For the last 2 days, 60 people including myself have been locked away in the Skempton Building discussing how Imperial should go forward in improving education and the student experience.
Although the focus was on the student experience in 2020, we were reassured that current students will not be forgotten, with 2020 being the end goal but the ideas will be put into practice as soon as possible.
The event was lead by Debra Humphris, Vice Provost (Education), and her team at the Education Office. I took along a team of students, and there were academics from all faculties as well as representatives from the Library, Registry and the Career's Service.
Issues that were highlighted included how research is seen as more prestigious than teaching, and we were coming up with solutions about how we can celebrate teaching and give it the recognition it deserves. We also spoke about the "type" of student that will be joining the College in 2020- and looking further forward, whether Imperial should dabble in schools or academies. We heard from each of the faculties on their vision for the future, and reassuringly, there are so many passionate members of staff who have great ideas and are working hard to get the best for our students. We spoke to employers to see what they want from Graduates, and how we should decide how to shape our future curriculum. Masterplanning and Imperial West also got a mention, as we debated the role of "space and place" in the learning experience. An event about the future wouldn't be complete without a discussion about technology- with wide disatifaction with Blackboard and some of the technological facilities we currently have.
Another clear theme was that students want to tap into the expertise of academics, but lectures may not be the best way of going about this. The future will hopefully bring more tutorials, more personalised learning, breaking down the barrier between students and research- giving students as many opportunities as possible to get invovled if they want to. There was also much agreement in the room that collaborative learning between different departments would become more prominant in the future, with cross-discipline study and projects reflecting what goes on in the real world after university. Should we be able to do some Chemistry modules then some Physics? All of this collaboration could be helped with communal areas such as hack spaces, again highlighting space (or lack of) as an issue.
Student Enterprise should be supported, but should learning skills to help with start-ups and enterprise become a core part of our curriculum? Should us students have more choice? Should we all learn a language? A humanity? What can Imperial do to keep the best students coming here, and to give them the best student experience during their time here?
Students are over-assessed to death. By final year they have "Senioritis" and have lost all passion for their subject. Students only want to learn what is going to be on the exam, as we are told that exams are important, and at the end of the day they determine whether we pass our degree! We need a complete attitude change to reduce student-stress and to keep our students passionate about their subject. I can't ever envisage degrees without exams, but maybe that's because I'm so used to them!
Final thought: We are a world leading institution. We CAN do research AND teaching!
The enthusiasm is there, the ideas are there, now we just have to DO it- and I will be making sure College do it!
If you're interested in what happened then check out the #edforesight hashtag, or see the event programme here.
DPE love,
Nat x
