16th February 2013
James White
SSCSU Academic Questionnaire Results
In February 2013, SSCSU sent out an academic questionnaire to all undergraduate
students at Sidney Sussex. Individual responses were strictly confidential, optionally
anonymous and would only be viewed by the JCR President (Poppy Morris) and
Academic Welfare Officer (James White). The hope was that therefore some students
may be more honest about their opinion on academic provision at College, and thus it
could work in conjunction with the College’s Academic Questionnaire sent out in early
January. There were 116 responses.
Below are the questions asked (in bold italics) followed by some aggregate results.
1. General
Subject:
- We received responses across a good spread of subjects.
Year:
- We had a fairly even spread across years, with a slightly greater proportion of first and
second years responding.
What grade would you be satisfied with this year?
- Only 5 students would be satisfied with a grade below 2.1; about a quarter of students
would be only satisfied with a first, and the majority would be satisfied with a 2.1.
2. Director of Studies
Do you feel that you have enough individual meetings with your Director of
Studies?
- 86% of students said yes to this question. Although there is still room for improvement,
this is a positive result.
Do you feel that you have a good relationship with your Director of Studies? Would
you go to them for advice? Are they encouraging? Is there anything you would like
to see your Director of Studies do more of?
- Generally, there were very good reports of Directors of Studies. Although some
individual responses were negative, many other students of the same subject had positive
views of their Director of Studies.
If you had an issue with your Director of Studies, who would you most likely go to?
- 43% would go to their tutor, with most remaining people fairly evenly spread between the
senior tutor (22%), another supervisor (14%), the nurse (11%), or nobody (11%).
3. Supervisions
How many other students do you normally have supervisions with? What do you
think a good number is for your subject?
- Most students seemed satisfied with the number of other students in their subjects.
There seemed to be a fair level of heterogeneity in tastes and in responses, especially
between subjects. Some raised issues about some supervisions having too many
students (5+), but equally others also preferred some larger group supervisions.
On the whole, how pleased are you with the quality of your supervisors? (5 is very
James White
16th February 2013
pleased)
- The average was 3.85 out of 5.
Do you feel that you have enough supervisions?
- 82% feel they have enough supervisions.
If you had an issue with one of your supervisors, who would you most likely go to?
- 93% would go to their DoS if they had an issue with a supervisor, with most of the
remaining people going to their tutor.
4. Tutor
How many times have you seen your tutor in the last year?
- Tutors are visited not very often; 57% have seen them either not at all or only once in the
last year. Only one respondent has seen them over six times in the last year.
Do you feel you have a good relationship with your tutor? Would you go to them for
advice? What do you think the role of a tutor should be?
- Only 39% describe themselves as having a ‘good relationship’ with their tutor. From the
responses, it seems to be that in general people are confused about the tutor’s role.
There is a general consensus that if tutors are to be useful, they need to be committed to
the role, and make a genuine effort to relate to the students in a closer way. Either tutors
should become more relevant, or be taken away. Also, many suggested welfare training
for the tutors – I am not sure if this already exists.
5. Work in College
What do you think of the overall work environment in Sidney in your year or subject
and why? Pressured? Supportive? Relaxed?
- The general view of the atmosphere in college is varied; most feel it is supportive, but a
few feel very pressured. Obviously therefore there are things to work on, but on the whole
there was a positive response.
Where do you most like to work in Sidney and why?
- There is a fairly even split between people working in their room and in the library.
Have you been encouraged by your Director of Studies to engage in collaborative
work, e.g. sharing essay plans, working through problems together?
- 39% feel they have been encouraged by their Director of Studies to engage in
collaborative work.
How helpful would you find collaborative work in your subject? (1 is least)
- Students rate the usefulness of collaborative work at 3.51 out of 5, and from comments,
there is a general belief that peer teaching needs to be encouraged Nevertheless, the
importance of collaborative work varied considerably between and within subjects.
Given that it is much easier to opt out of an improved collaborative working provision
than it is for those who want to create their own without College's support, College
should possibly look to improving this for all students. Also, perhaps some students
currently say it wouldn't be helpful because they've not experienced it at Cambridge
before and could be converted to its benefits. Anecdotal evidence – e.g. Sidney
geographers seeing a boost to grades from collaborative working – suggests the
potential success of this type of learning. [N.B. As Academic Welfare Officer I am
James White
16th February 2013
planning to write a sheet referencing all possible areas for collaborative work in
College.]
Do you feel college offers enough places to work collaboratively?
- 48% of students don’t feel college offers enough areas to work collaboratively; 27% don’t
know where they are; the remainder (25%) are satisfied with provision
How much correspondence have you had with the older years in your subject? (1 is
least)
- There is fairly good correspondence with older years (3.14 out of 5), although also room
for improvement
6. Exams
Have you had a mock exam this year?
- 49% say they have had a mock exam, although this only records mocks so far in the
academic year.
Would/do you find a mock helpful?
- 78% (would/do) find it helpful. Many also suggested particular importance in first year
and/or usefulness perhaps just before exams rather than in January. Also, many
suggested that mocks should not take place during Lent term, as this becomes very busy
– either before Lent term (i.e. week zero) or Easter term seems best.
Do you feel that your supervisors have prepared you sufficiently for the exam
format? What changes would you make?
- Many individuals would like to see greater preparation for the exams: this includes more
past paper questions (many suggested in addition to supervision work) and more model
answers for mocks if possible. For essay-based subjects, many would appreciate more
detailed comments and also some exam-style essays (i.e. written, and with time or word
constraints). Many also suggested making some supervisions less specific on one single
essay topic, and also including other topics that may arise in exams.
7. Other
Do you feel that previously when you have given feedback on academic matters in
Sidney it has been listened to?
- 52% of students feel that when they have previously given feedback to college, it has
been listened to.
If there was one academic improvement you would like to see at Sidney, what
would it be? Do you have any other comments?
- The points that came up a lot in extra comments were:
1. Change the tutor system - either by giving them greater influence and attempting to
improve student-tutor relations, or getting rid of them.
2. Make the library more work-based and find a social equivalent somewhere else,
thus encouraging collaborative work [N.B. this is being discussed a lot in SSCSU
Exec Meetings and by the JCR Welfare Team]
3. Better exam provision in supervisions and through the provision of mocks/progress
tests