Mid-term evaluations Fall 2021
At the start of the second semester, a flashback of last September pops up, when everyone shared the general excitement of meeting on campus to enjoy a ‘normal’ teaching and learning environment. With more than 500 enthusiastic freshmen and a large team of devoted teaching staff, the ideal conditions were set for a successful semester.
After the long lockdown, interaction was more than ever a prerequisite for teaching in general, and in particular for the teaching in the tutorials. And interact we did! With lots of enthusiasm, students participated in the different (group) activities held in the respective sessions, such as debates, quizzes, and collective or individual projects. The intertwining of discussions on content and the practice of academic skills resulted in the energetic dynamics of tutorials to which everyone contributed.
The outcome of the mid-term evaluations held half way the semester confirms both this enthusiasm and the positive group dynamics. In general, the comments made by students not only reveal their satisfaction with the adequate and clear structure of the tutorials. The extensive and lively discussions on content aimed at unveiling new perspectives and insights, and the practice of academic skills have equally earned their general approval.
As one may expect in a healthy teaching and learning environment where dialogue is key, students generously shared their suggestions. In particular, they communicated the wish to receive further instructions and extensive individual feedback on their assignments.
Although later on in class tutors did address and when possible accommodate these specific points, it is yet important to bear in mind that the tutorials themselves already allocate space for both instructions and feedback. A good example is the course Introduction to International Studies, where tutors provide additional instructions on reading assignments in the session prior to the submission due date. Furthermore, in addition to commenting on the assignments submitted, they often share useful points for improvement in class that students can apply in their next assignment.
This academic year, the renewed Academic Reading and Writing (AR&W) course has received particular attention from the teaching staff. Previously coordinated and provided by the Academic Language Centre (ATC), the tutorials are now entirely taught by International Studies teaching staff members. We still cooperate with ATC through the videos they provide for the course and have intensified our cooperation with the University Library.
One of the aims of the workgroup responsible for the redesigning of the course was to train students in essential academic reading and writing skills that would also help them meet the requirements set in other first year courses. Students learn and practice skills they apply not only in AR&W but also in courses as Global History, Introduction to International Studies, and Cultural Studies. To make this connection as clear and didactically productive as possible, some of the readings addressed in ARW are also discussed in these courses.
The mid-term evaluations clearly show that students do acknowledge both the importance of the skills learned and practiced in AR&W and the connection with other courses aforementioned. Yet, they also seem to occasionally struggle with the level of self-sufficiency and self-study that is expected from them. Although the instruction on and practice of these skills do take place in the tutorials, students are indeed challenged to exercise essential academic skills in an autonomous way.
AR&W has undergone an additional change: its follow-up in the second semester. In four tutorials, students will have the opportunity to further develop the skills previously learnt and apply them to their Culture and History written assignments. Hopefully, they will then conclude the first phase of their learning process as independent critical thinking beings in academia, one of the many phases yet to come.
Paula Jordão
(Head of the tutor team)