Otago Summer School

2014 Report

Photo by Anna Macdonald

Prepared for the

Summer School & Continuing Education Board

June 2014

1

Contents

Overview 2

Papers 3

Enrolments 6

Students 8

Student experience 10

Special features 13

S

3 in January with Cameron Toogood, Richard Jackson and David Howard

Photo by Gina Clouston-Cain

2

OTAGO SUMMER SCHOOL 2014

Overview

Summer School (SS) 2014 had several interesting features and achieved good

numbers overall. The school offered the lowest number of papers since 2005 (see

Table 1) with enrolment numbers only slightly down1. Although 19% fewer papers

were offered, student numbers dropped by only 2% and enrolments dropped by just

3%. This suggests that SS 2014 was close to the ideal size and that a reasonable

diversity of papers was offered. New paper opportunities at all levels remain

important to fulfill the purpose of SS however the ratio of enrolments to papers is an

excellent outcome from a financial point of view.

Table 1: Summer School student numbers since 2001

year papers students enrolments EFTS

2001 23 701 1062 154.0

2002 36 963 1329 195.1

2003 37 1123 1555 227.2

2004 38 1267 1707 250.2

2005 49 1554 2089 303.0

2006 65 1669 2199 319.1

2007 68 1617 2161 313.6

2008 76 1680 2166 313.0

2009 77 1821 2364 343.1

2010 80 2043 2629 372.6

2011 68 1689 2098 298.8

2012 72 1762 2257 294.1

2013 75 1714 2128 300.7

2014 61 1682 2066 294.2

Totals 825 21285 27810 3979

The decline in paper offerings was largely a response to the new funding

arrangements decided mid-2013 and implemented from 2014, and having major

impact on funding for SS papers. Several departments were risk averse, expressing the

desire to wait and see how these changes played out, either withdrawing or reducing

their offerings.

1 1Discrepancies in figures are the result of difference between strict counts for admissions purposes

and actual offerings. Figures above are derived from a report generated by Admissions & Enrolment on

24/1/14. Please note these figures include two papers offered at 200 and 300 levels (double-coded), one

of which is also offered by distance. LAWS480 is also included, although it is a limited entry research

paper with just one enrolment this year. Figures exclude Math 102 because it was not strictly speaking

‘offered’ but was made available for enrolment of one student to sit the exam.

Non-EFTS enrolments are not included here. Four Interest Only students took part in Summer School

this year.

3

This change is significant for SS. Historically 80% of SS EFTS and fees income went

to departments, a financial arrangement set up when the school began in 2001.

Although always controversial in certain quarters, this incentive was very successful

in encouraging departments to participate in the early years and allowed the

development of a culture of participation. The incentive was never intended to replace

strategic and academic decision making and neither was the change intended to

undermine SS. Income now goes to the divisions, not departments, and the divisions

distribute income at the same rate as semesters. The historic incentive is gone, and

other factors are now in play.

In this climate a decline was almost inevitable and very concerning, since a vibrant

and broad SS programme is essential to retain and attract students. The programme

proved to be adequate and perhaps even corrective, although to meet its potential in

meeting the student market would need to refresh here and there and offer a handful

more papers.

The decline in 2014 was principally in Humanities. Humanities departments overall

were more cautious in their offerings, while Commerce numbers tended to remain

stable or increase. Both Commerce and Sciences increased their presence in SS as a

percentage of total offerings (see Table 2).

Table 2: Number and percentages of papers offered by Divisions 2012-14

2014 n 2014 % 2013 n 2013 % 2012 n 2012 %

Commerce 10 16.7 11 14.7 13 18.6

Health Science 3 5.0 4 5.3 5 7.1

Humanities 33 55.0 47 62.7 40 57.2

Science 14 23.3 13 17.3 12 17.1

Totals 60 100 75 100 70 100

Papers

Papers were spread across levels with the usual concentration of papers at 100 and

200 level (see Table 3). The distribution is reasonably consistent with previous years.

Table 3: Papers offerings by divisions by level in 2014

Number of SS Paper by level

100 200 300 400 Total % of

total

Commerce 6 2 2 0 10 16.7

Health Sciences 0 3 0 0 3 5.0

Humanities 9 10 7 6 32 53.3

Sciences 10 3 2 0 15 25.0

Totals

29

18

11

6

60

100%

4

Uptake

The trend in student uptake of papers by Division is shown below in Table 4.

Commerce and Sciences both attracted a higher proportion of students than previous

years, with Health Sciences slightly down. Humanities enrolments were down, not

surprising given that Humanities offered significantly fewer papers, and is also

consistent with the usual pattern of smaller class sizes in Humanities.

Table 4: Enrolment trends in papers by division 2012-2014

2012 % 2013 % 2014 %

Commerce 571 25.3 509 24.2 543 26.3

Health Sciences 219 9.7 207 9.9 189 9.2

Humanities 1085 48.2 1007 48.0 781 37.8

Sciences 378 16.8 376 17.9 552 26.7

Totals 2065 100

SS 2014 papers and enrolments

The full list of papers appears below showing final numbers and arranged by division.

Again this year two Law papers were offered in Auckland with 94 students enrolled,

and two were offered in Wellington attracting 42 students. Four papers were taught by

distance, six were new papers, and two papers were new to SS and offered in semester

time. Thirty-five papers are only available in SS.

Table 5: List of 2014 SS papers

Paper code

Paper name

Enrolments

as at 24/1/14

Commerce

BSNS103 Marketing and Consumption 87

BSNS105 Management and Organisations 72

COMP111 Information and Communications

Technology

14

ECON112 Principles of Economics 2 43

MANT358 Special Topic: Knowledge Management 44

MART202 Product and Brand Management 77

TOUR214 Introduction to Wine Business 70

TOUR306 Ecotourism and Sustainable

Development

26

TOUX101 Introduction to Tourism 75

TOUX102 Global Tourism 35

5

Health Sciences

BIOA201 Introduction to Biological Anthropology 44

BITC211 Bioethics and Film 23

FORB201 Forensic Biology 122

Humanities

ANTH 209 ST: Anthropology of Islam 16

ANTH326 ST: Sex and Culture 31

ARAB131 Arabic 1 12

CHIN131 Introductory Chinese 1 15

CLAS240 The Classical World in the Movies 17

EDUC101 Education and Society 24

ENGL127 Effective Writing 58

ENGL251 ST: Word and Image: Fantasy Worlds 52

ENGL351 ST: Jane Austen: The Phenomenon 22

FREN105 Intensive French for Beginners 11

HIST230 ST: Protest and Collaboration: the

History of Māori Politics

8

HIST 333 ST: Protest and Collaboration: the

History of Māori Politics

11

LAWS456 Media Law (Privacy & the Media) 76

LAWS471 ST 2: International Investment Law

(Wellington)

20

LAWS476 ST 7: European Union Law (Auckland) 57

LAWS479 ST 10: Charity Law in Theory and

Practice

66

LAWS486 ST 15: Forensic Law (Wellington) 22

LAWS487 ST 16: The Idea of Private Law

(Auckland)

37

MAOR110 Introduction to Conversational Māori 39

MFCO113 Screen Production: Light, Sound, Motion 16

MFCO219 Broadcast and News Media 20

MUSI260 ST: Mozart Opera 9

POLS230 US Intelligence and National Security 31

POLS301 Power and Liberty 33

POLS330 Governing the Global Environment 15

RELS218 Religion and the Internet 3

RELS318 Religion and the Internet 2

RELX218 Religion and the Internet 12

RELX318 Religion and the Internet 2

SPAN131 Introductory Spanish 1 10

THEA151 Improvisation 13

THEA251 Mask and Scenario 17

6

Sciences

CHEM150 Concepts in Chemistry 63

CHEM191 The Chemical Basis of Biology and

Human Health

110

COMP160 General Programming 37

COSC326 Effective Programming 19

COSC360 Computer Game Design 24

GEOL252 Field Studies and New Zealand Geology 50

HUNT233 Nutrition and Health: Concepts and

Controversies

52

MATH151 General Mathematics 21

MATH160 Mathematics 1 29

NAUT101 Nautical Studies 1 11

PHSE240 Principles of Exercise 27

PHSI170 Sun, Earth and Universe 23

PHSI191 Biological Physics 29

STAT110 Statistical Methods 57

Total

enrolments

2065

Summer School Students Summer School attracts students with particular characteristics and needs and they

differ in certain ways from students enrolling only in semester papers. Student profile

information is very important for planning and marketing, and is derived from various

sources, including university enrolment reports, surveys and the OUSA student rep

system.

Table 6: Summer School 2014 Student Summary

n %

Māori and Pacifika

students

Māori 150 8.9

Samoan 35 2.1

Fijian 24 1.4

Tongan 17 1.0

Cook Islander 8 0.5

Niuean 1 0.1

Other Pacific Island 4 0.2

International students 146 8.7

Enrolment category

Repeating 226 13.4

Finalist 221 13.1

Taking two papers 384 22.8

7

Please note it not yet possible to complete a current profile of students taking part in

SS 2014, due to difficulties accessing Business Objects relevant reports, a result of the

transition to the new student management system. Missing reports relate to age,

gender and an enrolment category. To provide at least some information in these

categories, data from 2011-13 is provided instead.

Enrolment categories 2011-2013

2011 2012 2013

% % %

Returning 93.2 93.7 94.5

Transferring 3.9 4.8 3.6

First year /new 0.3 1.5 1.9

2013 Gender

In 2013 female students constituted 56% of the student body.

2013 Age group Nearly 80% of SS students were aged 24 or under.

6% were under 20

58% were aged 21 or 22

11% were aged between 25 and 30

10% were 31 or older, with the most senior student aged 75.

International students

International student numbers remain low overall, down slightly from last year.

Movement within the cohort is marked, with a sharp decline in Humanities and an

increase in Commerce (see Table 7).

Table 7: International student enrolments in papers by division 2012-14

2012 2013 2014

Commerce 74 78 88

Health Sciences 21 8 10

Humanities 61 46 15

Sciences 45 17 33

Totals 201 149 146

International teachers

In SS 2014 there were seven international teachers, with seven in 2013 and ten in

2012. Although numbers are holding, the funding model can be seen as a disincentive

for departments to bring in international teachers, yet this is a valued and practical

dimension of SS. International teachers bring a refreshing international perspective to

students (and to other staff), an opportunity that most students would not otherwise

have. They also provide an alternative to departments with limited expertise in an

important area of study, or where permanent staff members are not available to teach.

They can teach a whole course in six weeks, much more efficient and cost effective

than in semesters and can be accommodated more easily. International teachers have

been a valuable feature of SS and need to be encouraged.

8

First year students

As a rule first year students are discouraged from enrolling, firstly it’s a tough way to

begin university study, and secondly when SS commences NCEA level 3 results have

not yet arrived which means their enrolment status is unconfirmed. Mechanisms are in

place to manage this situation, minimizing risk for students and the university.

Student Experience Student experience is monitored and evaluated using the OUSA class rep system and

the annual student survey.

Summer School Class Representatives

This system has a fine tradition in SS where its capacity to identify issues early has

been invaluable. The system and process was modified in 2014 by Philippa Keaney,

OUSA Advocate and Student Representative Coordinator.

In 2014 a total of 67students volunteered as class representatives, 38 of those attended

a training session conducted by OUSA. During the course of SS, three formal

opportunities were provided for class representatives to meet with the Director of SS

and OUSA to provide feedback on their respective papers. Feedback from those

sessions was overwhelmingly positive. Most of the issues raised were minor issues to

do with resourcing and scheduling and these were rectified swiftly once they had been

passed on to the relevant department staff.

Although there were some administrative glitches, feedback from representatives and

departments indicated that the rep system worked efficiently in terms of its main

focus: encouraging communication and consultation between students and staff and

providing a vehicle for students to communicate matters relating to teaching and

delivery of their papers. Class representatives reported feeling appreciated and valued

by SS staff and many expressed a desire to volunteer in that capacity again in future.

Student Questionnaire

SS was evaluated via the annual questionnaire administered during the last week of

classes. The survey focusses on the overall SS experience, not course content or

teaching. Not all classes received their survey material in time however 806 surveys

were completed, and the response rate was 48%.

The findings are summarized below.

SS student profile 2014

73% were enrolled in SS for the first time

26% students have taken SS papers previously

5% had taken part in SS three or more times.

Motivations to take part

31% speeding up degree

22% for interest or changing direction

18% catching up

15% influence of family, friends or lecturers

7% accessing student allowance

7% last paper to complete degree (about 13% are finalists this year)

9

Work status

38% combined part-time work with study

3% combined study with voluntary work

Permanent home

33% Dunedin

37% elsewhere

27% Dunedin, just while studying

If they had not taken SS

44% would have taken the same paper during Semester time

18% would have gone elsewhere for the summer

5% would have taken papers at another university

Communication

68% consider email the most effective way to communicate with them, with 9%

preferring texts

88% accessed University website for SS information and 94% of users found it useful

or at least moderately useful

73% accessed SS website for SS information, and 91% of users found it useful or at

least moderately useful

35% accessed University Information Centre, of whom almost 99% found it useful or

at least moderately useful

26% used the SS handbook for information, of whom 85% found it useful or at least

moderately useful

35% would have found a hard copy prospectus useful, while 32% were unsure.

These results suggest that a hard copy prospectus which included material from the

handbook would be useful

21% used Facebook for information, and 13% found it useful or at least moderately

useful

Students heard about SS from a number of sources, with websites and posters the

major sources.

34% University website

22% Posters on campus

14% SS website

13% Other

5% Handbook

3% SS Info day

3% Facebook

Comments provided in the “Other” option indicate that people were important

communicators about SS, including friends and university staff members (lecturers,

course advisors, heads of department and the school liaison team). Information days

and Facebook are clearly not the best way to bring SS to people’s attention. Presence

10

on the university website and visually on campus appear the most effective ways of

bringing SS to student attention.

Summer School experience

A few people commented on the weather, which was truly dismal this year. However

when rating their SS experience, 75% were very positive. A further 20% were neutral

while only 3% were less than positive.

Most appreciative comments were made in reference to the quiet campus, the smaller

classes and the consequently friendlier atmosphere.

Another important aspect was the paper, both content and teaching, and described as

enjoyable, engaging and useful.

Many people appreciated the focus on one paper and found the intensity and pace to

their liking although a small number found it too hard, especially those also in part

time work.

A few found the quiet campus difficult or lonely, and some asked for longer library

hours. Several really disliked the noise and disruption caused by the construction

work or the Masters Games.

Many expressed a desire for more social opportunities during SS.

A few students found courses disorganized or mentioned problems with Blackboard,

mainly when a lecturer did not use it.

71% students rated their learning at SS as fantastic or very good, and 57% found it a

better learning experience than semester time.

The best thing about SS was:

100 small classes and quieter campus

89 the paper, content and/or structure

85 efficient use of time, speeding up degree

83 focus and immersion

58 lecturer

53 people/friends

48 learning experience

48 flexibility and freedom

38 opportunity to take a particular paper

12 managing workload

10 other

4 access to student allowance

Students would most like to change:

75 lack of break between SS and semester one

62 improvements in course structure and/or delivery

51 more paper choice

27 students getting together more (with food)

25 remove timetable clashes

19 improved communication and information from university (especially

regarding enrolment status)

18 the weather

11 improved administration

7 no more construction on campus

6 extended library hours

4 other

11

Overall the student learning experience was very good. Students appreciated the

smaller classes and quieter campus although more opportunities for students to get

together would be welcome. Students (and staff) really struggle with the overlap of

exam week and O’ week. There is also room for improvement in course structure and

administration, and in the way the university communicates about enrolment status.

Students wanted greater paper choice. Although they had clearly found at least one

suitable paper, 2014 did offer significantly fewer options than 2013. It is also

desirable that the library offer consistent hours throughout SS, instead of a reduced

service in the first two weeks. Timetable clashes are a problem for some yet are hard

to avoid. One 18 point paper is considered full time study, and given the high contact

hours during SS, plus general dislike of early and late classes, it is simply not feasible

to accommodate many combinations.

Features of Summer School 2014

S3

Summer School Sessions (S3) ran from week two and as in 2013 was very popular,

attracting increasing numbers as the weeks went by. Sessions were held in the Link on

Wednesday at 5.15pm, bringing academics, students and community together in

university public space. Refreshments were served. Sessions were promoted via

email, posters, Facebook, and newsletters attracting over 200 participants over five

sessions.

The over-arching theme was developed in consultation between the student moderator

Cameron Toogood and the Director, and then various sub themes identified, and

speakers invited to participate in the discussions. The sessions were well supported by

these academics and ably moderated by Cameron, as follows:

Perceptions of Reality

15 January

Approaches to Truth

Prof Richard Jackson and Burns Fellow David Howard

22 January

Truth and Ethics

Prof Grant Gillett and Dr Zach Weber

29 January

A General Theory of Love

Prof Kevin Clements, Pam Morrison and Dr Chris Holmes

4 February

Is Feeling just a Chemical?

Dr Christine Jasoni and Dr Tamlin Connor

12 February

Are Humans Inherently Warlike?

Prof Charles Higham, Prof Kevin Clements and Prof Robert Patman

12

Summer Art Caravan

Kerry Mackay and Pamela Brown ran the Summer Art Caravan in the Link from

week one to week four. This community art project was part funded by a Humanities

Performing Arts Grant, and involved a small retro caravan parked in the Link and

slowly covered in artistic wallpaper cutouts made by all and sundry, with cheerful

encouragement and assistance from Kerry and Pamela. It was a delight and brought a

cultural and artistic focus to the campus.

Summer Art Project in the Link Artists Kerry Mackay and Pamela Brown

Photo by Anna Macdonald Photo by Anna Macdonald

SS Teaching Workshops

Two teaching workshops were held in October 2013, offering teachers a chance to

plan and reinvigorate their teaching in SS. Facilitated by Clinton Golding (HEDC)

and Elaine Webster (SS) the workshops attracted ten participants. Evaluation of the

workshops was very positive, with everyone finding them valuable and effective.

SS Staff

Gina Clouston-Cain joined the SS Office in December 2013, following the departure

of administrator Robin Frame in August. Maari McCluskey and Aggie O’Leary

provided invaluable temporary assistance between August and December.

SS Review

Summer School & Continuing Education was reviewed in September 2013 and in

early 2014 a report was released (confidential to University staff). Overall the review

found the school performing well and meeting the expectations of both students and

departments. University staff interested in reading the full report should contact the

Quality Advancement Unit.

Late 2013 SS papers

Two papers were offered late in 2013 as Pre-Christmas SS papers. Although this

period is not generally considered optimal for either departments or students, certain

advantages exist albeit in a limited way. In 2013 SS did not quite meet its EFTS quota

and it was in the interests of the wider university to try to fill them. Combined with

demand from Law students for a chance to complete or advance their study in this

period, alongside availability of a suitable lecturer, this option was worthwhile.

13

Consequently the Faculty of Law offered LAWS 472 attracting paper sixty-nine

students and 6.9 additional EFTS.

There was also new demand from university staff for accredited learning in Māori

language and culture, following inclusion of new criteria in the PDR process. The

paper MAOR120 was offered by the School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies,

attracting twenty-eight students and staff members and 4.2 EFTS.

Papers were taught over the five weeks from 11 November to 13 December.

Dr Elaine Webster, Director June 2014