Follow-up #1: Reflect
Reflection on issues discussed by speaker (James Wisdom)
I’m fairly new to teaching, prior to my post in March 2020 (yes, right at the start of the first lockdown), I’ve worked on and off at CSM as an Associate Lecturer whist also working in the industry. Up until recently I hadn’t really considered the wider context of HE, notably the political context and the impact on future of education. I found James’s lecture really insightful in providing a view into this wider context and plenty of ‘food for thought’.
The discussion around student’s perception of “value for money” was of particular interest as this has come up a few times in staff discussion on our course; how some students are quantifying the course (and their experience) against how much they are paying – number of lectures, number of tutorials, forums, studio time, workshop time, etc. James mentioned that ‘students were viewing “value” based on their current experience, rather than the impact to their future employment and earnings’ – leading to the question of how do we get students to consider their experience at university as “future value”?
Student experience, expectations and how this relates to perceptions of “value” and how students learn is an area that I would like to unpack more. How can we shift perceptions? How can we set realistic expectations at the start of each Stage? How can we enhance the student experience with the current challenges we face – blended learning, working in isolation, large year groups numbers, etc. Just a few big questions to end on (or start on)!