Lectures, Lab Sessions and Tutorials

Statistics and Operations Research: Students felt that while the theory learnt was satisfactory, they did not get much opportunity to practically apply it. A positive of online lectures was that they could be recorded which was preferable due to frequent changes in their timetable. One complaint was that the course material is very dense and perhaps the amount of material in the syllabus could be reduced to be more relevant.

Mathematics: Many students felt that certain aspects of the syllabus were not explained properly. The main reason echoed throughout responses was that in certain study units, formal proofs to theorems were provided without much insight into the previous steps of the mathematical process, causing students to learn material by heart rather than understanding how to get to the proof at hand. This was only amplified by the fact that one could not ask questions during pre-recorded lectures and online lectures automatically lessen student engagement. This problem likely goes both ways, so lecturers would also find it difficult to teach online rather than physically.

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Physics: Whilst the consensus is that the lectures are of a good standard, students felt that online learning was exhausting, albeit necessary considering the pandemic. They also felt that there were too many lectures for what amounted to memory work that could be done outside of class. On that point, students wish for more problem sheets (with exam type questions and worked examples) that are not necessarily assignments as they felt reading off the notes was not enough to prepare them for exams.

Biology: Most lecturers were very open to discussion and encouraged students to ask questions during lectures, although the format of lectures themselves lead to a lot of talking ‘at’ instead of talking ‘to’, with students focused on taking notes rather than listening since many lecturers did not provide notes. Pre-recorded lectures were found to be unhelpful due to the discursive nature of the science. When they happened, hybrid lectures were very enjoyable and welcoming.

Chemistry: Whilst a degree of confusion is understandable given the situation, there was a prevailing problem in that online lectures tended to be scheduled right before physical ones thus defeating the point of an online lecture as one still had to be on campus. Chemistry students felt unprepared for their exams preferring assigned work to reading from textbooks and would have preferred more example exam questions during the lecture.

Geosciences: Lecturers were very helpful although assignments were overwhelming due to their length. Students also found it unfortunate to miss out on the geology fieldwork and the skills that could have been gained one suggestion was perhaps to host it next year. Geoscience students found it difficult to learn Saga and GIs online.

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Statistics and Operations Research: Students felt that tutorials slots were often used as additional lectures and would have liked more past papers to be worked out. The tutorials that were hosted were, however, well received.

Mathematics: Some students were disappointed that tutorials often served as an added lecture instead of a means to address difficulties. Instances of pre-recorded tutorials, although these were a minority, were felt to defeat the purpose of a tutorial. Many students found in person lectures to be much more enjoyable and useful. The students felt that tutorials and seminars are very useful tools for improving their skills and while in person would be best, they said that online were not bad overall.

Physics: There were suggestions of working out the aforementioned problem sheets and worked examples during more frequent tutorials. Many felt that they would have benefitted had model answers been provided for questions on the problem sheets. Physical tutorials would have been better

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as students would have been more inclined to work and would not be forced to answer problems in front of the rest of the class.

Biology: Tutorial sessions should be introduced especially for non-open book exams that may occur in the future. Biology students were open to the idea of tutorials, the ones hosted were helpful in accounting for missed content or preparing for content in future study units.

Chemistry: Chemistry students were open to the idea of more tutorials. Online tutorials were given preference as students are able to enter them and ask questions more comfortably.

Biology: Students would have found labs to be more useful if feedback was provided.

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Biology: One student said “When choosing my elective units I felt that I was informed due to the fact that I had access to the detailed study-unit descriptions of both units on the UM website, however it could have been more helpful to provide said descriptions for each unit on the application paper that gives a general idea on what the unit is about, then allowing for students to check on the um website if a more detailed description is required to make a decision.”

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