What issues can I raise?

The main concern for a class rep is academic representation within your course. This can be split into 3 different areas:

• Commenting on things that work well on your course
• Constructive criticism on things that don't work so well on your course
• Suggestions on new areas to consider on the course

Here is a list of issues and questions that you may want to think about:

Course Content and Structure

Your class will have an opinion on how your course is taught and the amount of time given to each topic in lectures and seminars. Should more or less time be spent on a particular subject? What content should be included on the course? How could the structure of the course be changed to improve the course?

Teaching Methods

This normally covers the type of teaching ie lectures, labs, seminars, tutorials, computer-assisted teaching, directed self-study, open-learning packages and teaching presentations such as use of overheads and materials used eg handouts. Should there be more lectures, labs, tutorials? What teaching would students find more useful for your course? How useful is the teaching method? Constructive criticisms are important as they offer suggestions for improvement.

Teaching Facilities

Are your lecture theatres too crowded? Is there adequate provision for students with disabilities? Is your lecture theatre too hot or too cold? Are lab facilities adequate? Are the AV/IT facilities adequate?

Learning Resources

Is book provision in the library sufficient? Are there enough books on short loan for your course? Do you have access to computer facilities? Is there appropriate software on the computers? Existing equipment may need updating or replacing or you may wish to see entirely new equipment installed. Is information given on plagiarism and how to write an essay? What are helpful resources? Which texts on the reading lists were most helpful?

Student Involvement

Are you invited to attend the staff student consultative group? Are course evaluations forms used and collected? Are they acted upon? Do you know who you can trun to if you have difficulties on the course? Are students aware of these support services? Do students explicitly know about the transferable skills they learn on their course?

Assessment

It is difficult to provide reliable comment on the assessment on your course as you may have staff student consultative groups before your assessments take place.How is student performance measured? Would some greater element in course assessment be fairer? Is the assessment policy and practice clearly described? Could the timing for submission of course work be reviewed - perhaps deadlines are too close to exams - or is there an unreasonable delay in returning marked essays? Are the comments made helpful?

"Work to enhance the student experience"