Engagement Week Feedback Faculty of Science and Engineering - School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences
Vice President of Academic Affairs KSS Data - Faculty of Science and Engineering - School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences Hi everyone, We’ve been busy coding and analysing your comments from Engagement Week, now on a School by School basis. The sheer amount of data we have collected is amazing! From teaching to transport, assessment to accommodation and canteens to Camtasia you clearly have an opinion on all areas of academic life and are not scared to let us know about it. Demographics We collected qualitative feedback from 83 students across the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences . 95% of these students were from Moulescoomb and 45% were from Hastings Campus. Respondents were largely female, 65%, with only 34% male respondents.
‘I MY EDUCATION’ A Few Words on the Data Analysis
The students were in largely in first year (57%) and second year (29%) and first third (10%). 77 of the students were undergraduates and 6 of the students were post-graduate taught students.
We have now coded the data under a number of categories coving academic issues, organisational issues an d other facilities and activities at the University of Brighton.
This summary includes an overview of comments on the top six comment subject areas with comparison to the university comment trends.
We collected data from 1126 students and often each ‘Keep’, ‘Stop’ and ‘Start’ comment box had multiple comments addressing a number of areas of concern, delight and suggested improvements.
The full Keep, Start, Stop commentary from students in the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences is included at the end of the document.
Comments ranged from brief and specific to long and detailed and we would like to thank all students that took part for the consideration put into the responses given.
Thanks again for all of your feedback—we look forward to closing the feedback loop and reporting the changes very soon! Amy Rutland | VP Academic Affairs E: bsuvpa@brighton.ac.uk Facebook: VP AcademicAffairs Brighton-su Twitter: bsuacademic Blog: Brighton SU
This research now forms a rich database of student opinion across the university and will be a valuable source of input for not only the upcoming institutional review but also decision making process at the university. A detailed discourse analysis of the comments will be available soon with a school by school breakdown. Keep an eye on the new research area on the Students’ Union website for updates! http://www.ubsu.net/research
Overview What have you said? Most of your comments have been about Teaching and Learning, with a large amount indicating a positive experience. However, there are also a large amount of statements on what needs to stop and what you would like to see start. Following this are your comments on programme design where you are critical of the repetition in some of the core modules but enjoy the practical work included in the course. Under organisation you are critical of badly communicated timetable changes and timekeeping. You appreciate the access to computer rooms and library facilities but some of you would like to see longer opening hours. You would also like to see a better spread of deadlines for assessments and coursework submission. You value StudentCentral as a resource and would like to see its use increased.
Some more detail... Teaching and Learning Students spoke highly of the teaching and learning with 50% having comments on what they would like the university to keep doing. However over 30% also had comments about what should stop and start. There were positive comments about lecturers seeing them as approachable, supportive, engaging and responsive to feedback. They commented on high quality teaching and valued interactive teaching methods that actively engaged them in classroom learning. Criticisms were of the overuse of PowerPoint during lectures and lectures that lacked interactivity as they were not seen as conducive to effective learning. Students would also prefer if in labs to try the work themselves rather than simply watch a lecturer during a practical session. Suggestions for improvement included greater student involvement in lectures, increased practical/professional elements to the increased use of practice questions and exercises and increased tutor time and feedback.
Programme Design Critical comments on programme design were around the common modules which featured topics covered in other modules. There were also comments on the length of the planned lectures with students finding it difficult to concentrate over a three hour period. Some students also felt there was too much assessment and examination built into the curriculum.
Organisation Over 30% of the students made critical comments about organisation on the course. These centred around errors with timetables on student central, poor organisation and time keeping of staff (arriving and/or finishing late), lecture cancellations, poorly communicated changes to the timetable. Suggestions for improvement included better communication of necessary changes, informing students in advance of module changes. There were also suggestions of text message communications when the university was likely to shut last minute. In general students would like to be better informed of what is happening in and around the university through communications they receive.
Students enjoyed the inclusion of practical and professional aspects of the course and the use of tutorial groups. They also commented on the fairs and events that were run for specific topics. Suggestions for improvement involved setting projects earlier so students could hear about them before the summer, an increase in practical work and more revision time built into the course.
Learning Resources Students spoke highly of late night access to the buildings and libraries. They felt they had good access to the Huxley building and computer rooms. They valued receiving information through handouts and on StudentCentral. They found access to online journals useful. Some students found that there were not enough IT resources and were critical of the high library fines. There were also issues for some students who were unable to gain lab access for project work. Suggestions for improvement include collecting feedback on available resources through suggestion boxes.
Assessment Students were critical of the clustering of deadlines for both examinations and hand-in dates. They were also critical of examinations that tested simply their memory rather than their knowledge of a subject. Some felt that they would prefer more coursework to examinations. There were also instances raised where no feedback on coursework was received until the end of the module when students were unable to learn from their mistakes. Students value the extra resource available during assessment times such as the library opening 24 hours. Suggestions for improvement included staggered deadlines and more phase tests.
Student Central/E-Learning Students valued student central being up to date with lecture notes and slides— ideally they would like to see this for all lectures and for these to be online in advance of the lectures instead of afterwards. They also would like to see all lectures recorded and put on StudentCentral. They specifically mentioned in a positive light interactive learning such as texting responses during seminars. Some students found the placing of information complex and others did not like the use of online examinations.
What Happens next with the Engagement Week Data This data is already being used in the university to inform decisions that they will be making to improve the student experience. Reports from the data will be fed into university committees and any changes made as a result of your comments will be fed straight back via course reps and the Students’ Union website. The data will also be feeding into the Student Written Submission which we are due to submit to the QAA as part of the Institutional Review in November 2012. The first draft of this document will be available late June for you to pass comment on. We will be passing reports to school reps and course reps to ensure they have evidence to help them make changes in their own areas. If you would like any further information please don’t hesitate to get in touch: h.mcknight@brighton.ac.uk
Keep Comments Student services Continued provision of services, such as banks, SU and gym. PABS school is very good, organised and good structure Angela McAdam is a brilliant lecturer interesting modules Student union NUS card Practicals. Updating student central. Good explanations Interactive lectures with learning checks and approachable lecturers . Guided extra reading. Personalised feedback, more detailed NUS card Keep promoting cheap entertainment Discount information work experience placements Get a lot of support from tutors Information is readily available Most of work submitted back on time oh yes... Late opening hours at the library Opening the library 24 hours Refreshers day provide a lot support on the courses Providing free Wi-fi and PASS sessions keep up course rep elections but make sure they happen, we don't have a course rep this year because no elections happened, despite several reminders Modules and course is good, (albeit) very (challenging) need more cabs (interim) report is good but could do with more guidance (as in how to structure properly) Helping to facilitate the settling us international students like myself by organising orientation activities Keep extracurricular activities organise socials keep the transport services organised by the university Teaching the courses and helping the student as the teachers are very helpful Keep taking student feedback at the end of the modules and changing things based on feedback Dr.Caroline Hodges and Dr. Elsom are brilliant at doing this!! Student reps. Being environmentally friendly and improving the buildings. Keep good availability of facilities i.e.: gym, Huxley building, computer rooms, etc... Encouraging range of societies Modular teaching through student interaction. For instance texting responses to scenarios during class sessions having engaging lecturers that make lectures more interesting Providing information through handouts in lectures and use of student central Love the way student central works Put slides up Keep student central and library and library books available for free Opening the library 24 hours during the exam period. Having international student organisations Providing lecture notes online, for easy accessibility Teaching me Support - student gym us Keeping me posted in my unimail for student services Uploading lecture presentations to student central It is easy to revise when all the content is in one place Good receptionists of school offices. Cheap food at canteen. Having societies Library opening hours Wi-Fi Practicals and experiment The experiments and practicals putting all lectures on student central reverse learning chemistry listening to feedback - Dr Hodges Phase Lecture slides Reverse learning Reverse learning Listening to feedback Teach like C. Hodges Good lessons/lecturers exams throughout the year rather than just at the end Ask for student feedback and opinions having tutorial groups with tutors No feedback No feedback Socialising, getting into more clubs Interesting modules, lectures engage with student. PASS The English Language Support Program is helpful for those whose English-speaking is not good so keep doing this
Keep Comments 24/7 library hours during exams. Small group sessions with a personal tutor and individual feedback on essays and labs. employing students as much as possible. The quality and standard of teaching The quality of teaching rumbling tum - good food NUS card 3pm Monday Lectures Socials (with free pizza :) + quizzes Practical classes Providing an amazing atmosphere to work in Lecturers being hospitable to students questions Great lecturers Practicals and experiments Reverse learning Interactive lectures phase tests providing handouts in classes and on student central Updating student central on a very regular basis support the students with disabilities and difficulties Keeping library open 24 hours during exam times. Sending reminders for due date of books Keep me interested in the course Fairs and events for specific topics. Seminars for modules regarding certain topics Listening to feedback (C Hodges) Reverse learning Giving handouts in presentations/ lectures. Uploading them all on student central after Practical classes Putting slides and notes up Providing easy access to books and wi-fi and journals Student discount with NUS Uploading all lectures PASS Dr. Guard, keep up engaging lectures Keeping the common areas clean 24hr library opening Keep the friendly doctors surgery receptionists Put slides on student central
Stop Comments Wasting paper Increasing tuition fees Not putting notes on student central Stop messing around timetables on student central Long lectures of just reading PowerPoint's. Not using the microphones No feedback Not enough IT resources More copies of recommended textbooks. Messing up the timetables badly organised timetables Poor organisation and time keeping Not following up student complaints of uncontactable lecturers/tutors More personal tutor time More feedback on assignment More prep work for upcoming assignments (sometimes lost as what to do) 9.00a start 3 hour lecture blocks Making the course hard Not putting all our deadlines together Irrelevant labs and lectures Holding classes and lab sessions by 9am communicate better with students No feedback! make sure coursework are organised properly before sending NA
Stop Comments Closing the library. It should be available for use 24hrs everyday Stop charging for hot water in cafĂŠ Having many deadlines together and overloading work. Molecular cell pathobiology is poorly taught. Lecturers obviously have fantastic subject knowledge however the topics covered are very complex and listening to someone simply talk for hours is very difficult to follow. Perhaps it could be delivered in a more varied way? Quizzes, worksheets and activities. Personal tutors NEED to reply to e-mails and offer more support! Being so disorganized regarding meetings especially ones involving student reps. Not fixing certain things or not adding things that are obviously needed. Expensive meals for students. Not using the foyer in Huxley building. Special topics that are solely theory based rather include topics that have direct relevance for pharmacy practice of hospital pharmacy or community pharmacy practice; the role of the pharmacist making last minute changes to the timetable/admin could use a little work Presentations and large class sizes Being late. Cancelling lectures last minute. Having a stupid lecture on Monday morning and then having 3 hours till the next one Reading through PowerPoint's word for word and actually teach the concept Making the course so difficult (mariang) Clustering deadlines. Irrelevant labs and lectures Nothing Changing our timetable all the time. It gets confusing Increasing tuition fees Stop breaking the lifts! Library fines when the books has not been reserved by somebody else Changing rooms and times of lectures from the timetable or at least produce an updated timetable Charging for replacement student cards. Charging so much for late book returns Library fines. In the first week of uni I was charged ÂŁ8 for 7 day loan books that were not reserved by anyone Online tests (too may of them) online tests opening school offices at random hours Pathos exam was a memory test not knowledge Tutor said we were going to fail on the 1st lecture Bulk revision tests lecturers not caring if you understand giving low % of the grade for long and hard piece of work Massive gaps between lectures Pathobiology is poorly taught and the exam was a memory test rather than a display of understanding the content Non-biology based joint honours not having it as a JHP, as just Biology as that there aren't general core modules 5 exams in one week. No feedback from lecturers on coursework until the end of the module. Lecturers with no interaction with student at all not have as heavily weighted exams; have more coursework throughout Notes not all on student central before lectures I have begun my project, but I can't get the key to the lab in my free time. It is said we should wait for the message, but now is wasting time. In the following months, I have lots of exams, course work and paper to hand. I just want to start project early (in fact it has begun) but I can't use the lab when I need it. So I hope the Uni can stop this, just do some suitable arrangement for different student restricting free gym membership to students who live in halls should be open to all of first year, first come first served basis if limited capacity Closing the library early Closing the library early Changing timetables getting rid of NUS card Biology JHP, should be made into individual course Common modules: we cover this in lectures anyway! Getting me up early Cramming us in the new Cockcroft room Two many online tools exams (then) straight away a massive numbers of deadlines massive lectures - really long & massive (assessments) at me (evu) Bulk revision tests Massive breaks between lectures Short deadlines Deadlines crammed together Testing/scoring by doing presentation, people suffer in grades due to lack of confidence Scheduling lectures and either starting half hour late or over-running by three-quarters of an hour
Stop Comments improve on general communication skills across departments, especially regarding timetabling! Library fines if t has not been reserved by another person. Setting so many exams Assigning unhelpful/useless reading when it does not relate to or help for assigned task especially mcq tests in labs. Having practical sessions where you have to just watch a lecturer do it. This can be done in a lecture hall not a lab required. Pathos exams was not fairly done. Not properly prepared for a 30 page exam!!! Tutor said we would fail from the start Presentations! They are traumatic!!! Long 3 hour lectures of long PowerPoint's Cancelling lectures last minute. Having hours off between lectures stop Putting information in obscure places on student central Stop messing with timetables 3hour lectures Six o'clock lectures Unorganised lecturers Microbiology, more time between practicals and work for previous practicals. Guided study, more relevant Overcharging for late library loans Pointless lab sessions where we sit and watch someone do an injection Putting lectures away from our main building assigning useless reading that bears no relevance to UCQ lectures. Lab technicians who offend those with medical conditions Being late and cancelling last minute.
Start Comments A place where all university students can have parties A proper SU, maybe some kind of bar ALL notes on student central before lectures Arranging more across course activities/nights out! Making our timetables clearer Student union bars/pubs Reaffiliate yourself with NUS. More healthy eating places on campus Be more interesting! Involve us more in the lectures Be on time Better organisational skills of uni. More assistance when requested Better transport between halls and uni Healthy food places to eat build a union bar that is cheap and local to Moulsecoomb campus By having better relationship with students one on one feedback meetings on big assignments change student central! Get a new internet site! Give lecturers their own personal entrance music Clearer information on how to get jobs/careers help and better help Deadline spread out No random exams Events for students that don't have to be pub crawl Free mini bus to varley Getting students more involved in sports Give projects (MMGS coramgast rough) before summer so have time to (work) and research need Brighton science careers advice/resources Have working computers at uni (i.e. library especially) Put pressure - petition/campaign - on issues and how to solve them so all are actually involved Become a student ambassador for staff - staff can talk to them for studd and C.R. can (relay) to course Can course reps use it for any (accreditation)? Would be a big (science) point. Also, emphasize CU and certificate more, ESP to (old on) years who care more. Give the teachers their own entrance music Have a training programme to help students demonstrate the se of computers especially with regards to student central and essay writing and referencing Having a wider variety of extracurricular activities, i.e.. a tackwondo class at Moulsecoomb campus Improve transport service between Varley Halls of residence and the university campuses Install a microwave, for students to use Having online lectures when it is not possible to make it into uni If it is possible offering tutorials would be fantastic!! If start provided more advice rather than remarks. More fun stuff available for student reps rather than just meeting after meeting. Improve the library facilities, i.e. colour photocopier machine. Cafe in library. More variety in cafe facilities - i.e. fill the empty shop that used to be Blackwell's. Better communication with students - do we even have a university newspaper? Improving student services, specifically of academic misconduct More social interactions between students and lectures
Start Comments Incorporate more practical/professional aspects of the course i.e. experimental learning and situations. Place suggestion boxes in every classroom where students can express their ideas and suggestions Lecturers use the announcements section in student central to announce upcoming deadlines/labs/other things Lots of practise questions and exercises make a university pub/club. They should have a game zone where students would chill and play pool, darts, chess, foosball, etc... make more social events Make sure slides on student central before the lecture instead of a week after making microwaves available to use to heat lunches so then we don't have to buy lunches everyday Making modules more relevant to the course. Deadlines spread out Making stationary and food cheaper at the SU shops, i.e. student discounts making student central easier to use. All subjects put things in the same folder rather than having to search them all. Seminar groups to give more revision time. More practise exam questions and past papers. Print out lecture notes for students. I cant afford a printer :( Making SU services more visible and aware to others Interaction with the SU president and vice presidents would be nice. Regular SU activities, bars, etc New bookshop Making the computers in the pool room more user friendly. More integration cross-school socials Marking and handing out results from practicals, coursework and tests in an acceptable amount of time More computers in the library more computers in the poolroom More integration of students more integration of students on the course more lectures with Dawn Scott Start recording lectures and putting them on student central more phase test in (pathobiology) More phase tests Lecturers to be more approachable More books for specific modules in library Actually putting what is taught in the exams More phase tests. SEMINARS More practical lab work more practicals so we can practice the biology we are taught! gives us more of an idea of how working in a lab would be more experience More seminars and lectures with guest lecturers coming from different backgrounds. Check regularly the effectiveness of lecturers and their work. Install a help system linking each 1st year with a 3rd year in the same course. The 1st year student needs help with 1st exam; the 3rd year student needs help for fieldwork and 7 opinion more social events Notes up before lectures Offer more help to those international students who cannot speak English very well. Especially for those are doing very difficult course, like me on pharmacy which involves lots of special terms, words and hard to understand notions. And also some stuff and teacher speak too fast on lecture to follow, so I think the Uni should start to offer more helps. open a union bar at the Moulsecoomb site upgrade the computers run more activities and events which include students from other course e.g. all PABS students visit a lab or have a night out. Doctors surgery needs some later pm sessions Open the library for longer hours Opening the library for longer times Organise student union pubs Organise lecture theatres better - so you know what one you're in Organise student central better practical lessons, only had two in semester 1 -Provide transport to Brighton regularly to help us get involved with activities/societies (etc) at different campuses -We need to do practicals in labs, take us to Brighton until the labs are finished please. Providing food Providing materials for Arts students Teach them how to use machines available to them Put a search bar on student central, it's impossible to find anything. Lecturers talk to you as if you are stupid if you cant find something, but every module is different and takes a long time to travel through it putting dates on student central under the calendar or announcement tabs Putting lecture slides on before lectures Reading week - less Xmas hols - i.e.: after seem 1 exams More phase tests more regular assessments bigger word counts constant assessment more tutorials seminars more regular tutor meetings Better (tutors) More eBooks/journals Better access to journals
Start Comments Recap in 5 mins of last lectures important points Recording lectures on video and streaming them online so we can watch them back or catch-up if you're unwell. Be like Sky+ for university reducing the prices of the offered refreshments and shop items, we are students after all, and why get the items from Sainsbury's when its offered at uni! providing more computes in the pool rooms as it gets crowded. Keeping school office open longer. Lifts in Cockcroft moving faster and better maintenance Run a shuttle bus to varley halls Seating area in Huxley building. Cafe in Huxley. Being more organised with timetable slots Prompting students before hand in of certain important changes within modules. Improving watts building especially the lecture halls Seminars More Contact with personal tutor Seminars. Make student central clearer. Give handouts in ALL lectures because its hard to follow the lecturer when your just rushing to get the information on the slides written down Shorter lectures that have more involved learning Slides on SC before class Start making intersubject sports Student union bar Healthier foods available SU bar Bigger lecture halls for big classes Texts on snow days/ lecture cancellations Turn the heating on a bit more Uni-bar. Seating area in Huxley/cafe area (area behind H300) Unisex again! Longer doctors surgery opening hours More awareness of activities such as active pharmacy We have on Mondays a lecture at 9 then a 4 hr break before the 2nd half of the first lecture, put them together!