12. The Student Experience
12.1 What is the 'class' experience like?
12.2 What can I expect from the unit coordinator?
12.3 What kind of assignments can I expect?
12.4 How many hours per week?
12.5 Can I read a testimonial by a MAAL student?
12.1 What is the 'class' experience like?
In the first week you'll log on to a unit and you'll find yourself in a group of (maybe 50??) students. People post greetings and the class quickly settles into a routine. In each unit there are Information pages that explain what you need to do. You'll find explicit instructions about the topic structure, what you need to read for each topic, when each task is due, etc etc.
You'll find a Discussions board where you can ask questions, and read other people's questions and responses to them. You'll find that over the course of a semester, that you get to know the different personalities in your class - it is amazing how much each person's personality comes through in their writing. There may be set postings that you are required to make. However you can generally choose your level of involvement - some people are highly verbose and love to post, and others choose a lower level of involvement - that's fine! You will develop skills in knowing what is worth reading and what is skippable.
12.2 What can I expect from the unit coordinator?
The unit coordinator will have a serious level of engagement with the unit. Instructors normally respond within 48 hours on working days, often within 24 hours. In most units you'll find that there is a Graduate teacher as well as the unit coordinator. Graduate teachers are postgraduate students completing research degrees with us, who help in the units. This is good experience for them, and we think it's nice that you have input from more than one person.
12.3 What kind of assignments can I expect?
Assignments vary by unit. Some kinds of assignments include essays, linguistic problem sets, article reviews, websearches, online discussions, online quizzes, small research projects, etc. For each unit you can expect clear information about each assessment task and when it is due.
12.4 How many hours per week?
Each unit is meant to constitute 150 hours work over the entire semester (including reading time, undertaking research, doing assessment tasks, contributing to Discussions, etc.). Obviously some times in the semester are busier than others, but as a rule of thumb, we'd recommend that each unit should take approximately 10 hours of your time per week. You will find you need to spend more time than this in the weeks in which you are preparing assignments.
12.5 Can I read a testimonial by a MAAL student?
Yes, we've pasted below an unsolicited email we received from a MAAL student who completed his degree in November 2005 (used with permission).
"Dear Nick and Liz, This is my final term in the MAAL so I thought now would be a good time to let you know what I thought. Every staff member has done a notable amount of work in creating the program, so I thought it was fair to tell you how it appears to a student. I'm sending this to both of you since you both seem to be monitoring the program. The program has been phenomenal in many ways. I started last June/July and was quite apprehensive - the usual questions burned: Is this going to be worth the money? Will there be personal contact with the instructors? Can you really do a Masters completely online? Is it credible? etc. My biggest concern was: will I be able to speak with others, both students and coordinators, and get answers to problems quickly? The program quickly proved itself, as I was openly welcomed and helped by students and coordinators in the first few weeks when the workload was quickly picking up - yet, it was still very flexible so satisfied one of the biggest bonuses of external studying - flexibility. I was enrolled in 451 and 453 (FYI Nick: great course, even if my grammar is still not perfect!...sorry about that :) An external degree, especially a Masters, is a bit daunting the first week or so, but you quickly become confident with the layout of UNE's WebCT, and the course requirements - again, very important to people who are/were as nervous as myself.
On a more specific level and the main reason for writing this email, I would just like to mention that I was especially impressed with the internal consistency and support throughout the degree. I mean this in two ways:
- All of my general queries were handled quickly and professionally, making the actual learning part of the degree less stressful.
- As far as the actual courses went, I recently wrote an email to a staff member commenting on the consistency of my marks, which was superb. My marks were, quite surprisingly, all within 6 or 7 percent of my average - not that this is a necessity or something that makes a good program, but it does suggest to me that the level of difficulty and overall marking are quite consistent in the Linguistics department. I asked if this was something that the UNE staff strives for, since it is quite remarkable compared with my previous University coursework. As a result of the similar feedback throughout the program and overall consistency in course structure, I believe I was able to really see where my strengths and weaknesses are, and have gained the confidence to pursue further grad work. This is all more than I had expected, as I didn't really know what to expect when I began.
So, in short, it's been a really first-rate experience and I hope to meet the staff at some point. I'm in the middle of a contract right now so unfortunately it doesn't look like I'll be able to make it to grad - I was really hoping to. Liz, I'm sorry that I never had the opportunity to take your classes, I've heard great things from the students I've talked to. Regards, Mark"