TUTORIAL REPRESENTATIVES MEETING
29 FEBRUARY 2012, 13-14.00
CMB Seminar Room 5
MINUTES
Present:Dr Sara Dorman (Course Organiser), Dr Michal Rozynek (SeniorTutor),Andrew Kelly (Course Secretary) taking notes
Laurel Terrio, Vilde Rodin, Leonie von Hammerstein, Jordan Lesser-Roy, Sarah Hobkirk, Ryan O’Fee, Karin Vajta Engstrom, Elizabeth Vanhorne, Emily Merline, Rachel Botta, Emily Yarrington, Hannah Rae, Sarah Clark, Yiva Longva, Hector Freyne, Daniel Renshaw, Ted Angus, Andrew Seed, Gennie Allcott, Marko Supronyuk, Andie Cockerill (Tutorial Representatives).
- INTRODUCTION
Dr Michal Rozynek and Dr Sara Dorman outlined the structure of the meeting and explained that this is an opportunity for feedback from students. Everyone present at the meeting introduced themselves and the Course Organiser asked Students to provide feedback on DCP.
- LECTURES
Note at the time of the meeting students only had lectures on Mexico and Germany.
2.1A rep commented that the George Square Lecture Theatre is too warm, Sara Dorman agreed that there is poor air circulation at this venue. Course Secretary will inform Servitors / Estates.
2.2 Reps appreciated that lecture slides were uploaded to WebCT before the lecture and another noted it was useful for students to print off slides beforehand and make notes on the printed PPT. A rep commentedthat the PowerPoint acted as a summary that the lecturer then expanded on during the lecture. Also, another rep noted thatMexico slides - unlike Germany - had some notes on the PPT.
Michal pointed out the amount of information on lecture slides reflect the variety of teaching styles as much as anything. Both Sara and Michalnoted that it is about listening and digesting material during lectures. Sara also added that student essays/exams shouldn’t exactly replicate what lecturers say during lectures.
A rep queried whether lectures could be recorded as this has been done in the School of Law. Sara was not against it in principle and noted that distance educationdoes happen however Sara was concerned this would have a deleterious affect on lectures in respect of student attendance as well as student concentration for those who attend if they knew the lecture was going to be recorded and made available on WebCT.
2.3Reps liked the fact that three different lecturers taught the course which made them appreciate different lecture styles and Michal also noted that this is a good facet of the course.
2.4 Reps questioned the logic in providing easy to locate academic links to YouTube for example which they can find on their own rather than links to harder to find content which the average student may not make the effort to locate. Both Sara and Michal commented that this was helpful advice andwill put the emphasis on more in-depth links (in future).
2.5 A Rep suggested that the Mexico lectures were overly packed with history and it was difficult to decipher what was important. Michal noted that there was not an obvious way of filtering this out (within the context of the course). Another rep also thought this and they did not have enough comparative information to write an essay/exam question on Mexico.
Sara suggested going to the readings to get a full understanding on subjects such as political parties and government systems. Also, Sara noted that it was not about dates but to get the gist of say state formation, what it means, the implications and convey what makes Mexico Mexico or Germany Germany.
2.6 Reps thought it was good to compare say the German Chancellor to the British Prime Minister, the Bundestag to Parliament and the Mexican Congress to the US Congress. Sara noted that the student body is changing to more US/International students and queried whether these UK comparisons are still appropriate but the consensus was they are still relevant.
3.0 TUTORIALS
Senior Tutor Michal Rosynek asked students to provide feedback on tutorials.
3.1 Reps expressed concerns about the essay plan in terms of usefulness, some thought it would have been more helpfulto have a general discussion on structure. Another rep noted that in History the essay plan was given a mark within the tutorial which made students thinkmore as well as putting more effort in.
Some reps thought the mock question didn’t relate well to the actual essay questions. A rep noted that students can get hung up on structures and plans when they could spend their time more usefully on other work.
Michal also talked about the tutorial plans as guidance only which tutors are free to change to suit their tutorials. It is up to each tutor whether they do the essay plan and generally would like to avoid compulsion. Michal acknowledged that in some instances students can get positive feedback on the essay plan but score poorly in the actual essay (which can lead to disgruntled students). Michal will make tutors aware that mock question essay plans should link well with essay questions.
Sara summed up this part of the discussion saying that students should be now gaining common skills to essays, building their portfolio of skills and as they move up the school these skills should become second nature to them.
3.2A rep was concerned that tutorial discussions can revert to idle chit-chat when students split into groups. However another Rep noted that dividing people into groups worked well as long as the tutor oversees the task ensuring people get back on topic when they drift. A rep also commented that with DCP country focused (rather than the broader IPIR)this allows for more tutoring engagement.
Michal noted that the group dynamic is different depending on which tutorial you are in, some need more guidance than others and no one size fit all. Sara noted it is about getting the balance right on how much the tutor is involved.
3.3Reps discussed a possible compulsion aspect of doing tutorial tasks with tutors being tougher on students. A rep described how a tutor on another course chased up students by email that didn’t do the work and ‘shaming’ them into action. Another rep noted that students had to ‘perform’ an additional tutorial task when they don’t do the work.However other reps commented that it is about self-discipline and if students don’t do the work it’s their responsibility not the tutors.
Michal said in tutorials it is usually obvious which student hasn’t done the work and there is anelement of self-shaming involved. Tutors should make it clear that inadequate reading disrupts learning and doesn’t allow students to get the most out of tutorials.
4.0 READINGS
4.1 A rep was concerned that the core text came across with an American bias as well as being simplistic and condescending while another rep suggested including other states more such as France. Sara pointed out that the presentation of the material and editing could improve however the chapters had been written by some of the best people in their subject.
Other students thought it was a good thing the core text was easy to read as they learned more than had it been a complex book. Reps also praised the graphics and statistics in the book as this gave the reader a numerical sense of what’s happening in these countries.
4.2Reps commented that some readings can be too similar rather than comparative. Sara asked reps to email her noting which weeks/instances they thought this was the case. Sara noted that some of the readings are subtly different and can depend on the inference during tutorials.
4.3 Reps were appreciative that some of the readings had been scanned and are available on line as it’s much more accessible for students. A rep did comment that the readings at the start of the course – for Mexico - appeared to be more of a list of facts than a reading list.
4.4 Reps raised the question of providing a reading list specific to essay questions but others commented that essays all from the same sources would be uninteresting and repetitive. Another rep felt unprepared to write the essay as they don’t yet have an understanding of comparative methods - Sara noted that it was very much a learning process.
4.5 A rep commented on the amount of readings to cover at essay deadline time noting that the tutorial quality goes down and questioned whether having fewer readings around this time would help. Sara noted that this tends to be factored in when compiling reading lists and its part of being at University to juggle tasks.
4.6 A rep noted they were still having problems accessing a reading link, Michal suggested trying a different browser or contacting Information Services.
5.0 ANY OTHER BUSINESS
5.1 Sara suggested that should reps have any further comments please email her or Michal.
5.2 A rep queried using the WebCT emailing system as Tutor Elodie Fabre had apparently been doing. Michal will remind tutors to only use normal ‘internet’ email but WebCT can be used for announcements.
5.3Meeting closed at 14.00
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