HAVE YOUR SAY

The 2009 National Student Survey has shown that quality and speed of feedback continues to be the most unsatisfactory aspect of a university education. Whilst the level of approval of assessment and feedback actually rose one per cent from last year, to 65 per cent, that figure remains worryingly low in relation to overall satisfaction, which stands at 81 per cent.

The rise in tuition fees over the last few years has seen students begin to assert their rights more forcefully, and confront their universities over falling standards. At a recent protest within the Economics, Finance and Management department at Bristol University, for example, students expressed their dismay that class sizes had risen despite the increase in tuition fees. In some cases, academic staff have come out in full support of student complaints, encouraging them to treat their relationship with universities more like a traditional business-to-customer arrangement. Viewed in this light, a stagnation or decrease in the quality of the product, in this case education, at the same time as its price has trebled, seems outrageous.

Undoubtedly the economic crisis has not helped matters. Universities have not been immune to the effects of the recession, and have seen their incomes slashed. Meanwhile, students have become acutely aware of the need for a high-quality education and qualification and appear more determined than ever to ensure they receive value for money. In one extreme case, an American student sued her New York college for failing to help her into employment following her IT degree.

Whilst the employment of extra staff to reduce class sizes may be unrealistic during the recession, it is generally agreed that universities could improve their feedback to students at little extra cost. Blackboard, who already provide 'virtual learning environments' to universities all over the world, believe they can help streamline the feedback process by 'by providing a consistent online framework that provides academics with the flexibility to manage individual and group assessments whether submitted manually or electronically.' Unfortunately, many universities' adoption of Blackboard has so far amounted to little more than a token gesture in the direction of technological progress; and the facilities often lie there unused as staff and students alike persist with traditional paper-based learning. The implementation of 'virtual learning environments' requires more than simply making them available to academic staff - lecturers have to be taught how to use them, and shown how they can effectively replace older, slower systems of feedback with more efficient online alternatives.

Take, for example, the typical coursework essay. A well-researched essay can take weeks to produce; it is then printed and handed in and the student rarely hears any more about it for at least a month. When it is returned, feedback is often limited to a scrawled paragraph or two on an attached sheet of paper - with a few notes in the margins, if you're lucky. Complicated and expensive 'virtual learning environments' are not necessary to improve on this. The capabilities exist within Microsoft Word - sent as an attachment, an essay can be read, graded and comprehensively commented upon without altering the original text, before being returned to the student by email. To formalize the process, administrative staff can act as an intermediary between lecturer and student. The only action required by universities now is a little extra IT training for lecturers - along with a gentle nudge towards newer feedback systems for the more obstinate among them.

The overall satisfaction level for the UK's university students remains at a relatively healthy level, but there are clearly cost-effective improvements that can be made. Students glide through university receiving a remarkably small amount of individual contact with their tutors; and when feedback does arrive, it is rarely sufficient. Perhaps, through embracing technology, our education sector could arrive at an economical, much-needed solution.