to think my tutor is fairly rubbish and be fed up with it?

[itsmeitsmeolord]

I'm in the middle of a degree on the O.U.
Course tutor seems to be non-existent. For those of you unfamiliar with O.U, it's distance learning, you get assigned a tutor who will hold regular tutorials in a central location but is also supposed to do things like set activities online in the tutor group forum, give feedback and provide support if you need it etc.

Course tutor has so far;
not replied to a single email including the one asking for support.
not marked my first assignment that was handed in nearly three weeks ago.
Relocated the tutorials from the central location we were given to a coffee shop in her home town which makes it impossible for me and a few others to attend.
Not been visible at all on the course forum etc.

I am really pissed off with the lack of presence now, have emailed her and said I'm a bit concerned but still no reply.....

Complain to the OU but don't expect them to do much.

Complain and follow whatever the procedure is - you're paying for this!

yanbu - how dare she relocate the group to somewhere you can't go

Goodness me, complain! As someone said, you are paying for this. Can you contact a few of the other course members and get them to complain too?

I had a tutor like this last year - he seemed to want to do as little as possible for the money he gets paid. No feedback on TMA's (page filled with either "no's" "yes's" or "okay", he wasn't up to date on the course materials, he wouldn't let anyone have an extension ever even if it was needed for genuine unavoidable reasons. He also gave fewer tutorials (albeit for longer times) but it made it very difficult finding childcare for an entire day compared to the frequent 2 hour sessions like the year before and this year.

In hindsight, I wish I had complained and made sure with the tutor questionnaire at the end of the year I put my honest opinions of him. I would definitely complain to your regional centre.

Three weeks for marking is about what I expect.

This is my second year and last year's tutor was a waste of space but I thought that was the norm! We'd turn up to a tutorial and basically chat between ourselves for two hours. The assignments would come back with a mark and one sentence of feedback like 'just remember - no contractions of speech' or similiar. Never on the forums but then neither am I really.

This year's tutor is brillant. Always welcomes emails and draft essays, the tutorials are planned with feedback, activities and tips and the marked essays have pages of feedback and targets for the next one. Had I had this one last year and last year's this year I would've flagged it up with the university.

I think the change of venue is a bit out of order but unless you get a lot out of the tutorials I'd give it a miss. What sort of things can you do in a coffee shop apart from chat? A waste of time. Her initials aren't PL are they?

ours is a bit shit too tbh....

takes him weeks to correct assignments which makes it hard to get started on the next one without some feedback on your work.

he answers most questions with 'i'm not sure about the answer to that, i'll have to get back to you' or similar

he did a coupld of decent tutorials with experiments to do (science module) but now just seems to be posting attachments with tips of essay writing and other pointlessness

and most annoying for me is that despite the fact that all but one student on the course live in west and south ireland the day schools are in central dublin and start at 10am on saturdays and last all day, meaning it's impossible for most of us to attend... so what's the point in having them then?

he does give decent feedback on essays but often he takes marks off for not having enough info but then gives a sample answer that's way over the alotted word count which would also have lost me marks which gets a bit annoying

I'd be feeling pissed off too.

I think they have 21 days for marking, although ime most tutors return assignments within 2 weeks. So yours hasn't broken any rules but it is frustrating to wait that long for feedback.

The worst thing is the lack of response to your emails asking for support.

You can contact your regional centre and ask to be assigned to another tutor. I think that's what I'd do tbh.

It's not just the OU, I'm doing an IT course at my local college and even my tutor can't or wont answer E-mails or texts. (he NEVER answers his mobile.)

I did have a period without internet connection witch did affect my progress but I'm finding it difficult to catch up as I just can't get a response.

Hello, I'm an OU tutor and we have 2 weeks maximum to get your essays back to you, we are supposed to answer emails at least twice a week and tutorials are supposed to be in the location provided by the OU.
I do my job properly, and I work very hard for little pay so these crappy tutors (in a minority thankfully)really piss me off.
Have you sent a 'unable to contact tutor' email from studenthome? The regional centre will then chase up the tutor. Complain and change tutors please so that those of use who care about students get the work in future.

definitely complain. When you are working hard it is demoralising and frustrating to be let down by a tutor that can't be bothered. But unless you complain the OU won't realise where the problems are. Totally not on for them to relocate where the tutorials are held, this is the kind of thing you would have considered when deciding if you can do a course, so not fair for the location to then be altered. I hope things improve for you

Definitely complain. My first OU tutor was like this. I never got a TMA back before I had to send the next one off, so could never act on the comments. I'm pretty sure they did act ont he complaints because we had a big wig sitting in on subsequent tutorials, and she wasn;t tutoring hte following year...

However, my four subsequent tutors were fabulous: very helpful and very prompt.

Hi,

I'm an Ou student on a break, and have had nothing but good experiences with my tutors. Definitely email your regional centre or somewhere. They may be able to put you in touch with a good tutor who will help by email even if they are far away. Also, have you looked to see if there are anyother tutorials on in your area you could attend? You can search on the website to see where they all are.

My TMA's were usually back with me in 2 or 3 weeks. But I think really you cannot rely on having the last one back before starting the next one. But you will be able to draw on the feedback for the ECA or exam.

OK, some really good advice here, many thanks.

No, intitials not PL.

Its just fecking frustrating as it is a languages course, we are supposed to be getting together for regular study groups etc but she has not bothered. She is supposed to give guidance on discussions etc but so far hasn't replied to any emails asking for her to do this.
She is just shite.

I'll complain today. I am doing another course at the moment running in tandem and the tutor is fantastic, always responds, always tries to help out if she can.
Hmm, perhaps I've been spoilt......

no you are definitely NBU. My DP is an OU tutor and works really hard; and like lazylion hates it when crappy tutors make the other decent tutors look bad. Complain.

my OU student was ok but there was at least one on the course who was rubbish.

each course has a course leader as well as the regional tutors - try contacting them for the support you need.

also, you can complain to region about the more 'procedural' things like late marking and moved tutorials.

the students of the rubbish tutor on my course mainly came onto the other tutor group message boards and got info that way.

my tutor, not my student