During my time at University both formerly as a student and now as staff I have noticed a varied approach to what is being considered a success for a student and a course as such.
Some do believe that University is a teaching ground to provide students with higher qualifications needed for high-skill based jobs – and thus their courses are too industrialised or industry-focused. However, some of the academic institutions do change and adapt to job market requirements (Independent, 2003)
Others want to keep universities as the last bastion of artistic “creative failure”, a chance of exploring and finding who we really are while studying such “level of theoretical difficulty at which it stops being “relevant to the labour market” and becomes purely abstract” (Brockes, 2003)
As polytechnics were turned into universities in the late 1990s they looked into ways of how to attract potential students away from more “traditional” institutions. One of the approaches was to offer a huge range of unique courses many of which were dubbed “Mickey Mouse” by former Higher Education minister Margaret Hodge (House of Commons, 2003).
The name came from research analysis that various universities had a too high drop out rate up to 45% due to the “nature of the course”. At those courses, there was no “appropriate rigour and content and purpose” while structure “set students up to fail” rather than to help them “complete their studies, get their degree, and take with them the benefits that that degree offers (House of Commons, 2003)
The intention behind those degrees can be plausible: offer a degree with all teaching involved that introduces you to a very niche job. After all “every generation has its Mickey Mouse degrees – arts subjects were mocked in the 60s and 70s, sociology in the 80s and gender studies in the 1990s, all of which are now regarded as legitimate by more or less everyone in academe” (Brockes, 2003). However, usually, the amount of graduates of such course yearly is higher than the total of job openings thus University try to defence by focusing on a variety of transferrable skills and potential of growth in other areas.
As a result (House of Commons, 2003) the National Student Survey has been created, External Examiners results meant to be made public and higher importance of continuing QAA institutional assessment. All of those would “give better information to students to make their judgments “.
My BSc felt like a Mickey Mouse course, as within the first two years out of 8 modules only one was directly related to my studies. I had 2 Modules focused on Web-technologies, 2 on Adobe Packages, 2 on the creation of 2D Flash Animations, 1 on 3D and 1 on Games Design which was focused around a single book available of eBay back in the day for £45. Variety of complaints and students drop-out rated forced the course into revalidation and our year 3 was much stronger focused on building individual portfolios, projects and works at the end I was one of two graduates. Yet I am pleased with the experience in three ways.
- I know how bad courses can be and I will do anything I can to ensure my students will never experience it
- It allowed me to better promote my convention (now GIC.GD ) as a student of Games Design from the UK rather than anybody from anywhere in Poland.
- Despite struggles of a full-time job and private life as well as resubmissions on year 2, I managed to graduate and advance to well well-respected MA course that was the next milestone in my career as well as an invaluable experience.
As I was raised in a post-communistic pseudo-democratic country called Poland, we are familiarised with variety of socialistic quotes, that are often presented to us without the original context and left to be “self-reflected” and understood. One especially true for me is apparently Karl Marx one: “Practice without theory is blind. Theory without practice is sterile. Theory becomes a material force as soon as it is absorbed by the masses.” that is attributed to his Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Law [Right? – my own addition], Jan. 1844, MECW, Vol. 3, p. 182 by Gus Hall Action Club (GHAC, 2008), however, I could not verify it with any legitimate source (Marxists, 2000). And as such, I would explain how I did understand its parts for years:
- ” Practice without theory is blind.” – if you just practice something without a deeper understanding you are barely scratching the surface, you are gear in bigger machinery and as such, you can be easily worn out and replaced.
- ” Theory without practice is sterile.” – if your work is only theoretical, conceptual and does not have any practical application it does not bear any fruit to society as a whole. Your ideas remain just that, untested concepts, unchecked what-ifs.
- ” Theory becomes a material force as soon as it is absorbed by the masses.” – as soon as a greater understanding is applied by a bigger group it becomes a force to be reckoned with. This was true for craftsmen unifying into Guilds back in the Middle Ages, and was true for early independent/hobby game developers of yearly 2000s as one of our sayings back in the day was “Make games, and you will be great” which was directed to a lot of “talk” by “wannabe” developers, but no practical conversion of their concepts and ideas into playable prototypes.
Prior to my arrival in the UK, I have seen an interview with Prof. Wolniewicz, a great rationalist philosopher and critic of Marxism who argued strongly that the modern university system has dropped in the quality of academic output, something that he strongly opposed, and is used as a “car park” for unemployed (Wolniewicz, 2008).
He argued that there is less work than potential workers, and studying 3 years for Bachelors or extra 2 for Masters degree offsets them from the main workforce with hopes of finding employment “later”. Which was a true statement not only in the times of financial crisis but in years before that while the Polish economy was adapting to the new capitalistic reality of market-driven supply and demand economy.
This interview and my later interactions with Industry and their experience of the quality of students versus self-taught at home candidates (which were often time better due to passion for learning and practical experience) were eye-opening to me and resulted in me committing to a full transcript in both Polish and English if you are interested in learning more about this fundamental view of my approach to teaching.
This is why personally, I am very pleased with my courses focus. That our premise is built around the all-around industry-inspired teaching with the industry-focused show at the end of it. The show is an opportunity for our students to network and to become employed if their work is showing enough of the premise. That we offer enough practical and theoretical teaching and practice that our students are comfortable to work for themselves and be successful.
This is why I want my classes to feel like industry orientated workshops: giving my students a variety of real-world examples: games, mechanics, challenges, and activities to experience and explore. To let them fail, learn, be challenged and inspired. To let them be creative during their learning while being uncompromised on my expectation of them meeting certain learning criteria. I am aware that they do more “games” in a single first term of their first year than students at other courses throughout the whole 3 years. But all of this, in my opinion, ensures that our students have the best shot at industry job with a varied range of external speakers, events, notifications and opportunities to go alongside their practical skills and theoretical skills.
P.S. Sad truth is that LCC is the biggest single employer of LCC graduates…
References:
Brockes, E. in Guardian. 2003. Tacking the mick. [ONLINE] Available at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/jan/15/education.highereducation. [Accessed 3 April 2020].
Gus Hall Action Club. 2008. Marx, Engels, Lenin: Marxism and the Role of Marxist-Leninist Theory. [ONLINE] Available at: http://gushallactionclub.blogspot.com/2008/01/marx-engels-lenin-stalin-marxism-and.html. [Accessed 3 April 2020].
House of Commons – Education and Skills – Minutes of Evidence. 2003. Examination of Witness (Questions 20-39). [ONLINE] Available at https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmselect/cmeduski/425/3021003.htm. [Accessed 3 April 2020].
Independent. 2003. Hey, Mickey, you’re so fine…. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/hey-mickey-youre-so-fine-118776.html. [Accessed 3 April 2020].
Marxists. 2000. Works of Karl Marx 1843 Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1843/critique-hpr/index.htm. [Accessed 3 April 2020].
Wolniewicz, B. (2008). Interview with Bogusław Wolniewicz for iTVP, Ring. 9th November 2008. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdBPp8TwASo. [Accessed 3 April 2020].