Are your assignments not back on time? Do the comments consist of a couple of ticks and unintelligible scribble in the margin? Is your lecturer not making enough time for you to discuss your work?
Then let RUSU know - we'll fix it! It takes only a minute to fill out our new system for reporting inadequate turnaround times and unsatisfactory feedback from your lecturers.
Go to our survey page to help us help you.
Feedback.
This has been an issue for significant numbers of undergraduates for several years now, with students and RUSU campaigning hard for the University to tackle all the problems associated with it.
As far back as I can remember, successive Vice Presidents (Education) have run campaigns targeting how we approach feedback and have made huge in-roads in improvements on degree programmes. From Ryan Bird to Pete Jeffreys to Vicky Clarke, my immediate predecessors have worked long and hard with students and the University to get lecturers and departments to take feedback seriously.
Projects are being piloted across campus that aim to improve feedback provision. Just a small sample of these include the ASSET initiative that will roll out interactive audio/visual feedback to all students; certain Schools are delivering feedback sessions for students to improve understanding; other Schools are developing 'staff reminders' if feedback is late or absent entirely; and some degree programmes specifically incorporating assessment and feedback learning outcomes into taught modules.
Instructions have been passed down from the University's highest committees to all departments with a directive that all students must be informed of the deadline for submission of work and the date that work will be returned with feedback. If that date is going to be missed, then there has to be an adequate explanation and students must be informed. Turnaround time varies from department to department (indeed, from module to module); however, some areas of the University are excelling in providing quality feedback within the agreed deadlines.
Others, unfortunately, are not.
If your lecturer fails to return a piece of work to you and has no explanation, then RUSU are here to help. We'll fight the battle so that you don't have to! Simply head to our survey page where you can log a few details about the module and assignment, and we will follow it up for you.
You shouldn't be penalised for the odd lecturer letting both sides down. Constructive and timely feedback is an essential tool for improvement and progression - don't let another assignment slip through the net.
To find out more contact Tommy Gilchrist, Vice President (Education), at t.gilchrist@reading.ac.uk
