Students studying Journalism and Film Studies at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) are 100 per cent satisfied with their courses, according to a national survey.
Gateway House - home to DMU's Computing students
The 2016 National Student Survey (NSS) asked hundreds of thousands of final-year students across the country to rate their satisfaction across areas such as teaching, assessment and feedback, organisation and management, learning resources, personal development, and their students' union.
With a 100 per cent satisfaction rate, DMU’s Journalism course ranks fourth in the country for overall satisfaction and in the top 10 for their organisation, teaching and assessment.
Senior lecturer John Dilley attributes this to several factors, including a distinctive personal tutoring system.
He said: “NSS feedback consistently tells us that allocating students the same tutor over three years works really well. It helps build trust and strong relationships, something we’re really proud of.”
Journalism students also get valuable hands-on experience of reporting and promoting their work through the university’s dedicated Leicestershire Press website, including live-blogging a two-week internship in Prague thanks to #DMUglobal.
Final year Journalism students were recognised by the industry this year, including Beth Smith who won a Leicester Mercury award
Tim Ince, a summer graduate now working at DMU as a #DMUlocal Projects and Outreach Co-ordinator, said: “When I filled out the NSS survey I rated the Journalism course very highly because of the opportunities to go out into Leicester and get real-life experience.
“I met lots of interesting people and saw parts of the city I didn’t even know existed. I would encourage anyone who’s interested in journalism to take a look at DMU. The facilities, opportunities and tutors are second to none!”
Also boasting a 100 per cent satisfaction rate, Film Studies has adopted the same successful personal tutoring approach and has made significant technical changes.
Pier Ercole, DMU’s Film Studies course leader, said: “Our recent move to an online marking system ensures students get their marked work back within 20 days of submitting it, as well as allowing them to easily manage their grades, comments and so on.
“We’ve also listened to students and have set out clearer marking criteria to help them better focus their module work. The fact that we’re open to discussion and talk to them about changes has reinforced our strong working relationship with students.”
James Hickling (centre) having a blast at WonderCon
Recent graduate James Hickling, who has just started an MA by Research at DMU’s Cinema and Television History (CATH) research centre, said: “I rated the course very highly, especially the quality of lecturer-student interaction. I can't envision a way that it could have been better.”
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James also benefitted from one of the five #DMUglobal trips which were open to Film Studies students during 2015/16 taking place in Hong Kong, Hollywood, Berlin, Paris and Marrakech.
His 10-day stay in Hollywood to explore media fan cultures included a visit to WonderCon, a prominent fan convention, where thousands of fans gather to celebrate their favourite franchises such as Star Wars, DC Comics, Game of Thrones and anime.
He said: “The trip to LA was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Without it the course was life-altering, but with it the whole experience combined is the best choice I've ever made. And I'm still here, which proves my point!”
It's smiles all round for DMU Computing students
Elsewhere, DMU’s Computing course notched up a 90 per cent satisfaction rate. Matthew Dean, the course leader, puts that score down to better aligning the course to the industry.
He said: “We’ve worked tirelessly to bring our course in line with the real world and what employers want, working closely with DMU’s placement team to make sure students get the best workplace experience possible.
“Students have really started to notice the correlation between what our course covers and industry needs, following positive feedback and success after job interviews.”
Second year mature student Tom Abbott said: “People voted the course highly due the varied content. From business requirement specs to programming software and everything in between we covered most of what a business or client may need.”
Overall NSS results showed that 85 per cent of DMU students who took part were satisfied, which was higher than the benchmark set for the university by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), based on its mix of students and subjects.
Posted on Friday 14 October 2016