It seems that the Group Tuition Policy has led to quite a lot of students signing up to tutorials but the number that attend seems not to have changed. For example, for a tutorial last night, I had more than 10 on my list of attendees but only 3 attended - a similar number to the same tutorial last year.
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Group tuition and attendance
Monday, 9 Jan 2017, 11:38
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And from the other side of the fence Patrick, it has also destroyed my tutor group and shredded any relationship I might have built up with my tutor this year.
Even so, my gripe is not with the changes but the way they were made. The OU runs entire modules on how not to make avoidable management cockups just like this one.
Chris
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Thanks for the comment, Chris
From my side of the fance, I can also see losses. Two of my three students last night were in my group and the other one was a good and cooperative student but it is unavoidable that I know my students better. The change seemed to try to solve a problem that was not there as students had always been able to come to other tutors' tutorials but the tutor could reasonably focus on their own students needs in planning and the "guests" had to fit in. I had had guests many times (and like almost all OU students, they were very cooperative and keen to fit in).
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Exactly Patrick,
More important than the immediate consequences for me is the extent to which my confidence in the OU is undermined. We all know the tired old script: "unacceptable situation", "lessons will be learned" etc. and we all know this is smoke and mirrors to cover for people who are paid (by my tuition fees) to know better.
As it is, this year I feel utterly isolated and not part of a university at all, no platitudes are going to change that or my low opinion of the OU.
Chris
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the last online tutorial I attended, the tutor said she had 20 students booked, however only 10 attended, also there was a waiting list for the only other online tutorial for that block of the module, (I don't know if there was a waiting list for the tutorial I attended as the button only shows it's booked),
I have been a guest on many foreign language tutorials for help with speaking practice, I've always felt welcome and accepted, this facility is no longer available to students and it is leaving me seriously wondering if I can continue foreign language modules as I live on an island and getting speaking practice is very difficult,
Frances
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Thanks for the comments, Frances and Chris
I think that your Tutors are as frustrated by the mistakes made by highly paid managers as you are. I think/hope that lessons have been learned and that things will be better next year.
Patrick