THE SCHOOL OF PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY
Student:Staff Forum
Confirmed Minutes of the Meeting held on 25TH October 2013
Present:
Staff:
Dr Alison Voice, Dr Simon Connell, Dr Hugo Christenson, Dr Samantha Pugh, Martin
Iles, Jessica Severn (minutes)
Students:
Caleb Elliott, Charles Harries, William Henry Guthrie, Daniel Murgatroyd (1st Year),
Joel Briscoe, Jonathan Foster (2nd Year), Adam Infante (Chair), Craig Lamkin, Lucien
Roach, Erick Hinds Mingo, William Montgomery Lewis Cameron (3rd Year), Frazer
Parker, Francis Ridgeon, Joseph Allen, Godwin Madho, (4th Year).
Other:
N/A
Apologies:
Dr Sarah Harris (4th Year Convenor), Erick Hinds Mingo (3rd Year), Christopher
Hamer (Physoc Representative).
13/1
13/2
1. Chair Welcomes Members
The Chair welcomed the members of the forum. Each member of the forum introduced themselves and
stated their role at the forum this year.
2. Minutes of the meeting on 19 October 2012
Confirmed by the forum.
3. PG and Year 4 Feedback
13/3
PGT- Currently recruiting.
13/4
Year 4- There student raised an issue with the PHYS5014M Literature Review, that the guidelines for
how to complete the literature review are unclear and vary depending on which supervisor each student
has. Whilst the supervisor is best placed to advise each student appropriately for the project, it was
suggested that for next year examples of the literature reviews could be taken from this year’s 4th year
cohort. Students agreed.
13/5
Year 4- Students raised questions about PHYS5431M Current Topics in Research which is new this
year. They felt that with only 2 major written assignments it could be broken down into more manageable
parts. Also one of the coursework assignments is due at a similar time to the project literature review.
The method of choosing which topic to write about is a bit hazy, and although the aim is that students
listen to talks about areas of physics which are new to them, it is hard sometime to know how to write this
up. Action Point: AMV to raise this with the module leader.
13/6
Year 4- Since students only study a few lecture modules in 4th year it is unlikely that students have an
equal balance of modules in each semester. There was a discussion of the merits of such balance, with
SC suggesting it could be useful having more time in second semester to work on the project (SC).
However the balance of module options in each semester will be reviewed by TSEC.
13/7
Year 4-One student said he was unhappy that the Quantum Information Science now has Quantum
Computation as a prerequisite when it did not used to. He did not take this in the 3 rd year and now he
must take it in Semester 1 of Year 4 which he did not expect. AMV apologised for this situation and said
that the 4th year optional modules will be reviewed again this year, to iron out any inconsistencies.
13/8
4. Year 3 Feedback
The current 3rd year Physics with Nanotechnology students raised the fact that in 2012/13 academic year
there had been a failure of equipment in the Nanotechnology Laboratory and wondered if they had been
disadvantaged by it. The students were told at the time that there were other tasks that could be carried
out during such periods but this was not the case. SC stated that there were no contingency plans for the
first week, in which the multiple breakdowns occurred, and therefore the marks for this particular
experimental group were discarded and their average made up from the other 6 experiments. In
subsequent week systems were put in place in the event of equipment failure and students were not
marked down for experiments where they lost time due to equipment failure. The discarding of marks and
moderation process took place at the end of the course, but the information was (mistakenly) not
transmitted to the students concerned.
13/9
Third Year students are very happy with new lecturer Dr Robert Purdy and are happy with the Statistical
Mechanics module taught by Sarah Harris. There seems to be a lot of handouts but this is a positive
thing. Action Point: AMV to feed this back to module leader.
13/10
There is an issue with the Third Year Advanced Laboratory lab manual. The instructions for SEM was a
bit outdated. Action Point: AMV will pass this on to the modules leader to action an update for this
manual.
13/11
3rd year students questioned the balance of availability of optional modules in each semester. This has
been checked and there is actually only one 10 credit module more in semester 2.
13/12
There are not enough Physics and Astronomy core reading list books available in the Library to meet
student demand. Those which were particularly short were Blundell and Mandl. Action Point: AMV will
ask if there can be more of these books made available for Short-term loan in the Library.
13/13
The third year Photonics module has been timetabled on a Wednesday afternoon (1pm-2pm). MI stated
that while every effort was made to avoid Learning and Teaching sessions being scheduled on a
Wednesday afternoon this could not always be the case due to staff and student timetables. MI will try to
avoid this happening on the timetable in future.
13/14
It was not made clear to Physics students before they enter third year that the Introduction to Philosophy
module is not a Physics module. It was suggested that this could be highlighted at the end of year
review meeting (year 2) so that students would be prepared for it to be taught in a different style from a
typical Physics module. AMV and JS will ensure this is highlighted to the current second years at their
end of year review meeting next summer when going through their options for their third year.
5. Year 2 Feedback
13/15
13/16
There have been complaints about the second year Quantum Mechanics module. The main issue is the
structure of the lectures and the context in which they are given information. As well as limited
explanation about certain equations and their use. The students are particularly struggling with the
maths. Unfortunately due to various staffing circumstances the students had missed out on some of the
key Maths before starting this module as it was previously taught in semester 2 of second year instead of
semester 1. There is a lot of frustration amongst the second years. This has been noted by the staff and
many discussion and action have been taken to help alleviate problems. AMV reminded the Year 2
students that are having an academic tutorial in Week 5 to work on some of this content. There was a
discussion following on from this one that a lot of the Quantum Mechanics lecture content is based
around Jacob Dunningham’s book and it was suggested that Year 2 representatives should encourage
the other second years to buy the book because it has actually been found to be helpful to the students in
older years. This issue will continue to be closely monitored to enhance the students’ learning.
6. Year 1 Feedback
First year students raised the issue that the Maths1 module leader has had to make amendments to the
handouts during the lecture because she has inherited them from another lecturer and is discovering
errors. It means first years that have not been able to attend the lecture have inaccurate notes. Students
are worried that if they miss the corrections it could set them back for the exam. RDO said it is positive
the lecturer is noticing these mistakes and a shame that it is only discovered after printing 200 plus
handouts. RDO suggested to the students that they could approach the lecturer if they missed a lecture
to see if there are any differences to the notes.
13/17
Some first years were unsure what work had to be submitted for the laboratory module, and by when.
Although this is spelled out in the laboratory handbook student would appreciated a reminder as they are
still new to university procedures. AI suggested that the first years could go to the Laboratory
Convenor/Tutor for advice.
13/18
The first years reported that they are unclear which parts of Tipler they are supposed to be reading for
the Quantum lectures. Could be advised on the VLE or by email which section they could read. AMV to
report this back to the module leader
13/19
The first year reps reported that a lot of time is wasted in the larger lectures distributing notes to students
who are late. Action Point: AMV to ask first year lecturers to monitor this and devise sensible procedure.
13/20
VLE
When asked to comment on the VLE Students said they haven’t noticed any changes but they have no
complaints.
13/21
One student reported that some notes on the VLE were unreadable for Gavin Burnell’s module. Action
Point: AMV to mention to the lecturer.
13/22
DATE/TIME OF NEXT MEETING
Originally set for November 22nd at 13:00. Too many of the students may have lectures. Action Point: JS
to check and potentially rearrange.
13/23
13/24
AOB
AI asked if students should be eating in the study room. AMV said it is the student’s choice. Consensus
said that they would like the option of being able to eat in there. AI said that Course Reps should spread
the word to students that they should be more vigilant about when they see students leaving litter etc.
AI said that more examples needed in the third year Photonics module. Content being lectured at fast
pace with no examples. (JS) Students could feed this back in Week 5 surveys.
Signed: ……………………………………………..
(Dr. Alison Voice, Director of Student Education)
Date: …………………..
Carried Forward Actions 2013-14
Date
25/10/13
Minute
ref
13/4
13/5
13/9
13/10
13/12
13/14
13/15
13/18
13/19
13/21
13/22
ACTION
AMV to suggest examples for literature review
are collected this year by 4th year convenor and
made available on the VLE for next year’s
PHYS5014M students.
AMV to raise the format/structure of the
PHYS5431 module with the module leader for
next year.
AMV to feed good feedback for PHYS3440 AND
PHYS3510 to module leaders.
AMV to raise the issue of an update of the
Advanced Lab manual with the module leader
AMV is going to see if more of Physics and
Astronomy core books for the course can be
made available for Short-term loan in the Library.
AMV and JS will ensure it is highlighted that to
the current second years at their end of year
review meeting 2014 that the Third Year
Philosophy modules are Philosophy modules
and not Physics modules and thus take a
different style.
AMV to continue to monitor the teaching of
Second Year Quantum Mechanics and act
appropriately.
RDO/AMV to ask the module leader of Year 1
Quantum Mechanics to specify which chapters
of Tipler he will be focusing on.
AMV to ask first year lecturers to monitor the
time wasted distributing lecture notes to students
late to lectures and devise sensible procedure.
AMV to mention to module leader about lecture
notes on the VLE.
JS to check if November 22nd at 13:00 is viable
as a meeting time for all Student:Staff forum
representatives.
Responsibility
AMV
Completed
18/11/2013
SAH to
identify at
least 4
good
reviews
Yes
AMV
AMV
AMV
Week 5
Week 5
Module due
to be
restructured
Yes
AMV
AMV/JS
AMV
To be
completed
next May
Core
syllabus to
be revised.
Yes
AMV/RDO
AMV/First Year
Lecturers
AMV
Yes
Yes
Week 5
JS