 24 hours of tuition, and at level 2 and 3 only 16 hours, so the same tutor providing day school/tutorials is not feasible. Most modules at level 2 do provide an opportunity to meet with your tutor in a dayschool/tutorial in each block of the module.
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You said...
You disliked tutorials that seemed to repeat content without the opportunity to gain deeper understanding of, and that you didn't have enough time to ask questions in tutorials
We did...
The Director of Teaching (DoT) and Director of Student Support (DoSS) is working with academic colleagues to ensure best practice in tutorial provision is a key element of staff development with ALs/tutors, and that the SSGS Associate Lecturer (AL) best practice guide (written in 2020/21 for use by ALs/tutors from Autumn 2021) is widely disseminated.
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You said...
That you liked the general blend within modules, but online resources were quite text heavy and you felt these were often better in books
We did...
Director of Teaching has liaised with Associate Dean (Teaching and Students) regarding the FASS teaching model and its ongoing development and the continued role for books within this, and online teaching materials that are interactive and specifically designed for the VLE.
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You said...
You liked the smaller tutor group sessions for more informal discussions
We did...
These now form a part of the new FASS tuition policy, with a tutor group tutorial at the start of modules. Many modules have now gone beyond that to offer tutor group drops in alongside larger cluster events
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You said...
That internet links on module websites sometimes expired and were not replaced
We did...
The Director of Teaching has liaised with curriculum managers and module chairs to ensure that all links were fully checked before sign off of module websites.
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You said...
That student notes for TMAs/EMAs sometimes had errors in and were overlong
We did...
A new policy of recruiting an Associate Lecturer per module team was put into place for 21/22 and part of the role requirement is for reading of student and tutor notes.
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United Kingdom and online
At home / online
