Individual analysis performed and written by Ignacy Bartnik.
My focus were the most qualitative questions, asking students to either create a “ideal” description of their module, or to list positive and negative words associated with their module. Although difficult to condense, much information could be gathered from the results.
Words people like that go with their degree:
Words people don’t like that go with their degree:
There were no great surprises with the words written by the students. Simple, easy to think of words dominated, with an expected number of students also using phrases or sentences, seemingly not recognizing the difference.
“Challenging” was probably the most interesting word, given how it appeared in both the negative and positive lists. There was also a possible bias towards the negative word “long” due to large number of medics answering, and the fact that medicine in the UK is a longer course compared to other degrees.
Ideal Descriptions of your course
Highlight Answer 1
Thrilling, involved, and with a constant feeling of fulfilment as each day brings with it new challenges to overcome during the busy weeks.
Highlight Answer 2
This course examines the role of the visual in our society and how it disseminates or creates knowledge, thereby enforcing structures of power. The course explores various elements of visual culture across a range of artistic movements and different media, from paintings to websites, through close analysis grounded in broader cultural and philosophical theory.
Highlight Answer 3
An interactive course that is refreshing. Opportunity to develop skills.
A surprising number of students answered this question with good detail, such as sample answers 1 and 2, with most answers being more in the style of sample answer 1.
Perhaps the students of Imperial miss opportunities to show off their literary skills. Most answers described their course as challenging in a good way, engaging and exciting, or in similar words to the same effect. This was to some extent ironic, as the words used had very similar meaning as the negative words highlighted in question 2.
Perhaps the qualities that are best and most unique in a course also result in the more negative aspects of a university degree course.
Interestingly, there was a mix of students who understood that they should describe their horizons course versus their main degree. This shows how in some students’ minds, Horizons is separated from their degree.