The Student Experience Group

This is the second article focussing on Student Experience Success within the education sector, this time focussing on Edinburgh Napier University, Centre for Law’s 2013 NSS results. A quick look at the NSS data, shows that not only have nineteen of the Centre for Law’s NSS 2013 question results increased, but four have increased by over 15% with Q02: staff have made the subject interesting now boasting a 100% student satisfaction. This article will look at the the philosophy and initiatives that have helped to improve the Centre for Law’s student satisfaction

Coursework preparation

One of the Centre for Law’s recent initiatives has been to show the students examples of good, middle and poor coursework taken from the previous year’s submissions (with student permission and anonymised). The students are then asked to mark the submissions, identify the actual marks that had been awarded, as well as picking out the reasons why. This pushes them to analyse and reach their own conclusions on the coursework submissions whilst also improving the understanding of what is expected from them, helping them to see where they can improve on aspects of their own coursework.

In addition to this initiative the Centre for Law also provides written feedback for each coursework submission within 3 weeks. Individual feedback on coursework is critical to the student’s continued development, as this is what helps the student to understand their grade/mark as well as what is expected and how to improve on future coursework submissions. Ensuring the students receive the feedback soon after submitting, helps to ensures that the coursework is still fresh in their mind, whilst sticking to the communicated timescale (in this case 3 weeks) enables the students to plan when to expect the feedback, helping to maintain engagement.

Exam Feedback

The Centre for Law encourages students to not try and forget about exams once they have been taken, but to instead obtain feedback from each exam they take. The emphasis being that without this the student won’t fully understand what they can do improve or why they got awarded the grade given. If the student does request feedback a staff member devotes time to discuss the information on a one to one basis. This initiative continues to be received very well by the students.

This type of initiative is again built towards developing each student and enabling them to improve their understanding of what is expected from them. If a student is awarded a mark they weren’t expecting this type of support can be crucial in ensuring that the reasons are identified and explained, providing the student with the tools to resolve (or repeat if positive) in order to improve for the next exam. This initiative, improving the students understanding of what is expected, is surely a major contributing factor to the 91% student satisfaction score for Q05 the criteria used in marking have been clear in advance

Careers

Preparing students for life after University is becoming a more and more important aspect of a students studies, a competitive market means that jobs can be difficult to acquire and are certainly not guaranteed as a result of having a degree. In an effort to address this, the Centre for Law has actively involved the University’s careers department in its teaching, as well as inviting former students to provide presentations for existing students on the skills needed for job interview etc. Staff regularly discuss careers with students, whether their chosen career path be within Law or not and how this should influence their choice of modules. These initiatives are very well accepted by the students, improving confidence and helping them to prepare for their life after University as reflected in the Centre for Law’s NSS results, in particular Q12 Good advice was available when I needed to make study choices.

Assessments

Another initiative aimed at preparing the students for life after University, is the Centre for Law’s student assessments that require students to provide advice to a client on a number of legal issues. Typically the assessments include writing a letter to the client, therefore accuracy, literacy, presentation, clarity as well as a good understanding of the law are all important. This type of assessment has enabled the students to apply their skills practically as well develop their understanding of the law. The students have welcomed this initiative as helping them to prepare for life as lawyers as well as enabling them to think strategically and commercially.

The practical application of the skills learnt whilst studying helps students to engage and be interested in their studies. Although unlikely to be the only reason, this initiative is surely a contributing factor to the 100% student satisfaction for Q02: staff have made the subject interesting now.

Nurturing and Socialising

This is less of an initiative, rather a philosophy on how the staff interact, encourage and nurture their students throughout their University life. The Centre for Law is a relatively small school therefore the staff know each student and the students know the staff. This helps the staff to promote a collegiate atmosphere, provide support and interact socially with the students, whether this be within the learning environment or at organised social events such as going out together for a pizza or seeing a topical film (with law content).

Each student is expected to behave like a future professional, to work hard, study hard and write using clear and precise English. Although this appears like a lot to live up to, this expectation is reflected in how staff interact with students. The students realise and appreciate that this philosophy is there to help them prepare for a professional life and acquire jobs in a competitive market.

The Centre for Law’s expectancy of the students is clearly high, but this doesn’t mean that those who struggle are left behind. Classes are run for those whose English skills could be improved and dyslexic students are provided with suitable facilities to ensure they can do their very best.

Throughout all of the Centre for Law’s initiatives, there is the feeling that the students are at the core with every action having their experience and personal growth in mind. Although difficult to quantify, this philosophy is surely one of the main reasons for the Centre for Law’s successful NSS results.

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I hope you have found this second Student Experience Success article useful, if you have any comments, questions or would like to discuss any of this content further please use the comment box at the bottom of the article. Also, you can be alerted when new articles are posted online by either following The Student Experience Group on  Twitter, liking the Facebook page or by entering your details for the newsletter (right hand toolbar). Even better, do all three, to help spread the word.

Finally, I would like to thank Edinburgh Napier University, Centre for Law and Nicholas Grier, Senior Lecturer and Head of the Centre for Law, for sharing their initiatives with The Student Experience Group.