Thank you all for your comments on the module and on the seminars. I took a sample of thirty responses for pertinent questions: below are the outcomes.
For the statement, Tutor was good at explaining, 5 strongly agree (17%), 21 agree (70), 4 (13) had no firm opinion
For the statement, Tutor made the subject interesting, 9 strongly agree (30), 14 agree (47), 7
(23) had no firm opinion
For the statement, I received appropriate support and advice on this module, 3 strongly agree
(10), 22 (73) agree, 5 had no firm opinion (17)
For the statement, Overall I am satisfied with the quality of the module, 3 (10) strongly agree,
16 (53) agree, 8 (27) no firm, 2 (7) disagree (and one student did not answer)
There was a range of qualitative responses.
A number of students said that they would like there to be clearer questions in class: I shall now focus the seminars around a key question.
A number of students said that they would like more debate: hopefully this will start to happen more this term.
There was general satisfaction with the presentations on outside topics. This is good to hear, since they will hopefully be useful for you all in the future, and I would encourage to think about these topics further and try to use them more in your work.
There were a few responses where students said that they found it difficult to contribute.
Hopefully, as the seminars become more student-run, this issue will ease.
As a final note, I would like to add that you are not expected to have perfectly polished responses to the material. You are encountering difficult ideas, and they will take a while to properly sink in. You are expected to come to the seminars willing to try out ideas, to give your impressions of the material. If you are unsure about an idea, if you have an insight but are unsure what to do with it, I would strongly encourage you to share it, and to feel free to say, ‘I’m not sure about this idea, can anyone else add to it?’ The seminar depends on your willingness to share and discuss.
On the whole, the feedback for the seminars was positive. Please see the other sheet for the response to feedback on the lecture and on the module as a whole.
Best wishes
Tom