Heads Up for Week Eight
Can it really be Week 8 already? I've already started eating mince pies. Here’s this week’s quick round up of information that might be useful – short points with links to detail where possible. Please use comments section at the end if you want to follow up.
Getting Students to Completing Module Evaluations
As part of NSS Actions this year, the Faculty is aiming for at least 50% response rate by students to their module evaluations. This is tough but as students can complete using their mobile devices in class, it's not impossible. On attending this semester's Subject Committee Meetings, Lucy Turner noticed that some Module Leaders are able to consistently get a high response from students to their module evaluations, which helps with writing Section 5 of the Module Report - the part that includes any action taken as a result of the student feedback and that gets published on the Faculty Student Voice google site, and in the following year's Module Handbook.
One such Module Leader is Dr Khaled Hayatleh in Engineering. We asked him how he does it and here's his response and a copy of Section 5 from one of his Module Reports
University Module Registration Review - any feedback for the first part of this review?
The university is beginning its review of the new module registration process that began last year with the campaign to get existing students to choose their modules during April (if they started in September), with new students registering any changes by Week 0. The rationale behind this also relates to the deadlines for major/minor change process for modules, like this:- up until end of February programme teams submit the changes they want for their modules to be completed and approved by Faculty Committee by end of February;
- during March, the Academic and Student Administration (ASA) get the module and programme changes onto the student information system, making sure there are no issues so they are ready for students to choose;
- during April students choose modules for the following year;
- during May any students timetables with errors are corrected and checked;
- during June, the Timetabling team weave their major and look at the registrations for modules and work out when to timetable modules so they don't clash and how best to fit them in the room space available, given various constraints;
- in July students get issued with a provisional timetable (as numbers on first year modules still need to be confirmed and timetabled).
Students want their timetables as soon as possible so they can plan for their jobs and other responsibilities and in order for that to happen we need to get them to register for their modules during April before the deadline and, have a system that doesn't allow for all the late changes from one module to another that we've had in the past, which scupper any chance of timetabling as numbers on module change constantly and rooms need to change. The new process only allows students to change their modules outside the April window for very particular reasons, such as because they've failed a resit and need to retake.
As a Faculty we are currently looking at whether completely online programmes (where there are no rooming issues) can be exempt from the registration deadlines.
If you have any feedback you want to make for this part of the review, please email me - gdalton@brookes.ac.uk.
TDE Moderation Policy Review
If I had a pound for every time I've read in an External Examiner's report that they'd like to see more evidence of moderation, I'd have about £60.
Anyway moderation can refer to the assessment briefs themselves before they're issued to students, as well as moderation of student work once it's submitted. The Faculty TDE is seeking to update its existing Moderation Policy.
The new draft is out for consultation and you can comment on it.
And finally well done to:
Academic staff in Computing, 100% of whom had their DROP IN hours visible to students in their google calendars at the audit done by the Principal Lecturers Student Experience last week.
