EUSA teaching awards: A positive first step

With the introduction of their new awards for exceptional undergraduate teaching and feedback, the Edinburgh University Students’ Association (EUSA) is to be congratulated for the ingenuity it has shown in its quest to raise course standards.

Traditionally, undergraduate teaching has been regarded by too many lecturers as an unwelcome disruption to a hard day of research. Clearly, universities in Edinburgh can no longer afford for this to be the norm. In today’s global market of higher education, the volume and quality of contact time enjoyed by Ivy League and Oxbridge students is expected by all undergraduates paying through the nose for their education.

Indeed, the introduction of tuition fees has been rightly viewed by many as an opportunity for students to demand more from their courses, and the students’ unions of Edinburgh should be implored to attach themselves firmly to this bandwagon. Successive National Students’ Surveys have revealed deep dissatisfaction with essay and exam feedback, and the support that Edinburgh students’ unions have shown for the NUS feedback amnesty campaign—which aims to rectify this state of affairs—must be welcomed as a positive first step.

Whilst the steady decline towards spoon-feeding that has plagued the high school curricula of this country must be avoided in our higher education institutions, all must agree that learning from mistakes is impossible without having a definite understanding of what those mistakes are.

Good quality teaching and detailed feedback are essential for a degree to be worth its salt in a globalised graduate employment market that is more overcrowded and competitive than ever before. Whilst EUSA have done well so far, measurable change is expected quickly by an impatient student body. With the addition of fees into the mix, every man is keen to get his money’s worth.