Poor University Education

DrScotsman

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

But nobody's said that!

Mankysteve wrote: »

What course and which uni?

vaporate wrote: »

OP What course/university?

I know no one said shame, but if the OP mentions a rubbish sounding university then it's implied

furry_tractor

No offence folks but i have never even insinuated that i have a problem driving over an hour to uni every day, i did it for work before i went to uni and was well prepared for it i only mentioned it as i was explaining to the lecturer in the email as to why i missed his lecture-because i travel for over an hour, a lot of which are not main roads so when it was snowing it was innaccessible. All i am basically saying is that the way things are in my situation, it seems like its edging more towards an open university course, and if thats what i wanted to do i would have. its even getting to a point where we dont hand work in, we send it over the internet hence my comment that i feel we only pay for someone to write an essay question and then mark the essay.

Oldernotwiser

DrScotsman wrote: »

I know no one said shame, but if the OP mentions a rubbish sounding university then it's implied

I assumed that people wanted to know this to understand the situation better. Some subjects have more formal teaching content and some universities are more geared towards teaching.

furry_tractor

ok, again i have not complained about the travelling. i did that amount of travelling for work and was well prepared for that i was only saying to you what i said in the email to my lecturer as to why i missed his lecture-ie it was snowing and my route is not main roads so was too dangerous. i am basically just saying that it feels like its turning into an open university course and if thats what i wanted to do i would have...for instance in one module we dont even hand in the essays in person we do it of the internet.therefore it is feeling more and more that we only pay what we do for them to write an essay title and then mark it.
the essay was worth 100% of the marks.
the fact we are in 2 days a week is fine, id rather i had 2 full days than the odd hour every day. however, courses in years gone by were completed quicker as things were more compact. even now my girlfriends course is 4 years normally but they have made it 3 years and she is in a lot.

3v3

furry_tractor wrote: »

No offence folks but i have never even insinuated that i have a problem driving over an hour to uni every day, i did it for work before i went to uni and was well prepared for it i only mentioned it as i was explaining to the lecturer in the email as to why i missed his lecture-because i travel for over an hour, a lot of which are not main roads so when it was snowing it was innaccessible. All i am basically saying is that the way things are in my situation, it seems like its edging more towards an open university course, and if thats what i wanted to do i would have. its even getting to a point where we dont hand work in, we send it over the internet hence my comment that i feel we only pay for someone to write an essay question and then mark the essay.

Hi, I was the one who picked up on your hour's journey I did read that the snow had caused you to miss a lecture, hence my comments.

I'm confused by the perception that your experience of uni is that it is "edging more towards and open university course" Uploading essays via the internet is merely utilising technology (and would save you a trip ) and I'd be a bit concerned at an archaic university that didn't harness technology to their advantage!

There was a report on our local radio a couple of weeks before term began. Young 1st years (who went to uni as a straight progression from school) were complaining that they are not getting their monies worth; they only had approximately 4hrs lecture time and the same again seminar time etc., etc. But, *this is not new*; this is how university has always been (albeit with some courses having a bit more and others a bit less - all course dependant really). Seems to me that, on the one hand, the ability to extend the opportunity to a wider audience through the vehicle of a loan system has had precisely that affect; yet, those *choosing* to take out a loan and make the commitment to university somehow see it almost as any other tertiary transaction. But it isn't a purchase, as such; it is an "investment".

One of our lecturers during Freshers Week (booster chat about aiming for 1st's ) chuckled when recounting how some students who were not "successful" in obtaining their degree, genuinely responded with, "But I've paid for one!" :rotfl:

Nope, they *paid* by not "working" for one.

Lil_Me_2

Forgive me for being nosey but from the OPs previous posts I gather they're doing some form of teaching degree. If correct it is quite concerning that they're only in for 2 days a week especially if they're working toward qualified teacher status. In my University ITT courses are almost always in a minimum of 3 days a week, average of around 10-15 hours a week when not on placement but peaks for special events.

In general they lose a lot of students because they don't realise the time commitment is so high. I do find it interesting to see the difference between 18 year olds and "mature" students expectations though.

furry_tractor

...i was not after a mini one to one lecture, i wanted the lecture slides to help me on my way as i had missed the lecture and it was out of my hands. all he had to do was email them on,as i said the module wasnt supported by blackboard which is where they would be normally.

Rosie75

furry_tractor wrote: »

...for instance in one module we dont even hand in the essays in person we do it of the internet.

I don't really understand what the problem is here. Why is it important to you to hand in an essay in person rather than online? Would that really make you feel that you are getting better "value for money"? The reason you're being asked to submit online, presumably, is so that essays can be run through plagiarism detection software.

I don't think it's at all appropriate to "name and shame" this department, since many of the "problems" described appear to stem from unreaslistic expectations. You have not mentioned at any point that you have tried to raise the issues you have in person with your personal tutor or module leader. This would be the appropriate course of action.

furry_tractor

No i am just saying everything seems to be leading towards more of an open university theme, in terms of contact time is minimal, aswell as guidance, and you then send them your work in. no i havent mentioned at any point about going to module leader etc as i came on here to get advice from other people, but rather i seem to be getting misunderstood and misquoted and hostile answers on the most part.

nervousftb_3

furry_tractor wrote: »

No i am just saying everything seems to be leading towards more of an open university theme, in terms of contact time is minimal, aswell as guidance, and you then send them your work in. no i havent mentioned at any point about going to module leader etc as i came on here to get advice from other people, but rather i seem to be getting misunderstood and misquoted and hostile answers on the most part.

i agree with some of the other posters in that you seem to have slightly unrealistic expectations of what a degree entails. this may well be that you worked for a while before returning to study, as in my experience mature students find the transition back to a learning environment a difficult one, and it can feel sometimes that you aren't being supported enough as you are not face to face with your lecturers every day.

if your lecturers do not respond to email, can you approach them in person if you need extra help? if not, then this is a problem that needs to be taken up with the head of your course. yes, students are expected to do plenty of reading etc outside lectures, but sometimes you really need a lecturer to explain things to you, and there should always be a way to do this (i know you needed them for something else, but is this a consistent problem of not being able to communicate with them?) also, i am not surprised they didn't respond to your requests for slides, simply because most lecturers are too busy and would expect you to get the slides from someone else, or maybe from the admin of your dept? missing lectures isn't really something that a lecturer would deal with.

on a different note (slightly irrelevant to the OP but it has come up a couple of times so i thought i;d clarify) - there are two reasons why essays are now submitted online 1) so that the work can be run through anti-plagiarism software; 2) so that there is proof that an essay has been handed in, and an electronic of exactly when. this stops the problem of lecturers losing essays, and students claiming they have handed work in when they haven't.