student feedback and leadership - Office for Learning and Teaching

Part B: Building Leadership Capacity - BUS: School of Economics, Finance & Marketing ART Report
The overall failure rate decreased compared with the same time last year,
but was slightly higher than two years ago. It is difficult to assess whether the
changes made have had any influence on this outcome or whether it is due
to the quality of the students.
Stage 4: Reflect
Based on the results experienced by each of the course Coordinators, plans
have been put in place for further refinement of the initiatives trialled in 2008
as well ideas to be trialled in the future. Each course will be discussed
as follows:
MKTG1025 – Marketing Principles
As a consequence of the feedback from both semesters in 2008, there are
plans for continued trialling of the audience response system using mobile
phones, as well as further development of the podcasts.
ECON1030 – Business Statistics
Since half of the GTS aggregate score is represented by questions relating
to feedback, and is typically rated poorly by Business Statistics students,
the plan for next year is to further improve the forms of feedback made
available for students.
One proposed idea is to replace the four online Perdisco assignments with
three compulsory in-class tests worth 5% each. Each test will consist of two
or three questions that are based on questions from the textbook. Tests will
be handed back to the students in the week following having been marked,
providing sufficient and timely feedback. The general aim of this alternative
form of assessment is to improve the student feedback experience which
will hopefully lead to an improvement in student grades and pass rates. Given
that the tests will be based on questions in the textbook, it is hoped that this
initiative will also further cultivate self directed learning habits. Hopefully these
improvements will be reflected in future GTS scores.
A number of other ideas are in the early stages of development, for example,
running training sessions for staff and the expansion of the assistant tutor role.
Funds for these initiatives have been provided for through the office of the
DVC(Academic). Furthermore, strategies are being considered to identify
“at risk” students by week 7 and scheduling a meeting with them regarding
their studies with the view of addressing any problems.
ECON1010 – Macroeconomics 1
The changes undertaken in 2008 will continue forward for further assessment.
Comparison of GTS scores across the 2008, Semester 2 classes provided
inconclusive evidence to suggest that smaller lectures result in higher GTS
scores since the large class held in Capitol Theatre obtained the highest GTS
score and the smaller lecture classes had higher overall satisfaction index (OSI)
scores. Therefore, a plan for next year is to further assess whether large class
sizes influence a students learning experience and hence lead to poor
satisfaction and low GTS scores. In an attempt to evaluate this, the same
lecturer will teach both a large class in Capitol Theatre along with a class
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