Unit 6.5        Interview

Here are the same eight questions from exercise 6.4. They come from an interview about academic support at university. Now you have the answers to the questions - but there are two answers below for each question. Click on the one you think  is the real answer to the question. The other one is written in correct English, but just doesn't answer the question.  

Approximately how many students use the student learning centre on campus?  

Online learning support has increased by more than 20% a year over each of the last five years. Use of this service is, of course, much easier to measure accurately since all online consultations are automatically logged in our database, including useful data on the length of consultations, numbers of questions asked and frequency of usage.

We estimate that about 10 % of students visit the student learning centre each year, but many more benefit from our support by attending study skills lectures, classes and using our online materials.

What principles do you follow in providing academic support for students?

The underlying principle behind academic support is to help students develop skills which will help them to become better students. In other words, helping them to help themselves.

The pioneers in our field developed academic support services in the 1980's, but our own service has its origins in the mid-1990's. We have always been interested in examples of good practice, which we try to follow within our own context, within the constraints of funding and staffing levels.

Is there any correlation between academic performance and the English language level of the students?   

Both of these are difficult to measure and there are many factors which influence academic performance – motivation is another important one. However, research does show a link between English language level and final grades, so it’s important for students to keep working on their language skills at university whatever their subjects are.

Assessment of English language performance is difficult for a number of reasons. Researchers have disagreed over the criteria for measurement and also the best instruments for eliciting authentic performances. However, it would be wrong to say that no progress has been made in this crucial field.

What kinds of difficulties do students have in addressing the question in examinations and assignments?   

The temptation is to hand in assignments as soon as they are completed. Most students find it difficult to read their own work and are impatient to move on. However, they do need to realise the importance of checking carefully in order to correct mistakes and to improve the coherence and clarity of their answers.

Unfortunately, too many students don’t read the question carefully enough or don’t look back at it often enough when they are writing. We actually offer special classes in reading questions and  planning relevant answers.

What kinds of questions do students find most ambiguous?

The ambiguity of student responses is one of the most serious problems tutors face in marking assignments. This ambiguity may be related to limitations in the student's vocabulary or grammar, but it may also indicate a lack of understanding of the subject matter. Deciding which it is requires judgement and experience.

It’s true that sometimes the fault is not entirely with the students. The ambiguity of questions arises mainly from the lack of information and the use of general words like ‘Discuss X’, which could mean anything! But in that case, all students need to do is ask their tutors for information and examples that are missing in the questions!

What kinds of problems do students have in interpreting data?

There are many reasons why new researchers find it difficult to produce data of sufficient quantity and quality for appropriate analysis. But probably the single most important reason is poor time management. After all, if, their survey fails to produce enough responses, it's not the end of the world - various actions are possible, but all of them require time, which too few researchers have allowed themselves. 

Students who begin to do research quickly find that they can generate huge amounts of data they don’t know what to do with! The old saying about computing is relevant here: garbage in, garbage out! The problem is at the design stage. They need to define their questions more exactly in order to produce data that makes sense at the analysis stage.

Do students sometimes draw the wrong conclusions from their own research?  

Well, ‘wrong’ is perhaps the wrong word! But when you read research reports, you often find that students have not linked together their questions, data and conclusions, so the whole thing doesn’t really make any sense. This is often because they haven’t talked about it until the last moment!

It's extremely common for new researchers to go into experimental research without sufficient theoretical investigation. Many seem to believe that they can somehow fill in the gaps later - but very often go on to find that this later reading completely undermines any research they might have done. 

 

What indications are there that academic support actually works?    

Research shows that too few university staff are aware of the work of those in student learning support. However, where learning advisors work closely with academic or library staff, this awareness is up to twice as high.

As you might expect, we have both qualitative and quantitative evidence for this. There’s a clear correlation between the degree of involvement of the learning centre and the performance of students in their courses. Our aim is to ensure that every student has the support he or she needs – we’re not there yet! 

 

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