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 would like more help in finding specific module information available on the website.
We did...
The availability of module information on the website is managed by the Marketing department and we are continuing to currently working with them to improve the amount of advice and guidance available to Open degree students.
Open QualificationsPosted on:
You said...
You would like more notice about future modules when planning your qualification.
We did...
The availability of information about new modules is the responsibility of Faculties and the Marketing department, however we are aware that this information would be very valuable to Open degree students in planning their qualification. We are continuing to explore will therefore raise this with relevant parts of the university to see whether module information could be made available earlier (and before registration opens).
Open QualificationsPosted on:
You said...
You would like online interactive pathways/maps showing the different routes to particular qualifications, in order to help you choose your modules.
We did...
We have been developeding an online qualification planning template tool which will can help enable students to plan their qualification at all stages of their Open degree. This is available on the Open qualifications website. We are hoping to make this available to students in early 2017. There are limitations to this tool in that it cannot currently be developed to automatically generate a list of available modules for students to choose from and incorporated into the module registration process. However, this is something that we will continue to discuss with relevant university departments to see if there are any opportunities for this to be developed further.we hope that this is something the university will introduce in due course.
Open QualificationsPosted on:
You said...
You are dissatisfied with the lack of printed material, chiefly textbooks, in modules that are fully or predominantly presented online.
We did...
We acknowledge the practical value of printed books for a significant fraction of our learners, while embracing the enormous opportunities digital and online material affords for pedagogy, ease of use, topicality and flexibility. Going forward we are investigating how to bring you the best of both worlds, where some good-quality printed material is deployed in support of electronic resources. The balance between these media may be different for different modules, and whilst it is unlikely that the learning resources will become available in full in both formats we pledge that we are not abandoning books for good.
Physical Sciences
Posted on:
You said...
There is lack of practical experience via laboratory schools in the curriculum.
We did...
We have added to and improved our OpenScience Laboratory assets, and we are confident that these will become a new benchmark for teaching practical skills at a distance. We are also taking part in a trial opening up the OpenPlus lab schools (at level 1) to Stage 1 students, to assess feasibility for rolling this out more widely.
Posted on:
You said...
Some regret was expressed about the move away from face to face tutorials.
We did...
Unfortunately, the attendance of face to face tutorials overall has been low. As it is difficult to justify using significant resources for activities that benefit only a minority of our students we believe that recorded online tutorials are a more useful substitute. We continue to review the provision of tuition across our modules and will investigate the feasibility of selected face to face events such as introductory or revision days schools.
Posted on:
You said...
We find the online environment overwhelming at first.
We did...
We introduced a hard-copy Quick Start Guide for students on DD102 and a hard-copy Preparing for Study booklet on DD103.
Posted on:
You said...
We find it hard to find and work with assessment guidance online.
We did...
We introduced hard copy assignment booklets on our core level 1 modules, DD102 and DD103
Posted on:
You said...
We need help with OU Live, module websites, submitting TMAs and using forums.
We did...
We introduced a range of ‘How to…’ videos on navigating module websites, using OU Live, submitting TMAs and using forums.
Posted on:
You said...
Moving from Year 1 to Year 2 is daunting
We did...
We introduced a range of resources (videos, audios and FAQs) to help to prepare you to move from your first year of study to your second year.
Posted on:
Latest Opportunities
Student Consultation Meetings 2025 - Get involved!
United Kingdom and online
National Student Survey 2025
Online/Virtual
