The Student Experience in PGT by Fred Wordie

THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE IN PGT

Research: Zoe Prosser Pete Swanton Fred Wordie Illustrations: Tessa Mackenzie Help From: Imogen Foulkes Lucy Geraghty Talitha Latein-McCann Alexandra Steenbeek

INDEX 1. Introduction 2. Student Interviews 4. Student Workshop 6. Staff Workshop 8. Analysis 10. Cross School 12. GSA Community 14. Student Expectations 16. Communication 18. Resources 20. Student Expectations Pt2 22. Conclusion

INTRODUCTION In February 2016, a group of Product Design students from Glasgow School of Art held an all school, staff and student, three-hour event with an aim to open dialogue about school-wide issues. The workshop, ‘We Need to Talk About GSA,’ was born out of observations taken during student representative meetings and conversations with peers. A general disengagement with the current system of student representation was apparent and this was leading to a sense of powerlessness within the student cohort. ‘We Need to Talk About GSA’ successfully brought together over sixty students and staff members from a variety of different departments to engage in constructive discussion surrounding their experiences at GSA. Through the use of design tools, the

workshop directed participants to find the roots of their problems and focus upon both short and long term solutions in place of the issues themselves. This approach allowed students and staff to empathise with each others’ roles, identify similarities between their experiences and issues, and ultimately co-create implementable solutions. Following on from this work, the same group were approached at the beginning of the 2016/17 academic year by the Postgraduate Teaching and Learning department (PGT). In response to lowering postgraduate student satisfaction rates, as identified by the National Student Survey (NSS), the PGT department sought to deploy a similar approach in order to better understand and enhance postgraduate student experiences.

STUDENT INTERVIEWS To begin with, the results from the NSS surveys were analysed and this highlighted a lower rate of satisfaction within Fine Art degrees than from any other department, along with a particular discontent for postgraduate â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;organisation and management.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; While the NSS presents statistical, qualitative findings that are easy to digest, it does not help us define the roots of recurring problems. It was important at this stage to make faceto-face contact with postgraduate students and delve deeper into their NSS answers. Outgoing students, those graduating in 2016, were invited to sign up for

half an hour interviewslots to further discuss their survey responses. Eight students attended and the demographics represented a key insight. The majority of students wishing to further discuss their experiences were from Fine Art and many of them from the Masters of Letters in Creative Practices (MLitt). While the same categories used in the NSS were kept as prompts during the interviews, the objective was to capture qualitative data and personal experiences. From here it was possible to extract recurring themes and roots of issues that ran both inter and cross departmentally.

STUDENT WORKSHOP To begin with, the results from the NSS surveys were analysed and this highlighted a lower rate of satisfaction within Fine Art degrees than from any other department, along with a particular discontent for postgraduate â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;organisation and management.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; While the NSS presents statistical, qualitative findings that are easy to digest, it does not help us define the roots of recurring problems. It was important at this stage to make faceto-face contact with postgraduate students and delve deeper into their NSS answers. Outgoing students, those graduating in 2016, were invited to sign up for half an hour interviewslots to further discuss their survey responses. Eight students attended and the demographics represented a key insight. The majority of students wishing to further discuss their experiences were from Fine Art and many of them from the Masters of Letters in Creative Practices (MLitt). While the same categories used in the NSS were kept as prompts during the interviews, the objective was to capture qualitative data and personal experiences. From here it was possible to extract recurring themes and roots of issues that ran both inter and cross departmentally.

STAFF WORKSHOP Leading on from the initial scoping with students, insights were drawn and used to create tools for a workshop, which was conducted with postgraduate teaching staff. To help PGT staff gain insight into student experiences and empathise with their roles, they were presented with a number of scenarios taken from the studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; dialogue. From these presented student perceptions and also the staffs own insight to the

course, the staff were tasked to find the roots of these issues. This meant looking beyond the face of the issue and seeing what created these student perceptions. This in turn lead the staff at the workshop to think of innovative solutions to tackle these problems. Solutions were meant to be short term, as in the staff could go away and act on them the next day or long term, where the solution would need a top down approach.

ANALYSIS Throughout the staff and student workshops insights were captured on post-it notes arranged on large format sheets. This meant that post-workshop the team were able to synthesise the findings by rearranging and categorising recurring issues, themes and solutions. From this analysis exercise it was clear to see that certain areas were being effected by similar problems, manifesting themselves in different ways. The following section will elaborate upon the research findings and possible future solutions under three themes: Student engagement Organisation and management Teaching and learning By creating a framework for viewing student engagement this way, we may be able to target the roots of recurring issues and in doing so solve more than one problem at a time. For example, by pursuing appropriate student expectations, we may be able to positively effect both student engagement and teaching and learning experiences.

CROSS SCHOOL Student Perceptions A desire for more cross discipline activities has been predominant throughout the student interviews. Although this is an area that students are obviously interested by, there appears to be a lack of support and encouragement for cross-school work by staff. This may be due to the complexities that organising such activities would require, which raises the question: should cross-school activity be student led?

Roots Although the majority of students see the value in cross-school working, for example that it would help build a postgraduate community, no one is prepared to take responsibility for organising it. This is partly down to the lack of an existing community and the effort needed to kick-start the idea.

Staff Solutions The solution to this problem was to offer cross-school electives, as these are already a part of PGT learning. By doing this, we might create an opportunity to spark student led activity and get the ball rolling on this recurring discussion.

GSA COMMUNITY Student Perceptions PGT classes are regularly made up of multi-national students and although this provides excellent opportunities for cultural learning, the issue of language barriers was regularly mentioned during interviews. This problem can result in individuals and groups of students feeling completely isolated within the school. Along with this, many students feel that the undergraduate cohort is given much more of a focus that postgraduates. They believe that post and undergraduate relationships are not facilitated by the school, leaving the postgraduate cohort feeling second-hand.

Roots Staff identified that this problem has occurred because postgraduate students, albeit smaller in size and reduced in their time spent at GSA, are not being treated with the same precedence as undergraduates. This manifests itself in a number of ways: 1. SSCC meetings are scheduled for the undergraduate timetable. 2. The postgraduate degree show was â&#x20AC;&#x153;underwhelmingâ&#x20AC;? in comparison to the undergraduate one. Some

students felt that the event was under advertised and low in attendance because of this. 3. The Student Association and events are targeted towards undergraduate students and timetabled to their schedules. This can leave students feeling that the school communicates itself from an undergraduate perspective.

Staff Solutions Staff began to question if the postgraduate cohort could learn and be influenced by the well-established GSA undergraduate community. One way to do this would be to create shared spaces between under and postgraduate students for working and perhaps presenting. If undergraduate and postgraduate students could share work and experiences then they may be able to learn more about each other socially too. As well as this, staff believe it would be extremely helpful to have a someone within PGT who can speak Mandarin as this is one of the commonly used languages by PGT students. At the moment we are not aware of any Chinese members of staff within PGT.

STUDENT EXPECTATIONS Student Perceptions Staff raised the matter of student expectations during the final workshop in response to frequent student discontent. Staff believe that students arrive at GSA with particular expectations that are not met by PGT. They also agree that some students enter PGT courses with large knowledge gaps that simply cannot be filled in the short time that they have. This can leave students feeling unprepared and dissatisfied while staff are stretched.

Roots During interviews, many students also mentioned their expectations being let down by PGT courses and this appears to be a product of course advertising and recruitment, the specific points being that: 1. Many students apply to GSA because of its history, heritage and reputation instead of course specifics. The school prioritises its heritage as an advertising tool, such as its architecture and restoration projects, instead of focusing on what the specific courses and departments have to offer in relation to modern creative practises. 2. Due to low numbers of applicants for some courses in comparison to externally set higher education targets, PGT may be forced to recruit students that are not suitable for the courses. 3. In parallel with the above point, students who are accepted to PGT courses at GSA tend to believe that their selection is a result of their personal excellence and so can be less open to new ideas and criticisms. This can become quite a hard-hitting realisation once students arrive and

attempt to settle in with peers who they expect to be likeminded or come from similar disciplines. 4. In some cases the online course descriptions are out of date. One specific example of this was the MLitt courses that mis-sold their class sizes by around 50% and the building where students would be taught. In one case this led to a student moving into accommodation on the wrong side of the city, only to find out at the start of term.

Staff Solutions Having up to date course descriptions online is a major priority. Along with this staff believe that one way to tackle this problem could be to open a dialogue with students about their expectations of the courses at the start of term. Methods of doing this may be as follows: 1. Spend the first week of term on an icebreaker event and subject recapping. This would provide an opportunity for students to better integrate with each other and identify gaps in their knowledge before discovering them mid-project when time and resources are strained. 2. Directly ask students about what they would like to get out of the course to better manage expectations early on – “What do you want to get out of your year at GSA?” This could then be followed up on later in the year. 3. Find a way for overseas students to get a better insight into the GSA experience before they arrive. Many students cannot attend open days but if the student experience could be communicated, perhaps through a digital open day, prospective students would likely arrive better equipped.

COMMUNICATION Student Perceptions

Staff Solutions

Following on from the points made about student expectations in relation to degree show organisation, some believed this problem arose from poor communication methods. They felt that a lack of attendance and was a product of poor timetabling, which also negatively effected the set-up period beforehand. On top of this, some students believed that changes to timetables were “eratic,” reporting alterations by staff up to twice a week. This resulted in confused students who missed meetings because they were looking at printed timetables instead of the updated online versions. Some students have also become averse to using email and VLE systems because of the large quantities of junk mail and “clutter.” This can result in students missing important meetings and tutorials, especially in the example described above.

Staff members agreed that a physical timetabling method, i.e. using printed notice boards in the department over online updates, would reconcile many of these problems. It was recommended that these be updated two weeks in advance. The MFA course has already done this and has received a high satisfaction rate from staff and students. It was suggested that email and VLE inductions should be mandatory for staff and students and that visiting lecturers should be given VLE log-ins. It would also be preferred if there was an opt-out system for student email accounts.

Roots Staff feel they are not adequately shown how to use the VLE. The majority of emails that are sent out to students are not relevant to their courses. Instead many of these come from the Student Association, which is not appealing to all the cohorts, especially PGT students who already believe the Association is targeted towards undergraduate students. Emails are sent cross departmentally instead of directly and many students do not check emails or the VLE on a daily basis.

RESOURCES Student Perceptions

Roots

It is common for students to feel the strain of the Reid building’s new centralised workshop however PGT students have some specific issues, such as: 1. Technician’s not being aware of PGT hand in dates or having little knowledge of PGT courses and their requirements. 2. Many PGT students want the opportunity to learn expert skills; specific to their new practices but this is not facilitated by the existing structure. 3. Many students are put off by busy technicians, who they feel are overstretched and not able to advise on PGT projects. Outwith the workshops and within the studio spaces some students feel that there is a lack of computers available with the relevant software they need to produce work. Along with this, some feel that there is a lack of introduction to the facilities available to them or knowledge on how to access different departments’ resources.

SimVis and DDS students can only access their workshops when staff are present and this does leave them with sufficient working hours. Over crowding of the Reid workshop and a lack of inductions into external facilities, such as the casting workshop, can leave PGT students feeling unsupported when attempting to make. PGT students may need more support than undergraduates in the workshop due to their potential lack of making skills, especially when coming from different disciplines.

Staff Solutions Again going back to student expectations, GSA’s facilities have been advertised as “world class.” Unfortunately students do not agree with this description when they arrive and so perhaps an alteration in the way the institution advertises itself would be helpful. Better connections between existing facilities and resources from different departments might enable students’ to use these instead of relying upon the centralised workshop. By supporting the navigation of students around GSA’s facilities we may be able to avoid overcrowding in the centralised workshop.

STUDENT EXPECTATIONS Student Perceptions

Roots

This theme again touches on the expectations of students coming in to the PGT cohort and a lot of this appears to be a product of online course advertising, such as: 1. Students expecting to have much smaller class sizes, as mis-sold by the MLitt prospectus video. 2. A confusion surrounding the skills required for each course. This can really effect group work and inter-class dynamics when students from a variety of practices and backgrounds are integrated. 3. From advertising and open days students get an idea of course overviews but not of their day-today studio life. This can impact their management of work and personal time upon arrival. Additionally, language barriers and varying skill levels of students were brought up again in relation to the impact this has on teaching and learning in the studio. Although language will always be an issue in multi-national institutions such as GSA, at times students feel this can negatively effect their personal learning and progression. Some students feel that time spent with tutors does not involve direct teaching and instead can feel like a casual meeting or consultation. In some cases this has resulted in students misinterpreting project briefs. Many students, especially those on the MLitt courses, would like more contact time through seminars, lectures or class workshops to better their learning over such a short period.

DPGT teaching sometimes relies on the assumed skills and base knowledge of students, which at times lacks a consideration for the multitudes of backgrounds that students have. Along with this tutor time is stretched, leaving many staff with few chances to have impromptu meetings with students and, once again, inaccurate online advertising of course specifications and GSA life can leave students with the wrong expectations.

Staff Solutions Briefs and documentation should avoid flowery language and maintain a level of simplicity and conciseness when being distributed to international students. The outward facing presence of GSA should be updated to focus more upon examples of studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; work, GSA lifestyle and day-to-day studio cultures whilst maintaining up-to-date course specifications. Small mistakes, such as class sizes and building locations, can have large consequences on student satisfaction rates. Instead of focusing on heritage and assets such as the Mackintosh, which are no longer available to students, advertising should put an emphasis on new, innovative facilities and research from the institution. By promoting different assets the school might better sell itself to the right cohort and so positively influence the recruitment process. One suggested solution to make fast, short-term change was to hold FAQ sessions for each department at the start of the year. If these events were well attended and easy enough to host, this idea could progress to a termly cycle.

CONCLUSION When reflecting back upon this journey of engaging postgraduate students and staff, we see great value in creating a space for the two to participate in open dialogue about their experiences. If we were to repeat this process we would like student representatives to be present at the staff workshop, or to conduct a full staff and student event instead. From the feedback received from our previous example, ‘We Need to Talk About GSA,’ it was this staff-student engagement within a safe place that the majority of participants responded to so positively. By asking staff and students to empathise with each other and discuss issues from both perspectives, we are also more likely to find implementable solutions. In relation to the emerging themes from this body of work, it would be our recommendation to focus upon postgraduate expectations for incoming students. Simple interventions, such as ensuring online course specifications are up-to-date or making alterations to the school’s advertising strategy, could really make an impact on student satisfaction in the

near future. Both staff and students have once again raised concerns with communication at GSA and one simple way to begin tackling this issue is to carve more paths for open dialogue between the two. Due to the high numbers of multi-national students, communication is so essential to the success of PGT courses, and staff and student experiences. It could be said that more inclusive channels for communication in the future will also likely contribute to a stronger postgraduate community. Perhaps by next analysing the successes of our undergraduate cohorts we might better identify the fillable gaps in postgraduate teaching and learning. It remains clear that GSA has a lot to be proud of and that issues perceived by students and by staff are not symptoms of a bad Art school. They are symptoms of a school trying to find itself in a new and challenging environment, where old values are struggling against new expansions and the new educational environment.