Supporting students

In OU STEM online tutorials, speech by students is seen to be rare. Evidence of this is provided by a sequence of studies, starting from the early days of online tutorials. However, students do speak in online individual support sessions (ISS).

At the Open University (OU) we are still learning about the best way to support our apprentice learners in their academic study. Degree Apprentices are learners in full time employment with study funded through the apprenticeship levy and other government sources.

SM123: Physics and Space is a Level 1 module aimed at preparing students to study physics, astronomy or planetary science at OU level 2. Most students are not new to the Open University and will have already studied S111: Questions in Science.

TT284 is a popular level 2 Web technologies module attracting over 1000 students in each presentation.

Students taking qualifications mainly in science, economics and data sciences are now the majority of the students on a second-year undergraduate statistics course.

Open University standard online tutorials are generally tutor-led with the tutor setting the agenda and content to be covered. Although they include both presentation and activities, some students are reluctant to actively participate.

In recent years tutors have been asked to commit to a timetable of tutorials some time before the start of a module so that a full list of available tutorials can be provided to students as soon as they start their studies.

Highly Commended - eSTEeM Scholarship Projects of the Year Awards 2022.

The aim of this project is to investigate the success of using the diagnostic AYRF ('Are You Ready For') quizzes and their role in preparing undergraduate students for their level 2 modules (TT284 (Web technologies) M269 (Algorithms, data structures & computability) and M250

Winner - eSTEeM Scholarship Projects of the Year Awards 2022.