Spotlight on: the change to semesters

How was it for you? How was it for learning and teaching?

Semesterisation was a big change that forced everyone to spend 2004/5 adjusting and adapting. Students found their familiar patterns disrupted, lecturers adjusted and adapted and administrative staff tried to fit in with new patterns and demands. The semesterisation project is ongoing and so too is its evaluation. Here we offer a snapshot collection of first impressions on the effect of semesterisation on teaching and learning.

This is neither systematic, comprehensive or claims any representational validity. It’s serendipitous, haphazard and raw. Last May, I stopped students in the corridors, in the refectory and on the bus and asked: what was the change to semesters like for you? I sent out requests to groups of lecturers, asking for their thoughts on the experience of the first year. What changes had they made and what seemed in need of further attention? Here’s a summary of the result:

More than twenty members of staff sent detailed written comments. Many mentioned changes to the syllabus, with some describing it as ‘stretched’ and others, as the opposite (‘squeezed’). Compared to terms, they described semesters as

…more relaxed. I’m less panicked about covering all the exam topics.
…more flexible within a session and between weeks – I can postpone or repeat difficult concepts.
…disastrous. I’m teaching over 23 weeks what I normally taught over 27 and I’m chasing for more time.
…having opportunities for new approaches like introducing reading weeks.

Teachers reported changes in students’ learning:

…no reflective ‘down time’ so things are more superficial. Students seems more instrumental and their learning more fragmented.
Students are less engaged, less prepared for sessions, less likely to attend.
…more plagiarism.

And teachers noticed changes in students’ behaviour:

…much more volatile, tired, juggling so many demands.
…‘student lore’ usually means students get to know the rules but now that had changed and nobody knew the right answers.
…much harder to retrieve failures… much slower progress through the programme.
Students disappear in so-called ‘reading weeks’.

Teachers had noticed changes in the way they used their own time:

…less informal contact with students.
Lack of breathing space when teaching with all the other things ‘funnelled’ into the summer (so called) break.
Keeping ahead was hard. I used the summer of ’04 to prepare so it was alright for two-thirds of semester one… semester two was much less prepared.
Marking pressure points coincided with national holidays.
By the end we were all exhausted, us and the students.

Asked what changes they had made to adapt, teachers said:

…zillions of changes.
…added a reading week to break up the time.
…reorganised the weekly mix of lectures and seminars to accommodate the new slotting system [then a long explanation of why this disadvantaged students].
Used class time for assessment.

What would teachers recommend to make semesters work better for them and their students?

Rethinking the semester one assessment period. Suggestions ranged from creating more time by starting earlier to finishing later.
Breaking up semesters into smaller units. Suggestions included adding standardised reading weeks, carving out four days for a mid-semester break; ensuring a standardised teaching time between Christmas and mid-semster break rather than moving to align with Easter.
Reviewing the actual student workload by making a load of six modules per year the norm; ensuring students take more modules in year two to free up time for the dissertation; making modules larger so that students juggle fewer demands.
Realigning loan schedules to match semesters.
Rethinking resits so that there are fewer, so that they happen in January and ensure pre-requisites are in place;
Rethinking the slotting system. Reactions to sessions lasting three or four hours varied widely.

What did the students say?

Students were largely in agreement about the issues that mattered: almost everyone mentioned workload, bunched assessments, feeling that work had been crammed into the semester, and having holidays that were too long (though one said this was an advantage). Most started with workload, stressing the overall amount:

It’s too hard, much more work. I was only doing three or four modules but now it’s more. There is only so much time available.
Some of my modules used to span two terms but now they are crammed into one semester.
One semester I did five modules and I know one person who took six. I paid last year £7,500 for 30 weeks but now it’s the same for 26 weeks so I am paying more for each lecture.
Semesters? I hate ‘em. Rush rush and I can’t do compulsory modules in year two so that is even more work in year four. I feel like I haven’t learned much, just done a lot of coursework.

Students also noticed a change in the pattern of work, with bunching a particular worry.

There’s ages with no work at all then in the last four weeks, you get loads at once and it’s too hard.
I did my dissertation in semester two so that was 16 weeks without a break because I worked through Easter and then had two weeks for exams and I couldn’t prepare because of having other work.
Instead of two courseworks in three weeks, now we have three courseworks in two weeks.

Students were not convinced that lecturers had adapted modules to fit semsters:

Topics have been added that are not relevant to make it longer.
Now, courses are so long that you need to pace yourself and it’s hard to keep motivated.
They just crammed the stuff from three lectures into one. We’ve lost a lot of teaching time.
Most modules still only teach for eight weeks then they stretch things so you are bored by the end

Students complained that semesters did not fit well with loans, with housing arrangements and above all, the need to work part time.

What did support staff say?

Support staff, too, noticed changes. They spoke of different patterns of access for their services with many student too stretched during semesters to consider using counselling or careers. All who responded described students as ‘tired’:

First semester is very very long for first years who are struggling with the changes of university.

…and some as ‘drifting’ because students did not see as quickly if they were in danger of failing. Second years had no structure for the dissertation that matched the pattern of semesters

One mentioned the unsettling sense for final year students who:

just dribbled on so that nobody knew when it was done.

Finding work that matched semester dates was also a problem:

They are unavailable before Christmas.