Staff Responses to Student Feedback on Units of Study

At the end of each semester, students in the core unit of study are asked to complete the Unit of Study Evaluation (USE) survey designed and administered by the Institute for Teaching and Learning. Staff draw on the results of those surveys to develop and revise the unit of study. As part of that process, they write a brief response to the surveys which is made available here.

Responses to student feedback on History units that are part of the American Studies major can be found on the Department of History web site

AMST2601 American Foundations 2008

This was the first year for this core unit in the American Studies major, with 49 students enrolled, and six staff from History, English and Film Studies sharing the teaching. Students reported a high level of satisfaction with the unit – 80% agreed or strongly agreed that they were satisfied with the quality of the unit, for a mean score of 4.10 out of 5; and 89% agreed or strongly agreed that the teaching helped them learn effectively, for a mean score of 4.21 out of 5.

Most importantly, the unit succeeded in offering an interdisciplinary foundation for the major. Responding to the statement that the unit encouraged thinking and helped to develop an enhanced diversity of ideas, attitudes and approaches, 83% of students agreed or strongly agreed, for a mean score of 4.11 out of 5. Comments revealed that students enjoyed the unit’s approach:

• I enjoyed the variety of texts, modules and subjects – it helped me to obtain a rounded understanding of America
• The interdisciplinary approach was fantastic – it facilitated the development of a more rounded perception of cultural studies than what is available throughout any other disciplines
• I really enjoyed it – loved that it took from a number of different areas. Liked having different lecturers and really enjoyed doing other subjects that I have been doing at uni

In 2009, we will retain the modules, each incorporating a range of disciplines and perspectives, but reduce them in number, from four to three, and focus them on core national myths.

One element of the unit that clearly did not work was the assessment, which consisted of three short essays and a presentation. Many students found 1000 words too few to allow them to grapple with the broad questions and to communicate ideas about a variety of texts. Some also felt that the presentations left too little time for discussion and participation in tutorials. Reducing the number of modules from three to four will allow for fewer assessment tasks in 2009. We also plan to use a greater variety of assignments: a 1000 word close reading paper, a 2000 word essay and a 1500 word take home exam.