University ups and downs

studentphil

melancholly wrote:

glad you're feeling better

but i won't stop nagging you!!
so go double check and 'refresh' the 2 hours of work you did earlier and get a good night's sleep!!

I can see you will make a wonderful mother if you are a Girl.

I have a good clear idea in my head of what I am doing with that piece of work.

misskool

I have a good idea, can you change the title of the thread please? It's gone OT now hasn't it?

studentphil

misskool wrote:

I have a good idea, can you change the title of the thread please? It's gone OT now hasn't it?

What do you suggest?

Ruby_Pudding

studentphil wrote:

What do you suggest?

Well this thread is all about you so it should be....

"My H.E. journey - advice welcomed"

studentphil

Ruby_Pudding wrote:

Well this thread is all about you so it should be....

"My H.E. journey - advice welcomed"

Changed it to a more apt title.

Ruby_Pudding

studentphil wrote:

Changed it to a more apt title.

Excellent - I think it's something you really need to consider whenever you start a new thread Phil. If the subject is in anyway connected to you then make that clear so other forum members don't get themselves in a twist trying to figure out what you are trying to say.

Does that make sense?

studentphil

Ruby_Pudding wrote:

Excellent - I think it's something you really need to consider whenever you start a new thread Phil. If the subject is in anyway connected to you then make that clear so other forum members don't get themselves in a twist trying to figure out what you are trying to say.

Does that make sense?

I did not really intend to make this thread about me , but I note what you are saying.

I feel so much better now to think I am not a failure.

sunflower_rainbow

jamtart6 wrote:

I have read this thread with interest as a tutor of undergraduates. Being "entitled to the best"...... what makes you think young academics aren't the best in their field? How do you know you aren't being taught by a pioneer in their field or someone at the top of their game very early on??

I already explained my experiences with post grad tutors. I also mentioned that i had good experiences and that i wasn't saying every post grad was bad. But as far as i'm concerned, the majority of my experiences have been not very good at all. For a post grad to teach a very specialist subject and be unable to answer any of the students questions and fill the lecture with 40mins of repetitious video clips, to me, is unacceptable.

Melancholly - in repsponse to your answer to what i said previously, and i know you said it wasn't to be taken personally, my opinion is from the perspective of someone who does well on her course. I don't find it easy but i read books, i ask questions and i utilize the university services and staff as best as possible. However, judging from last semester, the results of my uni's teaching is starting to show. I am in my 3rd yr, so very important as everything counts towards my 4th yr. It has now become apparent that very little people are turning up to some lectures as there are some lecturers who read verbatim off there slides, not expanding on any of it. Furthermore, his notes have been paraphrased from books. We are now resorting to printing off the notes and using our time more wisely by not going to these lectures. Considering there are only 40 people in my year, i think it is very worrying when only a handful turn up. Infact, they now try to registers to ensure we turn up. And believe me, we all speak up about this and make our concerns known to the staff so it isn't from lack of trying on our part. Our education system is highly under-funded and under resourced. It is unfair on both students and staff.

I would also like to make it clear that i'm not complaining or expecting it all to change for me because as i said before i am pleased with my progress. However, i still don't feel it is satisfactory and for those that are struggling more than me it must be hellish.

somethingaboutshopping

hiya, just wanted to say that hopefully you are just a bit down because its exam time, so I guess the one-off moan is allowed

but why do you read every night if reading doesn't work for you? Your uni will have facilities such as Read Aloud or scanners that can import text then turn it into MP3 for you, and even if these aren't available to everyone in the library then the Academic Affairs Office can help out. I understand being the special needs kid but really this just means you know how to cope so you are kinda letting your former self down but just continuing to try to learn in an ineffectual manner.

Also, I love Post Grads as tutors. Sooooooooooooooo much easier to talk to. I am on a highly competitive course at a very high brow uni and the post-grads are great for general chat such as exam technique, applying your course in real life etc, ie are there ways in which you can see how philosophy is applicable to your everyday life.

Also academically I think Post Grad tutors are more organised and I just think the way in which they relate to students allows for a more free flowing teaching method. I have had experiences of asking a Post Grad a question about course work that they have had over-ruled by the Professor and also an instance where a tutor spent an hour of their free time with me going over a piece of work that was already marked well but they told me little tricks to get better marks. Life swings in circles.

Also if you truly truly feel like uni is failing you rather than you failing uni then this is the semester to become Class Rep.

And finally you know that the majority of academics write the articles you hate reading to receive extra financial resoures for their department right? So why do you want to pursue a career in education?

I mean, I really do wish you well because uni is hard, but the transition has to be made........ it won't change, you (we all) just have to work within it.

studentphil

I have picked up a bit now and have made some progress with my work.