Happy new year blog from the Director…

Let me begin my wishing all students, lecturers and administrators a very happy new year from all of us at the LSE office for University of London International Programmes.

The new year is a time for new resolutions and I hope that the new years resolution students will make is to ‘work hard, aim high and to think deeply and critically about the subjects that you will be examined on this May and June’.

I have been traveling extensively for the past six months, visiting Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Malta, Turkey and Greece. I have enjoyed meeting many of you and learning about your key concerns and worries. We are always very interested to hear your views and gain feedback from you about the programmes and particular subjects.

I have discovered that some of you are making regular and good use of the VLE, whereas others have not yet accessed the Student portal at all. During my travels many students asked me how other students are doing and expressed their desire to find support from fellow students. I reminded them that the VLE and our Facebook page is the place to start to connect with other students and to find support in each other! Whilst at the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) I was able to meet the ‘famous’ Boon Pin and to say ‘thank you’ for all of the support and advice that he has given to students via the discussion forums of the VLE.

This weekend (4th – 6th February) over 300 students will be attending the annual Study weekend and as usual on Saturday evening I will be hosting an open forum where I will be taking student questions, discussing key issues and areas of concern. We would very much welcome your comments and ideas about any aspect of the University of London International programmes so that we can discuss these at the forum. Please feel free to post comments in response to this blog with any of your suggestions, or e-mail us at uolip@lse.ac.uk.

Please also note that there is a Facebook event page for the Study weekend where you can share your experiences and upload photographs from the event.

 This summer there will be a record number of students taking examinations with the University of London International Programmes. Examiners take their work very seriously and so you should make sure that you have ‘examined’ their commentaries from the past three years (which are all available on the VLE) very carefully to help you understand what the examiners expect from you. Far too often students prepare for questions that have already been set in the past and therefore are unable to answer a new question in the examination. We do not try to trick you but we do want to know that you have ‘command’ of the subject area and can apply what you know and understand to the questions asked. Please help each other via the VLE discussion forums or for those enrolled at an institution, ask your lecturer if you are unsure.

Finally, and importantly this is a time when we should think of our students in Egypt and in other places where there is turmoil and uncertainty.  We are constantly amazed by how our students succeed in spite of the many obstacles that are put in their way.  The year of the rabbit is a good year for peace and the resolution of conflict, however you should be warned about being too laid back. Work hard and enjoy your studies and then you can relax in June!

Best wishes

 

Rosemary Gosling

Director, University of London International Programmes at LSE

Learning from each other

 

Greetings from a very cold London! I am constantly delighted by the range of students who study through the University of London External System. We have students, both young and old from so many countries who do not necessarily study in their own societies. Last week I visited a small college in London and I was pleased to see students from seven different countries studying there – from Ghana, Nigeria, China, Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Belarus and India. When  the team visit students studying in colleges and meet them during the Study Weekend in London each February, we find that they learn so much from each other.  We are delighted to see the discussion groups forming with students interacting on the VLE.  

Students indicate that comparing ideas and being exposed to different perspectives and approaches really helps them in their studies.  They ‘see’ things differently and move away from their ‘taken from granted’ assumptions; they learn to be more skeptical of received wisdom and feel free to take a critical stance on their work and to make positive criticisms of their friends’ viewpoints.  

Please use the discussion forums on the VLE not just to find out answers about how to approach examination questions but to discuss more general issues, learn from each other and ask questions of each other across the globe.

Rosemary Gosling