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.
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’ve given us feedback that having multiple tutor group forums – one for each week – makes it difficult to find and keep up to date with discussion threads.
We did...
We are introducing single tutor group forums, covering all study weeks, across all of our modules.
MA in Online and Distance LearningPosted on:
You said...
You suggested that module H809 is only relevant to a limited range of teaching contexts.
We did...
We have designed the replacement module for H809 – H819 The critical researcher – to be relevant to a wide range of education and training contexts, including FE, schools, the voluntary sector and commercial training. We will do the same with our newest module H880 Educational technology foundations and futures.
MA in Online and Distance LearningPosted on:
You said...
You suggested that our module H800 would benefit from more collaborative work and a glossary.
We did...
We will be including collaborative work and a glossary in our newest module H880, which replaces H800.
MA in Online and Distance LearningPosted on:
You said...
Students have asked to meet their elected leadership team and Association staff, and for them to facilitate location and fresher’s based meet ups. [November 2017]
We did...
Every two weeks, the Vice President Communications hosts an online drop in on Adobe Connect for students to take part in. The Students Association has over an hour as part of the OU Students Consultation Face to Face events to speak to students and consult them on hot topics, and will trial events called “Meet Your Students Association” in April 2018.
OU Students Association
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You said...
It would be useful to have an introductory pack for new students with signposting information posted out to every new student. [November 2017]
We did...
We currently organise Freshers Fortnight to promote the Students Association and its offer. We also send a welcome email to new students starting in the February and October cohorts based on the OU’s data. This signposts students to our site and Freshers activities. In 2017 the Association began being mentioned in emails being sent to students beginning a new module. We are working with the University on proposals for Student Induction in which we hope to have details of the Student Association and the services it offers firmly embedded in any future induction package.
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You said...
Students would like to see a review of the year, to know what has been achieved. Students feel a published report on what was done, as well as minutes and reviews of discussions that have taken place would be helpful. [November 2017]
We did...
The Association creates an annual report to the Open University's Council in line with the academic year. We have published an informal snapshot of some of the Association's activities in 2017 in the format of the ’12 days of the Association’ that includes some text from the annual report. You can also view Central Executive Committee reports on oustudents.com to see what individual members of the student leadership team have achieved.
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You said...
You asked for more social events on campus hosted by Post Graduate Research students. [December 2017]
We did...
In collaboration with the OU Graduate School Network, we have supported Postgraduate Research students to organise the first ever PubhD event for Open University and Cranfield University students, held at the Walton Hall campus in Milton Keynes. This provides much needed social and relaxation time for our busy research students, as well as an opportunity to present and discuss their doctoral projects. We are continuing conversations with the PGR student society, and hope to continue to strengthen our engagement.
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You said...
Assessment: You said that you found EMAs intimidating, especially at the end of level 1 modern languages modules, and many of you dropped out before EMAs.
We did...
We have amended our assessment strategy and all of our level 1 modules are now only assessed through TMAs marked by your own tutors.
Languages and Applied Linguistics
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You said...
Study preference: You said that you prefer to study language by language rather than studying stage by stage but this option needs to be better signposted.
We did...
We have planned to fully redesign our qualification / subject website in 2018, and we will feature this information more prominently.
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You said...
Concurrent study and assessment: You said that when you study more than one module, especially at level 1, you feel under pressure when there are clashes of TMA or EMA dates.
We did...
We have started a review of our assessment calendars across all level 1 modules and drawn a plan of actions to provide better support to students taking several modules concurrently. The Student Support Team (SST) has planned proactive phone calls to students enrolled on concurrent modules to discuss study plans and potential issues of TMA deadline clashes.
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