Different preferences for how feedback and course materials are delivered show it is unwise to provide the same type of support for undergraduate and postgraduate taught students, early findings of an Office for Students (OfS) study suggest.
Drawing on the first year of data from the national Pre-Arrival Questionnaire (PAQ) project, which collected responses on preferred learning styles, expectations and requirements from 5,548 undergraduates and 2,285 postgraduates at 11 UK universities, researchers identified clear differences between the two cohorts.
“Postgraduate taught students are far more focused on the course, the academic experience and to get a graduate job,” Michelle Morgan, dean of students at the University of East London, told Times Higher Education ahead of the UK Council for Graduate Education’s annual conference in Liverpool from 2 to 3 July, where she is presenting the pilot’s initial findings.
“Postgraduates tend to prefer learning materials in hard copy but were significantly less likely to take handwritten notes in class than undergraduates,” explained Morgan.
Meanwhile, incoming UK undergraduates are far more likely to prefer face-to-face feedback from their tutor, with 49 per cent preferring this mode compared with just 37 per cent of postgraduate taught students. A significant proportion – 27 per cent of postgraduates – preferred written feedback in an email, while only 17 per cent of undergraduates wanted tutor responses in this format.
