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...
In April 2023, the University asked students signed up to the Curriculum Design Student Panel about their experience of assessment at the OU. Of the 287 respondents, 85% had studied more than one module while 47% had sought advice or support to understand a module assessment strategy. 61% either strongly agreed or agreed that it would be beneficial to simplify the various assessment strategies across different modules at the OU, mainly to prevent confusion and to increase consistency.
We did...
In response colleagues at the OU reviewed the way we plan our assessment strategies, and considered how we could make our assessment delivery across all modules more consistent. A new Assessment Framework was approved and launched in January 2024, which will ensure that as students progress through and between modules they will experience more consistency in assessment strategies. This change will be implemented over time, as we will review assessment plans for specific modules as part of our normal processes.
The OU Students Association was closely involved in the development of this new framework, welcoming it as “a really good common-sense approach”.
OU Wide
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You said...
It would be useful to be able to bookmark a section within a learning guide whilst studying.
We did...
We have added the ability to bookmark pages of learning content within your module and Study websites using the ‘Saved for later’ feature. You’re able to manage and name/rename your saved links from across the website enabling easy and quick access to any content you wish to refer back to.
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You said...
Is it possible for the module website to remember where you left it at the end of your session, allowing you to jump back into the material when you return?
We did...
We have added a ‘Last viewed’ link at the top of the study planner on module websites, which provides a link to your last-viewed page of online module content. When accessing a piece of online content, module websites also remember the last page you viewed within that document, with a link provided at the top of the page. We’ve also tried to make these links more prominent using a new icon to make the links stand out.
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You said...
On a module website, the ‘Online TMA/EMA service ‘ link could do with being a more prominent colour or in a more prominent position on the screen as it is not immediately obvious where to click to access the submission page.
We did...
Within the assessment table on the Assessment page of module websites, we have added additional and more prominent links and buttons to the University’s online assessment service. These additions make accessing this service easier more intuitive, they are also contextual and will state when a submission is required, or if you’re able to collect any available feedback.
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You said...
You would like to have an overview of assessment dates on the module home screen so that at a glance you have quick reference to your assessment milestones rather than having to expand sections of the study planner, or navigate away from the home page to the Assessment page.
We did...
On the module website home page, we have added a yellow bar to assessment weeks on the study planner, helping to highlight assessment deadlines within the week that they are due. When a study planner week/section is collapsed, a yellow bar can be seen next to the week/section number, this is in addition to an expanded week showing more specific assessment information within a yellow banner.
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You said...
That knowing when your study-related key dates are, is really important to being able to plan your studies within your life.
We did...
We added the export dates tool, to the assessment and tutorial pages of module websites, in addition to the main study planner, so you are able to view and export your dates as easily as possible.
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You said...
That having the option to work with online learning content on a single page (without additional navigation) can help support your chosen way to study
We did...
We enhanced the learning content ‘View as single page’ feature on module websites to display media and interactive activities that were previously excluded, improved the layout of the page to increase readability and ensured that different ways of working on and offline were easier with a simple print template and a new, clear ‘Print this document’ button.
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You said...
That the image on the Study website homepage was sometimes in the way when you wanted to read the News area or use your study Dashboard.
We did...
We added a minimise option for the image so that you could choose whether you wanted to view the websites with a large or small image. Your choice is remembered on which ever Study website you choose and of course you can change this at any time. We also updated the customise options so you can choose the order that your Dashboard and website news appears on the Study website homepage so that you’re able to access the information important to you more efficiently.
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