Spearheads
We stand for quality and freedom of study in pleasant surroundings. Lijst Calimero does not only think that things might be better, we also know how to do it:
1. Hold teachers accountable for bad education
Very often students make their dissatisfaction known about the quality of their teachers and their lectures. Still barely anything is done about this problem. Lijst Calimero states that the results of evaluations of teachers, courses and exams should have binding consequences. If a certain teacher has a bad review, an obligatory coaching program could be an option. Inspiring colleges and qualitative education is a right for all students.
2. Academic testing: less fact-oriented, more questions testing insight and not just multiple choice exams.
Less than half of all bachelor students on average at the RUG say they need proper comprehension of the course literature to make an exam. This is absolutely not acceptable at an university. This goes together with the fact that more and more exams consist of multiple choice questions only, especially at studies with many students. We want to fight for an academic way of teaching in which real comprehension of the literature is more important that mere fact knowledge.
3. Feedback for all essay assignments guaranteed.
Experience tells us that there’s no feedback given for most written assignments, like papers and essays. This is a big concern: a grade for an essay is just an indication of the quality of the whole piece and doesn’t say a thing about the way it was written. Feedback is essential for a student to improve their writing skills. That’s why: universitybroad policy to make feedback on written assignments compulsory.
4. Videos of all lectures on Blackboard
Lijst Calimero likes to see the RUG to keep up with our time and use more modern educationmethods. An example is offering lecturevideos: for most students this would be a great addition to their lecture notes. That’s why Lijst Calimero pleads for making lecturevideos of all lectures and publish them online.
5. Creating interactive lectures by introducing i.e. voting devices
During most lectures the interaction is minimal. It doesn’t motivate students to attend the lectures and, if they do show up, pay attention. When using modern facilities students can be encouraged in a different way. Lijst Calimero says that lectures should be made more interactive by giving students the possibility to participate with the use of votingdevices, bluetooth or textmessaging.
6. No unnecessary study delay: offer obstacle courses twice a year.
Every study has their own courses that a lot of students experience as very difficult., known as obstacle courses. Exactly these courses are often important to pass to get acces to new courses. When students don’t pass these obstacle courses it can lead to a study delay of six months or even longer. Lijst Calimero wants to prevent such study delay by offering obstacle courses twice a year.
7. Better information about the link between study and the labor market
Lijst Calimero thinks that de link between study and the labor market is not optimal at most studies. Different surveys keep having the same results that students are not satisfied with the given information about their job perspective. We think this should change RUG-wide by creating more guestlectures with experience from the labor market, more internship possibilities and better information.
8. No extra college fee for a second study
With the new Law of the Higher Education (WHW) the financing of the second study changes. When a student has passed their Bachelor or Master and wants to start with a second study, he or she will have to pay a much higher fee. Lijst Calimero sees studying as a way to cultivation and development. This is a right for every student, also when a second study is needed. Lijst Calimero thinks that students shouldn’t have to pay a higher fee for a second study.
9. Only RUG students allowed during busy exam periods in the university library.
During exam periods it’s always the same: irritation sets in when the UB is overcrowded once more. One of the reasons is that also HBO-students are allowed in the library in disadvantage of the RUG students who do pay for the UB but have to stay at home because all the seats are taken. That’s why we think that during busy examperiods only RUG students should be allowed in the UB.
10. Leading scientific literature for all courses
The quality of a course depends for a large part on the given literature. Still a lot of teachers choose to use only their own literature while there are better alternatives. The risk that is accompanied by this is that students get a limited view of a certain specialism. Therefore, teachers should always use leading scientific literature for every course.
11. Uniform rules and deadlines for course and exam enrollments
More and more students choose to follow courses at a different faculty than their own. Every single time the same problem arises: there are different rules and deadlines for course and exam enrollments and when they do not apply on time it can lead to a fine they did not know about. That’s why Lijst Calimero thinks that the rules and deadlines for course and exam enrollments should be uniform.
12. Better acces to foreign top universities.
Lijst Calimero is an advocate of the development that more and more students gain international experience at a top university in another country. Unfortunately some faculties only offer programs at universities whose curriculum is not a lot more interesting than that of the RYG. Lijst Calimero states that studying abroad should be made more attractive by creating better acces to foreign top universities. This can be achieved by gaining more partnerships with these kinds of universities.
