Uni short changing students on lessons and advice?

dizzie

Atypical - I'm not arguing that medicine etc does not have strategic importance. Of course it does. And that is why those courses DO get a considerable level of support from HEFCE.

But if we are looking at who bears the cost, then the figures show that universities are probably still being underfunded for Group A subjects since the rise in tuition fees doesn't quite make up for the reduction in funding.

And how do universities make up their shortfalls? By charging proportionately more for other courses that actually cost less to run.

Should a business student overpay for his/her course to subsidise the shortfall in a student medic's course?

amiehall

Do these figures include the amount each student contributes to facilities at the university? It sounds like they might not.

laurel7172

I hope this isn't hijacking your thread, OP.

But when I picked DD up from uni yesterday, she was livid.

Her final project had been "marked". She had an A and one feedback comment, taken directly from her own self-evaluation.

Six weeks' solid practical work, without any interim support, feedback or advice, then not a single pointer on how to improve next time.

"That's EXACTLY why I'm moving," she fumed.

I just don't know how the universities can get away with this.

ska_lover

Students really are cash cows for Uni's, as others have said before, especially first years.

OP my son felt this situation , and is restarting a different course in September.

9 hours lecturing seems to be about the norm these days. I think a lot of students are disillusioned and know quite a few first years who dropped out as were basically just drifting along directionless and yes, I know Uni is not school, but there is so much information that first years are just not given.

Then the Uni finally done them over for that last bit of extra money, some have been returning home with invoices for hundreds of pounds for leaving student accomodation early

pheonix254

laurel7172 wrote: »

Her final project had been "marked". She had an A and one feedback comment, taken directly from her own self-evaluation.

Six weeks' solid practical work, without any interim support, feedback or advice, then not a single pointer on how to improve next time.

No offense intended, but did she ask for support? feedback given for work marked in most of my university assignments was only given if asked for - and generally, if you met the requirements of the work (by getting an A) then there isn't much more feedback you can give than "good." If you don't ask for support at university, you won't get it. There is no hand holding or spoon feeding - it isn't school.

University also isn't there to tell you how to do it better - it's to teach you how to teach yourself, often by putting you in a situation where you have to do projects or assignments yourself without support - you discover how to approach the challenge whilst meeting the scope of the assignment. If you manage it, good. If you need support to manage it, you seek it out, using the resources available to you at university. If you don't manage it, you fail. This is the crux of what university education is and what a degree qualified person represents, and it would seem that too many people just think Higher Education is an extension of school-like education - it isn't.

If she wants more detailed feedback, I'd suggest she approach the marker and ask for it, but from my own university experience, even on a dissertation, you're not going to get much in the way of feedback on it. It's probably the size of a novel - the university rates it to come up with a mark it represents based on the criteria set out in the course, but it doesn't critique it - nor would it be reasonable to expect this to be done. If you have issues with a project, you bring them up with your supervisor as they arrive, not expect them to be dealt with after it's been handed in.

As an example - in my maths courseworks, I'd get a tick if it was right and a cross if it was wrong, not detailed worked instructions explained in red ink... I'm not going to get that from the council when I design the bridge wrong, am I? No, the bridge will fall down, and I'd better hope I have adequate professional liability insurance, as I'm supposed to be the expert.
University teaches you how to teach yourself to be an expert in a subject. It doesn't teach you to be an expert in a subject - and usually graduates only discover this after landing their first professional job.