Russell Group does it matter?

Oldernotwiser

Person_one wrote: »

The Russell Group isn't really relevant to undergraduate study, its about the research carried out at that uni.

If she wants to go on to Masters/PhD study it might be useful but belonging to the Russell group does not mean that the quality of teaching at undergrad level will be any better. In fact some people believe its worse, as the staff are focused on their own work and the more advanced students rather than the 'beginners'!

University education shouldn't be about being taught.

Person_one

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

University education shouldn't be about being taught.

The amount depends on the subject, and 'teaching' is a broad term for all lecturer/staff/cohort contact really, but you won't get far in any subject without SOME formal teaching. What do you think lectures are?

ultimatedingbat

I personally hate people who turn their noses up at ex-polys. I've attended DMU for the past three years which is an old poly uni and I have had the best time of my life and have a good future ahead. And for people who assume ex-polys mean you go no where, I've been accepted for a post graduate at Cambridge University.

Go where you want to go, go where you feel is right

xrjtg

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

By the way, you don't need to have been educated privately to go to Oxbridge.)

Let me reiterate this a hundredfold. It's not clear from the post this was replying to whether you believed that you did, but anybody expecting 3 As and who would like to apply to either Oxford or Cambridge should do so. The biggest thing the students at these universities have in common is their desire to learn, not any privileged social background.

melancholly

Person_one wrote: »

The amount depends on the subject, and 'teaching' is a broad term for all lecturer/staff/cohort contact really, but you won't get far in any subject without SOME formal teaching. What do you think lectures are?

a springboard for showing an introduction to the area and indicating relevant extra reading..... ideally it should be supplemented with small group work where students have the chance to talk about topics and get 'pushed' in their thinking.....

i get that that's the ideal and reality is always some distance from there, but unis shouldn't be exam factories like many schools have become. there should be a significant amount of initiative and interest from the students to want to learn, rather than just wanting copies of lecture handouts to learn and regurgitate in an exam. ideally, it's about teaching them to think for themselves.

students have a lot of time outside of lectures and at least some of it can be spent reading around the topics without much sacrifice of a social life.

my experience is that attendance at small group sessions is very low, which is a real shame as it's the best way for students to learn and push the boundaries of their understanding. it can also be a great way for them to challenge their own beliefs about topics and get them thinking rather than just learning by rote. when only about 20% of students turn up to these sessions, it's just a lost opportunity (although it makes it a smaller group for those who do turn up, which is a good thing!).

b1505

GeneHunt wrote: »

Thanks for your replies.

My daughter went to an open day at Sussex on Saturday and loved it. (It was her first open day) She went to lectures on English lit, Business Studies and Economics. Does Sussex have a reputation as being a partying sort of Uni, just wondered with it being close to Brighton?

I did engineering at a poly. It was great. Most of my generation have never heard of the Russell Group and certainly couldn't name the Unis in that group, so I do wonder how many employers actually care about such things?

The only reason I ask is that my daughter's school seem to be fixated about the Russell Group!! (Well Oxbridge too but she won't get in to either of them! She's not in a private school.)

I think that as long as she's happy with the course and she likes the university and the surrounding area then it doesn't matter if it's in the Russell group or not. I'm lucky with the fact that in my sixth form they aren't fixated on us going to the prestigious universities. Granted some people do end up there but that's off their own backs which I think is what it should be about. It's a big decision to make and it should be down to her, not what the school want. I personally think some schools do this as it looks better on their behalf if they have a lot of students going to the top universities.
As it's her first open day I would definitely recommend more. I know from my personal experience that I thought the first university I looked at was the best but then after visiting others I realised it wasn't as amazing as it first looked.

Neato

I'm at Durham, Durham isn't in the Russell Group but is still respected. So I'd say it doesn't matter if they are in the Russell Group. Although, to be honest, just pick the best university that is best for who is going.

Oldernotwiser

Person_one wrote: »

The amount depends on the subject, and 'teaching' is a broad term for all lecturer/staff/cohort contact really, but you won't get far in any subject without SOME formal teaching. What do you think lectures are?

Lectures are a way of imparting information and aren't compulsory in some universities. Practical subjects are likely to need to be taught and this was a major difference between the old polys and the universities.

Academic university education should be about learning rather than being taught, which is why contact hours are often very low.

GeneHunt_2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Academic university education should be about learning rather than being taught, which is why contact hours are often very low.

Following this logic then everyone might as well do an OU course and Unis actually have little to offer.

atypical

Most (if not all) of the universities that fall in the 'it's not Russell group, but it's still good' category are part of the 1994 group instead:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Group#Members

Sussex, Durham, St Andrews etc are all there.