to expect better service than this

[friedafinn]

I started a post graduate qualification, taught online, on Monday. I completed the first two activities by 10am (short ones) and posted the required entry in my online journal.

It's still not been looked at by my tutor let alone commented on. AIBU to expect better service than this for the high fees that I am paying?

You are being a wee bit self involved and ridiculous I'm afraid

Ask them when to expect feedback, but if they give you a date you don't like, you'll have to accept it. You aren't the only person on the course and it's not running to your schedule.

Did the course not identify the assessed elements before you paid?

If you are actually smart enough to complete a Masters degree, then wouldn't you be smart enough to talk to the people actually managing / running the course about your expectations and how those relate to reality, instead of whinging on a public forum that has nothing to do with it?

£2,000 is nothing for a Masters - I paid far more than that for all three of my postgraduate courses and those were a long time ago.

You're being very unreasonable. I think you'll be lucky to hear back within two weeks, if it at all.

£2k for a 6 week course seems steep.

I'm currently half way through the first year of a Masters which is being taught online, part-time. "Service" has been great so far. Most tutors on the course only work part time and yes you wait a few days for a reply to emails, because tutors might only work 8 or 10 hours a week.

But the difference is that this was clearly explained upfront, and there is one head tutor who works full time and who you can contact during office hours.

We also were given a complete schedule at the start which says things like "assessment X due 21st January, feedback issued to all students 10th February" or whatever.

@lidoshuffle

Ah, so it's not "£2000 for a six week course". £2,000 for a six week module is bloody expensive, £2,000 pa (for 2 years?) is pretty cheap comparatively.

No, it's 2k per module

There was a new intake on the modular version of my course this week too so now I'm wondering if the OP is one of us....

People are a bit harsh

yes, you have unreasonable expectations

but surely people could see why receiving feedback after you have submitted everything, and too late to use it can be frustrating.

£2000 per 6 week module, 6 modules in the first year, 4 in the second plus dissertation? (I'm just guessing on my own experience of Masters). £20,000+ for an on-line course is expensive! Is it the OU?

You should have been given a deadline and an idea of when your work will receive feedback. If you haven't, that's a bit shoddy.

However, getting work done before the deadline is highly unlikely to be looked at early, Tutors have lots of tasks to complete in a week and plan their work accordingly. You might even find your work one week is re-evaluated by you or your peers the following week after further input. No tutor input at this stage may be deliberate.

If your expectations differ from what you are experiencing either the programme directors have done a poor job or you've misunderstood what the course involves - so check the handbook and online info, and fire off a polite email.

Good luck with your course!

If it's a masters level module I'm wondering if it's 6 weeks of teaching in a module that officially lasts longer? Modules generally run over a full term or semester....

Was the work formative or summative? What was the deadline for the work?

I don't start marking work until the deadline has passed. It doesn't matter if you submit 2 weeks early - I will have scheduled marking time after the deadline and that's when it gets marked. Check your module handbook. This should all be explained.

I guarantee your tutor will be involved in other courses and modules and won't be sitting around waiting for the 10 students on your module to submit work.

This is the biggest issue in HE at the moment - stirrings seeing themselves as customers and complaining at the drop of a hat if they think they don't get excellent 'customer service'.

*students

@lidoshuffle

£2000 per 6 week module, 6 modules in the first year, 4 in the second plus dissertation? (I'm just guessing on my own experience of Masters). £20,000+ for an on-line course is expensive! Is it the OU?

Agree! Mine is £9,100. Same price whether you do it full time, part time or a module at a time.

I did look at others which were much more, one at Edinburgh, also distance learning, was £15.5k.

@lidoshuffle

£2000 per 6 week module, 6 modules in the first year, 4 in the second plus dissertation? (I'm just guessing on my own experience of Masters). £20,000+ for an on-line course is expensive! Is it the OU?

It's not ten modules, it's a top up MSc from a different postgrad qualification with three modules at 2k each.

@lidoshuffle

£2000 per 6 week module, 6 modules in the first year, 4 in the second plus dissertation? (I'm just guessing on my own experience of Masters). £20,000+ for an on-line course is expensive! Is it the OU?

No. It's a brick uni doing online during covid

Wait! So, digging through the crazy drop feed. It's module 1 of a Masters!

Take a deep breath. You don't get much feedback in the tun up to an assignment, they do expect ypou to know what you are doing. Your tutor/lecturer will give feedback, notes for discussion/further thought, as you are online. But it won't be instantaneous.

You say there oare only 10 of you... I assume you think that this goup is all they have. They will have lots of other repsonsibilitie, PhD students, research etc etc.

As I said yesterday, they will have set aside a block of time for this, when they have all 10 journals and can repsond to you all, see what you need as agroup and as individuals. It will probably influence whatever they do next.

Best to stop seeing it as a service though! I remember being very, very annoyed when a student used that description of one of my sessions. It seems to change the student perception immensely. Many see the end result as a given, they signed on, took up the service and expect results, and get quite upset when the service didn't deliver!

That can be a really big block to overcome - for the student, their research and assignments.

@CuriousaboutSamphire

Wait! So, digging through the crazy drop feed. It's module 1 of a Masters!

Take a deep breath. You don't get much feedback in the tun up to an assignment, they do expect ypou to know what you are doing. Your tutor/lecturer will give feedback, notes for discussion/further thought, as you are online. But it won't be instantaneous.

You say there oare only 10 of you... I assume you think that this goup is all they have. They will have lots of other repsonsibilitie, PhD students, research etc etc.

As I said yesterday, they will have set aside a block of time for this, when they have all 10 journals and can repsond to you all, see what you need as agroup and as individuals. It will probably influence whatever they do next.

Best to stop seeing it as a service though! I remember being very, very annoyed when a student used that description of one of my sessions. It seems to change the student perception immensely. Many see the end result as a given, they signed on, took up the service and expect results, and get quite upset when the service didn't deliver!

That can be a really big block to overcome - for the student, their research and assignments.

It's the third module in fact.

We are paying for it and we are customers, it's no different from paying for a place at private school, a plumber or an electrician, they are all services and we can expect a decent service.

If academics don't like it then they need to recognise that it's what their work now is that tuition fees are paid.

We are paying for it and we are customers, it's no different from paying for a place at private school, a plumber or an electrician, they are all services and we can expect a decent service.

It is very different from paying a plumber or an electrician. Very different.

You are paying the university for access to tuition, learning materials ( such as library, VLE and the staff to support those) as well as student support such as careers, academic skills, well being etc.
You are not paying the tutor directly. They are employed by the university to do a range of duties and one of those duties is to run your module. They are not there to be at your beck and call.
The level of support you can expect should be outlined in the course or module handbook. If it isn't, then by all means ask for clarification.

@friedafinn

I'm happy with the quality of my work but when I'm paying £2k for a 6 week long course then I expect things to be looked at within a working week. It would take the tutor maybe 15 minutes and there are only 10 of us in his tutor group.

Right, and I'm sure this tutor only has 1 course to teach.

In reality, he/she will be underpaid and overworked. Welcome to academia.

I have to say you now sound very unrealistic and a bit entitled here. Assuming, as this is a few top up modules, you’re not new to postgraduate study, you must know that that they simply won’t look before deadline (their packed schedule probably won’t allow it) and they will get any feedback to you when they have advised. Instead of kicking off on here (in my experience, postgrad lecturers have many, many strings to their bow, not all in academia) why don’t you email your tutor and ask when you’re likely to get feedback?

You seem angry. Is this not what you're used to? What are your expectations? And have these been met previously? From my experience, having to wait is completely normal. You seem to have quite a selfish attitude.

I am still wondering why a supposedly intelligent person is drip-feeding complaints about their expectations on a public forum instead of taking up the issue with the university and clarifying what they should expect, or even why things are as they are. Not one person here can resolve this. There must be a few dozen at the university who can.

The OP reminds me of a student I once had who calculated how much they were apparently paying me an hour 🙄

Give them the weekend. Lots lecturers grade over weekend when they have more headspace and time