Making your voice heard – through course Reps, module evaluations and the Student Voice forums for example – is one way you can help us to improve your student experience. In this blog post, we take a look at some of the changes we’ve made to based on your feedback.
Assessment and Feedback
You Said: “Poor feedback on assessments/work returned late”
We Did: The quality of feedback is a priority for the School and is regularly monitored by the Director of Education – who is notified if marks are not returned within 3 weeks. The School has moved to electronic feedback to quicken return times and to prevent problems with illegible handwriting.
You Said: “No enough guidance for assessments”
We Did: We recognise this problem and have implemented a new assessment-specific guidance policy. The marking criteria for each assessment now give clear information of what is expected for each grade (ie. 1st, 2:1, 2:2, 3rd, etc.)
You Said: “Too many deadlines to juggle at the same time”
We Did: We have made a big effort to reduce the amount of assessment ‘clumping’. Many deadlines have been moved and we have tried to spread the load as evenly as possible across the term. We know that problems can still occur, and where they do, we investigate to try and find solutions.
You said: “Too much coursework”
We Did: We have reduced the number of coursework assessments. Six assessments were removed this year, and 12 more will be removed next year. We understand that over-assessment contributes to stress and poor well-being.
Learning Resources:
You Said: “Not enough study space”
We Did: In August 2019 we opened the Freedman Science Student Hub. The hub provides 30 PC workstations and offers space for both independent and group study. In non-pandemic times – the hub can be accessed 24/7 with a Kent One card.
Academic Support:
You Said: “Staff are very open to feedback” – but we know more can be done here.
We Did: We have introduced mid-module evaluations to collect feedback before teaching is complete. This has allowed for better student input and for changes to be implemented more quickly and, where possible, in the current year.
You Said: Help with preparing for exams.
We Did: We added extra exam revisions sessions and included access to Bitesized online modules.
Community Support:
You Said: We would like more community events.
We Did: Every Friday we host a themed coffee morning where you can bring your questions and concerns to the student support team. We also have a monthly student community newsletter which you can feature in.
We hope you’ve seen an improvement in your student experience following these changes, but we know we can still do more. Please take any opportunity to feedback – through your course reps or directly to any of our academics or support staff – or ensure you fill in the module evaluations, NSS or Undergraduate Survey.