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...
there are limited opportunities to interact with other students on your modules
We did...
… we have experimented with alternative and less obtrusive methods to interact. Specifically, via social media (K102 and K219) and through discussion tools embedded in the learning guides (KE322 and K102)
Health, Wellbeing and Social Care
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You said...
You did not feel connected and felt that having a sense of belonging was not an essential part of your learning experience with the OU
We did...
We will work more closely with LAL Community buddies and Events champions to organise and promote more community-building events on LAL Study Home site.
We are in the process of recruiting Peer Support Volunteers amongst students who will help promote and run these events and self-help groups.
LAL central academics and staff tutors will continue to provide and promote interactive events on Student Hub live and take on board your feedback on what topics and activities you’d like to see featured.
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You said...
You asked for one-to-one compulsory speaking sessions with the tutor
We did...
We are in the process of recruiting Peer Support Volunteers who are either native or competent speakers of the target language, or students who have completed the module to help coordinate and facilitate speaking sessions on Study Home site to promote cross module and cross level conversation groups.
We’ll be putting on extra catch-tutorials for slower-paced students (already offered in some modules).
This year, we are introducing our Peer Support Volunteers Badging Scheme. The hope is that this will give us a pool of students willing to facilitate conversation groups (amongst other activities).
On many module websites, under the Resources page, there is an Online Student Room which allows students to enter without tutor presence to practise speaking etc.
On the School’s Study Home site, there are two different types of rooms: the LAL Student Common Room and LAL Student Events Room which give students’ host rights. You can use these rooms to meet your fellow students across the school.
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You said...
You mentioned challenges of disability with regards to communication and challenges in relation to language learning
We did...
We are establishing more close working relationship with the Disability Support Team (DST) with a view to improve the communication between DST, Module Team and tutors. We will explore if Disability Support Team information can be provided on the Student Profile page (email, telephone number).
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You said...
You requested for designated tutor support for pastoral care for the whole learning journey
We did...
The School is supporting and advocating for the roll-out of the Personal Learning Advisor scheme, so that as many students as possible can benefit from it.
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You said...
You are not happy about mixed ability/language competence in tutorial group
We did...
We’ll be putting on extra catch-up tutorials for slower-paced students (already offered in some modules).
The new beginners’ modules will be working with pathways to account for different needs among learners.
Mixed abilities needs will be included as a theme in Associate Lecturer Staff Development workshops.
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You said...
You had many questions about how the introduction of the new law undergraduate qualification affected students currently studying a law degree on the existing qualification.
We did...
The faculty OUSA student representative, Teaching Director and Head of Student Experience recorded an online session answering common questions, which was made available to all students on the law degree.
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You said...
that more could be done to prepare students for group work, and for difficulties which may arise.
We did...
The Law School ran an online session for students about collaborative work which addressed these issues. Additional tutor guidance was written and shared with tutors on managing difficulties arising from collaborative tasks.
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You said...
You wanted to have more opportunities to feedback on aspects of your modules
We did...
For our new modules, we are introducing more real-time surveys to the module websites, to capture your opinions and feedback at various stages or on specific activities.
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You said...
You often feel isolated in your studies
We did...
Most of our modules now have student buddies, who have successfully completed the module and can offer support from the perspective of someone who has been through what you are going through.
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