UoS Maths Course Reps

Hi,

Tomorrow is the last Student Voice Forum of the year where students will be sharing their views on MySurrey Voice and university communications with senior management for the university. Anyone can attend and your Course Reps will be there so if you have any feedback you'd like shared, just let us know.

It is the final SSLC of the year tomorrow! If you have any feedback you'd like your course reps to share, please let us know. You can use this form which is completely anonymous or you can message us.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScuFR6_yiK81ETvsV3-xb84JBIhnNzBqikho8mxfpnZ5J1tCg/viewform?usp=sf_link

Semester 2 SSLC 2 Just a quick questionnaire about how you're finding semester 2. Completely anonymous

I just wanted to share a quick update with you about what was discussed in the SSLC meeting yesterday.

-The library and module leader for MAT3008 are looking into making a digital copy of the textbook available. This all depends on the publishing rights, but they are working on it.
-If you need help with R, then the Maths And Statistics Advice team run by the library is able to help you.
-The lecturer has been asked to write more neatly for MAT3012.
-The assessed coursework deadlines for MAT3017 should be amended to be consistent with the department module page and avoid clashes.
-It was also suggested that more guidance is given for the lesson observations on this module.
-MAT3032 and MAT3046 have been asked if they can upload a PDF copy of the notes used in lectures in addition to the recording.
-MAT3044 has been asked to stick to the number of lectures and seminars scheduled in a week.
-MAT3051 has been asked to slow down a bit to make the amount of content covered in one lecture more consistent with that which would normally be covered in a lecture.
-MAT3051 has also been asked to include some easier examples in lectures.
-Lecturers are going to be advised to upload any recorded lectures at the start of the day they are scheduled for. This is only a recommendation though, it will not be enforced so that lecturers have enough time to prepare their lectures before they have to release them.
-All of the questions on MySurrey Voice about exams will be addressed shortly and our DLT, Dr Gutowski, will be uploading a short video to explain the outcomes of the Exam Board meeting.

Hi,

We have the SSLC this afternoon where we will be giving feedback on each of the modules. Make sure you've shared your feedback with us before 2pm using this quick survey

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScMcaOugnWPNln39P # # /viewform?usp=sf_link

Semester 2 SSLC 1 Just a quick questionnaire about how you're finding semester 2. Completely anonymous

Good morning,

It is the first SSLC of the semester next week where your course reps can share feedback with department staff about the course.
If you haven't already done so, please take a couple of minutes to do a survey about how you're finding your modules and a couple of general things. Or you can get in touch with one of your course reps directly.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScMcaOugnWPNln39P # # /viewform?usp=sf_link

Semester 2 SSLC 1 Just a quick questionnaire about how you're finding semester 2. Completely anonymous

Hi everyone,

There is a post on MySurrey Voice about uploading recorded lectures at the start of the day. Please head over to MySurrey Voice (you can access it from Surrey Learn) to have your say about this! Staff from the department need more students to get involved in this discussion before they will make a decision.

Hi everyone,

Just a quick update to say that the university is currently reviewing the exams policy. The issue was raised as the current policy is tailored towards the standard format of exams that only takes a few hours in an exam hall. The policy should be updated this semester to better reflect the 24 hour assessments we are doing.

Some of your Course Reps have been asked for their thoughts on having assessed coursework in first year instead of class tests. If you have any thoughts about this, then please get in touch using this page or by contacting Erika (es00938).

Hi everyone,

I hope you had a nice break and revision is going well.

I just wanted to share a few things that the Course Reps have been up to:
•We have asked senior members of staff to include all sessions, including online sessions, in our personal timetables.
•We have asked for a set of regulations for 24-hour exams. Currently the official regulations are written for the conventional style of exams, but we think it is important that there is a similar set of requirements for the new longer style of exams.
•We have provided feedback on the MySurrey Voice page and suggested a new feature be added that asks the author of a feedback post if they are satisfied with the outcome before the issue can be closed by staff. (This isn’t something the university can do but they do regularly meet with the provider so this should be brought up in their next meeting.)

Good luck with your exams!

Hi,

The second SSLC of the year happened on Wednesday so thank you to everyone that provided their course reps with feedback. I’d just like to share a few key points of the discussion with you.
•MAT3003 was requested to be less ambiguous with the test questions.
•MAT3004 was asked to write more clearly and the issues with the discussion board for this module are being investigated. We raised the issue that a lot of students are really struggling with this module and that the communication between the module leader and the seminar leader is lacking. Zoom office hours with the lecturer were requested as well as seminar questions at a similar level to the assessments.
•MAT3009 had the persistent time management issues raised.
•MAT3048 was requested to give more examples to students and to write the notes during lectures to improve the pace.
•MAT3049 has been asked to use a PowerPoint, not a PDF, so as not to overwhelm students with text and the lack of feedback on the coursework before the test was raised. Moving forwards the department hopes to schedule deadlines for coursework far enough in advance of the test that it is possible for individual feedback to be provided. A discussion board was also requested again.
•Other modules had good feedback.
•We asked if the department timetable could be put on our individual timetables. This is out of the control of the Maths Department and due to technology constraints, this isn’t currently possible. I will be discussing this with staff higher up that were responsible for the decision not to use the individual timetables this year in the hopes that they might be able to implement this for semester 2.
•We are also working with the library to see what resources they can provide digitally. There was a specific request for one of the MAT3004 books. Beginning Functional Analysis by Karen Saxe is available online currently but the particular one that was requested cannot be completely digitised due to the publishing rights. It is possible that a chapter of this book could be digitised though so if the person that brought this to our attention in the survey would like to get in contact, we can see which chapter would be most useful to digitise. There are also physical copies of these books which you can request from the library!
•The provision of group study rooms and whiteboard pens in the library was discussed and the library will look into what they can provide whilst still being Covid secure.

If you have any questions or any feedback, please do pass it on to a course rep.

Erika

Tomorrow we have another SSLC to give feedback to members of staff in the Maths department. Make sure you've passed on any feedback you have to a course rep before then. Here's a quick survey to get your opinions anonymously, it would be great to here from you!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfoQ3N62M5BTYVqAsCAUwA9sywpjab3s_F0yWSy9ECj764omw/viewform?usp=sf_link

November SSLC feedback Pick each module you do and then when you have given feedback for all of your modules, choose done from the drop-down list to submit.

Hi,

Last week some of your course reps attended a meeting with important members of staff in the faculty including the Dean, Paul Smith.

Here's a brief summary of what was discussed:
• Next semester will be very similar to this semester with the hybrid teaching model and online 24 hour assessments. This is as long as there are no drastic changes to restrictions.
• If you go home during the travel window, then you will not miss out on any face-to-face sessions. All teaching for maths has to have moved online by 10/12/20. We are still waiting to hear what the department will do about this, but face to face sessions may be rearranged to a date before the 10th.

If you have any questions or feedback please pass them on to a course rep.

As some of you might know, it was the first SSLC on Wednesday. I'll briefly summarise the key points from the meeting but minutes should be added to the maths programme page in due course if you'd like to know more, or you can ask one of your Course Reps.
• We've asked that lectures for MAT3009 be added in a more timely manner.
• A discussion board has been requested for MAT3004 and MAT3003.
• More examples or exercises were asked for for MAT3048 and the test for this module was discussed.
• We've asked that MAT3043 dedicate more seminar time to going through questions.
• MAT3049 has been asked to ensure the PowerPoint used in lectures corresponds to the printed notes more.
• MAT3004 has been asked to upload the lectures in a more consistent way (not upload to the course materials and Panopto tab at different times) or to inform students about the best place to find lectures.
• The grading for MAT3003 has been requested to be numerical instead of a letter grade.
• Requested that information regarding MAT3017 get sent to all students as previous information was only sent to students that signed up for it. As we were asked not to choose it as an option this meant several interested students missed out. Also we hope to have more information soon about whether or not this module will run in semester 2.
• We also had praise including the great use of discussion boards so far by the modules using them, good pace in MAT3043 lectures and helpful feedback on unassessed coursework and tests for MAT3011 and MAT3009.

Thanks to everyone that gave us feedback!

We have the first SSLC tomorrow afternoon so if you have any feedback get in contact with your course reps. You can use the MySurreyVoice platform, this page or contact a course rep by email.

Hi all,

Some of you might remember taking part in a survey at the end of last year regarding the exams. The results of this showed that only 1 person who did the survey needed less than 5 hours to complete the work. I have reported on these finding to the department and staff were shocked - they really thought they had set 3 hours’ worth of work. Over the last few months, I have had various meetings and the results of the survey have been discussed throughout departmental meetings in order to find a compromise. The department has responded with a letter outlining how they intend to proceed and there is also be a video discussing this. If you want to have a read of the department’s response or the report of survey findings I submitted to the department, you can find them on the Maths programme page on SurreyLearn under Student Support> Documents> Feedback. Hopefully these changes will ensure that our next assessments are much better for us all.

Hi guys!

Just a reminder that we are using My Surrey Voice this year to share feedback.
You can access this through SurreyLearn. It is formatted like a discussion board where you can post feedback (issues, ideas, praise or questions), anonymously if you wish, in a private area where students and union staff can view it and like/dislike or comment on it. This feature is really helpful so that when feedback gets escalated to the public area, where departmental staff can view it and act on it, we can show that the feedback is representative of the cohort, not just one student. There are already a few pieces of feedback on here so check it out and give it a like if you agree so I can escalate it to staff.
Thank you

Joint degree students!
The departmental timetable, showing all sessions including those that are not face-to-face, should be available on the Maths Programme Page on SurreyLearn, but as it stands you don't have access to it yet. I have attached the timetable for you to this post and I'm working on getting you all access to the page. Hopefully it will get sorted tomorrow.
Thank you to the student that pointed this out. 😊

Good luck to everyone doing assessments over the next few weeks!

If you haven't already done the exam processes survey, please spare 2 minutes to do it. It is really helping the discussions being held with the department.
Thank you to everyone that has already completed it!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdnNagesAvcx4Xe2HYm2ABpGNo0zySCwwcSoWxLWwYFiC4WXA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Exam Processes A very quick survey on your experiences with the assessments we have just completed. This survey is completely anonymous so please answer honestly. Thank you!

Hello,

I hope you and your families are well and you're pleased with how your exams went.

The recent exams were quite different to what we usually are faced with and there is a possibility that assessments will continue to be carried out like this in our third year, depending on the pandemic. The course reps have been asked for feedback about the exam process to see how things went and how to improve for the future, if necessary.

Below is the link for a very quick survey about your experiences with the recent assessments so please take 2 minutes to share your feedback and then hopefully if we do have to keep working like this, it can be made better for us all.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdnNagesAvcx4Xe2HYm2ABpGNo0zySCwwcSoWxLWwYFiC4WXA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Enjoy your summer!

Exam Processes A very quick survey on your experiences with the assessments we have just completed. This survey is completely anonymous so please answer honestly. Thank you!

For anyone doing Fluid Dynamics, we've worked with the library to make this book available online for you.

‘A first course in Fluid Dynamics’ by A R Paterson (1983) is available via Cambridge Core.
It requires you to login to Cambridge Core using your Surrey institutional details (using the blue log in buttons, the 2nd option on the login screen – log in via Shibboleth or Athens) and then entering your details on the Surrey authentication page when prompted. Hopefully this link will work: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/first-course-in-fluid-dynamics/6BFAB3D65514BD06EEE5D411640FF3E9

We also received a request for a book for Numerical Methods but unfortunately the publisher is not allowing free access to this.

Good luck with all your exams!

A First Course in Fluid Dynamics by A. R. Paterson Cambridge Core - Fluid Dynamics and Solid Mechanics - A First Course in Fluid Dynamics - by A. R. Paterson

Hello,

On Wednesday we had the second Board of Studies of the year. Here's a brief summary of the main points of discussion:
• Changes have been made to module availability - these changes include swapping which semester the module runs in, the introduction of new modules and the removal of others. Some of these changes apply to third year modules, so make sure you look closely at the information we're given when we need to make our choices.
• No confirmed date for making options choices yet, but it is expected to be by the end of May.
• The final assessed coursework will be of a similar standard to previous exams - we will not be expected to do something a lot harder than we are used to.
• Final assessments have a strict deadline - if you do not submit inside the 24 hour window, you will get 0 (unless you have ECs).

Hi everyone,

You might have already seen some lecturers responses to SSLC feedback, but here's a quick summary of what was said on Wednesday.

• Past exam papers, exercise sheets etc. will still be good practice for the upcoming alternative assessments.
• The main aim for assessments is to change the focus away from bookwork and towards applying that knowledge, so not necessarily harder, just a different skill is being tested.
• PDEs should upload the videos in a format that can be viewed online without needing to be downloaded.
• Guidance for the amount of material we should be getting through each week should be clearly given for PDEs.
• Numerical Computational Methods should try to stick to the routine as he initially planned to.
• Complex Analysis should upload the notes for each lecture earlier and slow down a bit.
• Complex Analysis should use the discussion board.
• A few books have also been requested to be made available digitally and the library is working to do this.

Hi everyone,

We hope you enjoyed the break as much as you could considering the circumstances!

Our next SSLC is on Wednesday, so we’d love to get your feedback on the course this semester. If you have any feedback about anything please let one of your reps know. To do this you can email us (ls01061, es00938, bc00495 , bg00295) or message the page. We’ve also got a survey you can use to give us any feedback which is completely anonymous.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScirbhRBGQAQPgGxY4J5I_F9CikoG6eKA9sZhF6bj0XOQrWwg/viewform?usp=sf_link

Best of luck with any assessments you have coming up!

Erika

April SSLC Feedback Please take a couple of minutes to give your course reps some feedback for the SSLC on Wednesday 29th

We've now received some more information from our DLT so here's a quick update to clarify the situation with regards to Extenuating Circumstances.

• If you had ECs for in-semester tests that took place in weeks 6 or 7, you will not have a replacement. Instead the final assessed coursework will count for 100%. This applies to Numbers and Sets, Numerical Computational Methods, Fluid Dynamics and Mathematical Statistics.
• If you have ECs for in-semester test replacements that will happen in weeks 8 or 9, you will have a replacement in the late summer assessment period. This is the normal procedure but the replacement assessment will be the same form as the alternative assessment other students completed. This applies to Complex Analysis and Operations Research and Optimisation.
• For students that did complete in-semester tests in week 6 or 7 your module mark will be the best of either
1. The normal calculation with in-semester test being 20% and final assessment being 80%.
2. The final alternative assessment with 100% weighting.

I hope this sorts out your queries.

Hi,

Just to update you on a few things after today's Extraordinary Board of Studies

• All of the exams are being replaced with assessed courseworks that will take place in weeks 13-15.
• All of the assessed work that maths students will complete will be over a 24 hour period.
• There should be suggestions of how long you should spend on each piece of work within the 24hours, but it is up to you.
• We still have online assessed courseworks to replace the remaining insemester tests, other than Linear PDEs. This is being done to give us an experience similar to that of the final alternative assessments to help us prepare.
• Up to 30 credits will be compensated this year (instead of 15).

Further clarity should be provided next week to cover the finer details.
We have also emailed the Maths DLT with a few questions that weren't answered today, so hopefully we'll have more information soon.

Hi everyone,

I would like to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone that has already completed the survey! We have had an astounding number of responses already and your answers will really help us in the meeting tomorrow.

For those of you that haven't done it yet, there's still time. Please do it if you have a spare 2 minutes. It is so quick and easy for you to do but gives the faculty a lot of insight in to how to proceed. Here's the link if you missed it yesterday.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfij-zP5JbMqdnJF5U7pVmHeOFEiBKNAufPjijuBXHE_8ID5g/viewform?usp=sf_link

We're hoping to have some answers to your questions and concerns by tomorrow afternoon.

Thank you!
Erika

Extraordinary Board of Studies Feedback A few quick questions to get your opinion on the recent changes the faculty has made due to Coronavirus

Hi everyone,

We hope you're keeping safe and well. Two of your course reps, Laura and Erika, have been selected to attend an Extraordinary Board of Studies on Wednesday. At this meeting reps and staff members from FEPS will be discussing and hopefully approving the changes that need to be made to assessments as a result of Coronavirus. We've made a really quick survey to get your thoughts on the changes being implemented, so please fill this out as soon as you can to make sure that the changes made are the best they can be in the current situation.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfij-zP5JbMqdnJF5U7pVmHeOFEiBKNAufPjijuBXHE_8ID5g/viewform?usp=sf_link

Thank you and stay safe! Anything you need, just get in touch.

Erika

Extraordinary Board of Studies Feedback A few quick questions to get your opinion on the recent changes the faculty has made due to Coronavirus

Hi all,

Laura and Erika have been invited to an 'Extraordinary Board of Studies' on the 22nd of April. The aim of this special meeting is to approve all of the changes made to assessments due to Covid-19. If anyone has any comments about the planned changes to assessments, please let us know as soon as possible so that the faculty can find the best solution possible in these circumstances.

Keep safe and stay indoors!

Good morning,

After some concerns about the anonymity of courseworks we'll be submitting and marking bias, we got in contact with DLT Jan Gutowoski to clarify a few things.

• Lecturers will be able to see your name when they're marking the coursework but their priority is to assign a fair mark based on the script they receive.
• The file name you submit should be SURNAME_student number (if you've already submitted with something slightly different don't worry too much)
• They've done this because quite often people submit work with the wrong number on and it would be difficult to work out what it is supposed to be.
• This process for submitting work will be reviewed before the 80% exams.

We hope everyone is doing ok stuck in their houses. We are still actively working as course reps so if you have any issues or thoughts you'd like us to feed back, we will.

Hey all,

We need feedback for the Maths Department.

It was supposed to be the FEPS voice forum on Thursday but this has been cancelled. Instead the course reps have a form to fill out and the feedback will get back to the department through the union. If anyone has any feedback for the Maths Department please let us know by the end of the week! Feedback can be anything; things that are working well you'd like to see done more, something you're missing or something that isn't working right. Any feedback is very much appreciated.

Hi everyone,

On Wednesday Laura and Erika went to the first SSLC of the semester. Here's a brief summary of the important things we discussed:
• We've asked that PDEs be clearer about what we're doing in lectures and why we're doing certain steps.
• Noted the lack of pace at the start of PDEs.
• Requested more practice questions for Fluid Dynamics.
• Mentioned the poor room availability for Operations Research and Stats but sadly there's nothing else they can do to improve this.
• Panopto came up again. It can be used in year 2 and 3 but the hardware in most of the rooms we have lectures in is not good enough to capture content written on the boards. The use of panopto is still being reviewed within the department and we hope to get an update soon.
• Students on joint degrees are missing out on emails sent to the Maths mailing list. A new mailing list for these students will try to be made but all staff will be reminded that they need to pass on emails to relevant departments so everyone gets the information they need.
• The library is looking to update computers so they can be connected to wireless headphones.

The next SSLC will be in April so make sure to give us any feedback you have!

Thank you to everyone that has already done our survey! We will be discussing it tomorrow so please fill it out if you haven't already.
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/XQC6LNW

Options Day Feedback Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

Morning,

Our next SSLC is on Wednesday. For those of you who don't know this is where your course reps from every year group meet with staff from the Maths department to discuss how to improve the course. If you have any thoughts about anything please let us know.

In particular this time we will be discussing Options Day so we have a really short survey, literally 3 minutes, to get some feedback on this. Please complete this before Wednesday afternoon if you get time. Thank you!
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/XQC6LNW

Options Day Feedback Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

Hi everyone,

Yesterday Laura, Erika and Zain (Economics and Maths) attended the second Student Voice Forum of the year. Here’s a quick summary of the issues affecting us that were discussed:
•The university is looking into the use of Maple TA for coursework and assessments and how this can be improved. There have been issues as no marks are awarded for marking, only the final answer.
•Exam timetables will hopefully be released earlier, and last-minute changes should no longer be made.
•An investigation into the practice of invigilators during exams has been launched. They already go through a comprehensive training program but are currently not complying to the rules.
•Timetable clashes for joint honours students should not happen. Central timetabling will be informed that these clashes need to be sorted out immediately. Please let us know if you have a clash that doesn’t get resolved soon.
•The university will be looking into improving the catering services on campus to increase availability in the evenings and at weekends and to improve the range for students with food allergies.

Tomorrow evening is the Student Voice Forum which all reps attend. We'll be talking with a panel of senior management staff. The focus is on exam processes and infrastructure so if you have any thoughts please let us know.

Hello!
We are your Course Reps for the year. This page is here to make it easy for us to keep you updated about what we’re up to during the year and for you to give us any feedback. We will let you know about meetings we’ll be attending so you can email us, talk to us or contact us on here with anything you’d like brought up. Information about the next one coming soon! Give us a follow to keep up to date with how we get on.