If you’re doing MAC238, please read this post. If you’re not, feel free to read it anyway.

Last week I got an email from one of the module students. It was feedback on the module I run – MAC238, Magazine Writing – saying that there was a general feeling that the leap from reviewing to writing business-to-business articles in weeks 6 and 7 wasn’t well planned, and that the task didn’t really connect with what you, as Level 2 journalists, were wanting to do and learn. It knocked people’s confidence and momentum in getting better on the module. So, what was our response as a teaching team?

The email
1. First off, the student was worried about sending the email, in case I, as module leader, would be p***ed off.

2. Second, the student was voicing general concerns that there wasn’t enough choice in the exercises in class to keep people’s passions and interests high (particularly on Fridays when, ahem, attendance has already been quite low…)

3. Third, the student was concerned that not enough people do let us lecturers know when you’re struggling, or don’t agree with the way things are being done.

It’s important to note that these were valid points, but not held by everyone. Some of the group were doing their best work on the B2B articles. Some groups got through it all in one afternoon. I think it’s also vitally important to stretch and challenge you as journalists to do things you’re not comfortable with, or haven’t done before. However, it was a shared and valid feedback, and in response:

1. I would’ve been miffed if I _hadn’t_ received the email, or if someone hadn’t come to see me about it. Thank you for sending it, it was well received.

2. Point taken. We talk about examples a lot for the exercises we set; and as much as possible we try to make them relevant for individuals. Of course, the topic for each assessed piece, as well as the group project in MAC238, is totally governed by individuals and the group. I’d agree that the press releases for the task in question weren’t brilliant or interesting. Often, they’re not. But, anyway, probably a bit too much of a leap, I accept that.

3. I’d agree with him. The idea that we don’t want to hear what your experiences are on your modules is, well, wrong. And importantly, we do want to hear about them as it goes along, not only at the end, ‘for next year’, although that’s important as well.

So what have we done about it?
There is a lot of talk at the moment about how journalism is changing to become an ‘iterative journalism’, particularly online. Lee Hall, the Digital Editor from the Sunderland Echo describes it as “having a lot more bits at the cherry” if you read ‘cherry’ for ’story’: a first draft, get it up online, then contextualise, add bits, add links and video, then it goes in the paper the next day. Perhaps a more fully rounded explanation of the stages of iterative journalism comes from Paul Bradshaw, and his description of the news process in the 21st century newsroom.  He calls it the news diamond.

For me, it’s just as good a model for teaching, particularly something moving as rapidly as journalism. What it means is that we can and are able to tweak, change, bring in new examples, etc, and respond to how the module is going, as it is still happening, rather than having it fully set-in-stone. The learning goals are the same, but the way we get there can also be up for review.

Here’s an example. At the end of week 4, one of the tutors on MAC238 told me that while his group had enjoyed and done the tasks so far, they were feeling pretty stretched. We had done eight writing tasks in four weeks. So, as  a teaching team, we scrapped the ‘homework’ tasks for week 5 to give students a break. I think it worked well, as it gave people a chance to consolidate their writing around the first assessment, the review piece.

So, things can be fluid, iterative, responsive. As long as you feed back to us–tell us what’s going on. What I’d like to do is hear from people now: here, commenting on this post. Not just on the MAC238 module, perhaps, as you can do that with your tutors, but to this question:

What would be a good way to encourage feedback on your modules as you are studying them?

And if you don’t feel as if you can, why not? Be constructive. As my yoga teacher says, ’struggle never works’ give your comments with joy, or if that’s stretching it a bit (pardon the yoga pun), focus your ideas on what we can do to improve the ways you can feed back on your modules. Because it is your degree, not ours, and we do remember that.