‘Student feedback informs every aspect of the education strategy of the School of Economics, from conception to implementation. This is how you can be part of it.’ We met with Dr Maria Garcia-Alonso, the Economics Director of Studies to ask her about her role.
Maria, what does an Economics Director of Studies do? In short, I look after the delivery of Education in the School. Making sure everyone enjoys teaching and learning.
Sounds exhausting! A bit… but I really enjoy talking to students and colleagues and helping whenever I can.
So you also get involved with Student Voice Forums… what is that about? They are the most important part of my econ DoS job. They are formal feedback meetings. In them, econ-student reps raise any feedback related to delivery of education on behalf of other students. The Senior Tutor (Nizar Allouch) and the Chief Examiner (Amanda Gosling) are also there). As soon as the meeting is over, we race to resolve any matter arising! We meet twice a term.
And what if something comes up between meetings? We still race to resolve and we report it on the following meeting.
And what about those end of term module evaluations then? They are very important to module convenors and seminar leaders, I know my teaching delivery has improved over the years thanks to written comments on module evaluations. Also PH D student seminar leaders use them as evidence for quality of teaching, very important for them in the job market and part of their training process as they grow in their roles. As econ DoS I also read all the school module evaluations to ensure we have not missed anything at Student Voice Forums, also to share good ideas among colleagues and support everyone.
Give us an example of feedback you have received recently! Everyone says I speak too fast… I try to slow down… every year.
The next SVF is on Wednesday 17th November. Contact Maria or your student reps with feedback here.