‘Before’ commentary
Crime and Violence is a level 6 module which began life about six years ago as a fairly conventional module that aimed to examine the issue of violence from a critical perspective. Its delivery is blended, with a number of lectures and seminars taking an online approach. It is typically delivered to around 150 students studying Criminology as a single honours degree or in combination with other associated disciplines (for example Sociology): it is also offered as an option to Sociology students. Lectures utilise PowerPoint but other contemporary media is usually drawn into the lecture room and usually forms the core of online sessions so that students can see that the subject matter is contemporary with real life relevance. Classroom based sessions might include investigation of the BBC website (for example) or other online news outlet to assess current news items of relevance to the course materials.
Feedback from students is encouraged informally throughout the module (SurveyMonkey can be useful for this) and annual monitoring takes the form of an institutional student questionnaire, discussions with seminar tutors and comments from external examiners.
‘Process’ commentary
Do we truly ‘own’ our teaching materials? Some might argue that they only come to life when used by our students. My own thoughts are that the concept of ownership tends to include issues of control but I do not want to control how others might use these materials any more than I would seek to control what students do with the lecture notes either during or after the lecture. Feel free to use these lecture materials in whatever way you see fit. I have taken out references to any online media that I use to supplement lecture notes because others will want to use their own examples, their own videos, photographs, weblinks and contemporary references.
Violence is a sensitive topic and issues such as domestic violence, child abuse, race hate, homophobia and violence against the elderly often elicit strong emotions. I urge anyone using these materials to ensure supplemental materials from local level support agencies is made available to students. I have yet to teach this topic without being approached by at least one student wanting to disclose personal issues – so be prepared!
‘After’ commentary
This module has been running for about 6 years now and feedback from students is consistently positive. They seem to like the scope of the topics studied and it is typical for students to demonstrate greater sensitivity to topics that they had previously thought of as sensationalist. In feedback, all students rated the module as either excellent or very good (except for one student who did not answer this question and another who rated the unit as ‘good’) – the majority rated it as excellent. All graded the organization of the module as running smoothly. All students would recommend this unit to other students. When asked what comments they would like to add one student said:
“just the fact that the teaching staff are very informative and to the point which is a good thing. They explain what they want us to do and give enough information for us to succeed in what we do. Very fun way of learning and the most enjoyable module I have taken”.
All students felt that staff were good at explaining the course materials and “made the subject interesting” All students had a clear idea of what was expected of them on this module and when asked to assess the statement "I was clear about what was expected of me in the module" students responded a) definitely agree and b) agree.
All students enjoyed the module, rating it ‘intellectually stimulating’ and having ‘improved my knowledge and understanding’. This high level of satisfaction indicates general satisfaction with the course content and delivery.Although some students approached the group presentation with some trepidation they all welcomed it as a positive alternative to examinations and a significant number of students saw it as a transferable skill that they could add to their CV.
Any other supporting material
Example local level support media – Rape Crisis and DV contact phone numbers etc..
A blended approach can provide a platform for students with specific needs to feel included. An example: a few years ago a student with profound mobility limitations due to a medical condition thanked me for the online elements of the module, explaining that it provided her with a level playing field.
C-SAP OER case study guidance v.11