STAFF and students at the University of Adelaide have raised concerns about a move to cut back the number of tutorials a semester and replace them with extra time for one-on-one consultations.
Students say they fear losing valuable teaching time, while casual staff are concerned they will lose paid work hours. Both staff and students are sceptical of management suggestions that the changes will enhance student learning, believing instead the changes are driven by cost cutting.
At a meeting of about 200 students yesterday, deputy vice-chancellor (academic) Pascale Quester and dean Nick Harvey tried to allay concerns.
"The students weren't convinced by the arguments because it was clear they believe tutorials are the most valuable part of the learning experience in the bachelor of arts," National Tertiary Education Union branch president Rod Crewther told the HES after the meeting.
The meeting had been organised by student union president Raffaele Piccolo following an inundation of queries from worried students.
Mr Piccolo said students weren't convinced the extra one-on-one sessions could substitute for the interactive learning nature of tutorials. He said there was also concern that if too many students availed themselves of the session, tutors might be able to offer them only a few minutes each. Under the changes, which Professor Harvey described as a trial, the number of tutorials a semester has been cut from 12 to 10. The changes have affected three schools: social sciences, history and politics, and humanities. . Professor Harvey said tutors would be paid for the extra consultation.
But faculty staff said the real motivation was the need to find savings after the new pay deal entitled casual staff to be paid separately for marking.
Ahead of yesterday's meeting, Professor Harvey told the HES he expected the one-on-one time would be made available when primary assessment tasks were due.
"The idea isn't to drop away the time but to use that time more effectively," he said.
Asked whether the changes were driven by cost pressures, Professor Harvey said that was only a "very small part" of the decision.
Professor Quester said the changes were part of a university-wide policy of "transformation" to focus on how students learned.
She said it was about challenging the "sacred model" of having two lectures and one tutorial a week.
She said there would be variation of the model according todifferent disciplines, but it was generally about providing more collaborative learning opportunities and adapting to the online learning habits of students.
"There is a much bigger menu than just students sitting in a room being talked at by a lecturer," she said.
"This isn't a cost-cutting exercise."
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