used on Tuesday 2nd October 2012 with year 2 students on D&T education course at Nottingham Trent University

1. Some Key Issues for Returning Students 2012

2. Some key issues for you as returning
students
• Important changes at NTU
– Grade Based Assessment
– Tutorials for returning students
– Course changes
• Important issues
– How will this year be more academically stretching?
– One year closer to graduation
– Services & support
– Your involvement in the course

3. Grade Based
Assessment
• NTU has produced a 5
minute introductory film
about Grade Based
Assessment to provide
an overview of this topic
• Today we’re just going to introduce the topic
• We will come back to this later this term
• Short Discussion Activity
• We’re going to watch the film
• Please discuss in pairs and small groups any questions that
immediately occur to you from the film
• We’ll have a few minutes to discuss them as a group

4. Course Changes
• Key course changes this year
– Feedback on coursework – 3 week turnaround now formally part of institutional
practice
– Course structure & processes
– Changes in course personnel

5. Academic tutorials
• Purpose of the tutorials
– Academic integration
– Students developing the approaches and skills needed to succeed in this subject
– Social & Professional
– Students feeling that they belong within the course community & increasingly in
later years looking at future career
• Short discussion activity
– How did you find the tutorials useful last year?
– What would you like to gain personally from the tutorials this year?

6. How will this year be
more academically
stretching?
• University courses are designed to be more stretching as each year
progresses, some key differences include:
– More independent learning
– Extended projects
• Short discussion activity
1. What your expectations about the academic challenge of this year?
– How do you expect to be working?
2. During last year, what did you find challenging about independent learning?
– What was the best piece of independent learning you did?
– & what implications does that have for how you work this year?

7. Services & Support
• Academic Support
– If you have an academic query, remember you should normally start with the
lecturer/ module leader
– Additional academic support is available from the library and specialist staff
within the schools
• Library
– The library offers workshops designed to help you engage with more complex
course work and use more sophisticated databases.
• Student Support Services
– NTU offers extensive student support available at the Student Services Centres
– You’ll be able to find more information about services offered in the ‘returners
e-zine’ emailed out during Welcome Week
• Student Charter
– The Student Charter lays out expectations for the roles of the University and for
students themselves

8. One year closer to graduation
• There are a few key messages to share
• All students
– Your CV will be improved by building up a portfolio of paid and voluntary
experiences
– It’s best to start developing these experiences now, rather than leaving it late
into the academic year
– Advice is available from Careers & Placement Service website and facebook
pages
• 2nd year students
– don’t leave it to the final year & consider taking part in Acceler8

9. Your involvement in the course
• Course reps
• This year there will be the following opportunities for your feedback
to help develop the course
– Programme committee
– Course leader/ student meeting
• Some of the key changes implemented due to feedback in the past
few years include:
– Staggering submission dates
– Feedback provided online
– Timings of taught sessions
– Increased opportunity of working in schools
– Opportunities to meet other year groups
– Supporting students with dyslexia in receiving extensions to work & submitting
work in appropriate ways
– End of year show for year 2
– Streamlining format of NOW/ improved training in the use of NOW