Reflections from Students

The requirements gathering proved unexpectedly rich and deserves closer attention, even though the project was primarily about tool development. Considerable content was generated, covering learning processes, teaching style, academic provision, timetabling and many other aspects. Its extent can only be briefly covered by a few paragraphs, but it is hoped that the following, gathered from the Chemistry undergraduates, indicates the range and depth of what was recorded.

Students expressed themselves very freely, showing few signs of reticence. Their feedback was constructive, for example, commenting if the pace was too fast: one student recorded that a lecturer wrote so much that his hand ached and further there was little pause for explanation so that he could digest the concepts. This was evidently a disincentive to reading what had been written as in a later entry he noted that he had just come to realise that the notes were actually very thorough, covering most of what he needed for his tutorials.

At the same time, students would give credit where they thought it was due.

'I've found our tutor .. to be clear and very happy to pause in her method to explain what she is doing if we don't quite see something that is usually quite obvious. This is really helpful to set in the mind the basics of the topic.'

They also remarked on whether lecturers were enthusiastic or appeared uninterested, which affected their own motivation: one whose manner was 'ever-enthusiastic' meant 'i never get bored in his lectures even though usually i find the maths pretty hard.' Some observations were perspicacious: about one tutor it was written, 'clearly had lined up the topics that he wanted to touch upon and had it in mind where he was going to take the discussion.'

Entries could be instructive and humorous: one student remarked on how practical books were very easy to follow and that a demonstrator was very helpful, especially in providing directions on where to find the dustpan and brush for broken glass!

After a few weeks, some general changes were noted. Students recorded when they felt they were making progress and gaining in confidence, attributing some of this to they way they were being taught. 'The work load has not increased as much as i thought it would, if anything getting lighter! Either that or i'm getting used to it!' This would be encouraging not only for the student, but also for a tutor.

Some of the reflections themselves changed in nature and would consider wider implications. For instance, one entry compared people's backgrounds in relation to the subject matter:

'I have found it hard to follow a lot of the mathematical content of the course so far, not having studied further maths at school, but there are also students who had taken gap years and have not applied functional maths for nearly 16 months... this in my mind would make the material almost unapproachable.'

Observations were sometimes at several levels. For instance, in one entry a student makes an observation primarily about lecturing style, in which he feels the lecturer ought to take more time to interact with the audience than the blackboard, as he continues to write new notes on the board while explaining something that he had introduced previously without checking that everyone is following. The student then reflects on the situation and sees the implications, seeing that this interaction would need extra time and ends up by suggesting the extension of the course by a lecture or two.