Win! Students will be at the heart of new university reforms

Thanks very much, Darren. There is plenty that will be found controversial, though I expect that most will support greater opportunity for students to make an input to their education.

The Teaching Excellence Framework will become well known if the possibility of tuition fees being linked to performance is realised. We have certainly had centres for teaching excellence identified in the past.

I am surprised about your concern about the term ‘students’. It’s not a term that I’ve heard criticised and I’ve had dealings with a lot of postgraduates. I cannot think of an alternative.

I thought university students were generally described as undergraduates since pupils at every level of compulsory education are called students these days as well as people who embark on courses at all sorts of grades of commercial tuition. The Office for Students is not going to look after their interests as well surely.

It could have been worse. Despite the introduction of American usage like ‘academy’ and ‘high school’ into primary and secondary education, tertiary education in the UK has eschewed the term ‘sophomore’ for its second-years.

My concern over the TEF was only around the word ‘teaching’ which to my mind implies a purely didactic process, whereas the concept of learning at a university is more about an educative process where people are enabled to explore and discover. Just nit-picking really. Overall a good development.

Students are now also customers of course and I think the way in which the quality of the education will affect the rankings of the universities is likely to be controversial. Disputes over assessments will presumably arise.

The debasing of the term student and the proliferation of “universities” cannot be welcomed. I note in the Ministers introduction to the Green Paper he boasts of quality. With nearly 1000 uni’s in the UK to draw comfort from the fact we have 4 in the top ten in the world is rather like congratulating a country for having four of the wealthiest billionaires without mentioning the number of poor.

Undergraduates is certainly a more precise description than students – if unlikely to be used by the media. Good language should aim for conveying the most information in the fewest words and “student” is so widely [ab]used as to be require extra words to define what is now meant.

Incidentally I understand now there as many people in University as people who got 5 “O” Levels in the 1980’s. I await the time when we reach 100% at Universities as we enroll primary schools into the category. : )

It’s not as simple as improving the standard of teaching, Malcolm. Many undergraduate students are effectively working part-time because they have jobs to help pay for their fees and living expenses. Some work at the weekend or in the evening, but there are some who miss classes because of working commitments. One of my supervises actually asked me to phone his employer to explain that it was vital that he attended my practical classes. Having said that, doing paid work during university courses is not all bad because it can result in considerable improvement in time management and interpersonal skills. The downside is that they have less time to focus on their studies and often little time to work with fellow students. The whole idea of going to university is directed learning, where you are expected to work with fellow students. Universities have moved on since we were students.

Students are now more demanding than they were in my day. They want ensuite rooms in student residences, fibre broadband and somewhere to park their car.

“there are some who miss classes because of working commitments.”
It sounds as though priorities are wrong from what you describe. Learning should be the priority, not a “working commitment” I, like many, spent 6 months to a year before going to university working to earn some money to help me through; I also worked during the long vacations. I certainly had no time during term to take on a “work commitment” if I was to keep up with my studies.

“somewhere to park their car”. Perhaps they would not need to work if they abandoned a car – they’ll cost £3000 or more a year to run. Maybe a scooter, motorcycle, push bike or the bus.
Like I said, some don’t seem to take their education as seriously as perhaps they should.

Unfortunately we have moved on, Malcolm. When I was at university I did not miss a single class, only worked during the vacations and rode an economical Honda 50. Of the thirty students on my degree course, thirty duly graduated and resit exams were unheard of. After lectures I would go for a coffee with a small group of fellow students and we would try to fill in the gaps in our hastily written lecture notes. I worked together with others on tutorial work, practical write-ups and so on. Students failing to work together has become a big problem, in my view. Most students are reasonably sensible about time allotted to paid work, sport, etc. but I am convinced that not enough studying is going on. Sometimes it is parents that provides students with cars and laptops. I’m not saying that every student has a car but they are not uncommon these days.

Perhaps dropping a feline amongst the avians, I should say that there is a lot of (hearsay) evidence that different disciplines require different lengths of time and degrees of application. It’s often acknowledged tacitly (in Oxbridge) that Arts students have an easy time, whereas Science and Engineering students have to keep their heads down.

I love your phrase “unfortunately we have moved on” Wavechange. Admittedly taken out of context, it sums up society today.

John – Although I have seen a decline in commitment of some students, I have experienced some very positive changes since I started teaching. A huge amount of effort goes into supporting students with all sorts of disabilities. Despite financial shortages, money is being spent in universities to provide excellent modern teaching and study facilities, managed to ensure a high level of usage throughout the semesters. The biggest problem is that we are pushing far too many school leavers straight into higher education, irrespective of whether they have the motivation and aptitude to make the best out of their chosen degree.

It’s sometimes said that students started to regard themselves as customers and become more demanding when the £9k tuition fees were introduced, but this change had begun years before. It’s no bad thing.

I agree with your concern about too many entering HE. I suspect Schools are overly mindful of their pending inspections and (informal) parental reviews and are acutely aware that the media have for many years concentrated solely on headline stats: how many they’ve got into which universities is the statistic many feel year 12/13 parents debate.

I’ve always thought that some ‘sixth-forms’ get it right with how they treat their students, and some make an unholy mess of it. Establishing expectations of year 12/13 students in terms of time management, study techniques and self-esteem (not calling them ‘pupils’ is a good start) and, above all, making a staff member who understands how to deal with that age group available in the common room or its equivalent as much as possible is essential.

Kids of that age are full of contradictions, outwardly confident yet inwardly remarkably insecure, and they need a lot of support delivered in ways that doesn’t devalue their own, sometimes fragile, self confidence.

There is certainly a significant difference in contact hours, Ian. Science degrees generally have practical classes and the biological sciences can involve field work. What is ‘easy’ might depend on the individual. At school I found science subjects very much easier than the others.

I loved Science at school but my maths (long story) wasn’t up to doing it at A level. Curiously, some tell me Music is Mathematical, but I’ve never seen it like that.