College teaching slammed
An angry student has hit out over the quality of teaching at Ayrshire College’s Ayr campus - and labelled it a ‘shambles’.
Dad-of-three Glen Fleming says he’s been let down by ‘poor teaching and communication.’
The 27-year-old is from Ayr but lives in Drongan.
He is poised to finish an advanced sports and fitness course this week, however, he has raised a complaint with college management over his academic year.
In response, the college says it cannot comment on individual cases but vows it takes all complaints seriously.
Glen claims his progression to HND level has been stymied following a litany of problems.
Among his criticisms are the quality of teaching; ‘poor’ engagement; ‘little and poor’ communication; little resources; a ‘lazy’ attitude from some lecturers; lack of support; little feedback; ‘massive workloads’ and ‘unrealistic’ deadlines.
Bursary student Glen also claimed a sixweek IT failure with an assessment portal prevented students from handing in their work, leading to markdowns in their overall results.
He said: “This is something I feel quite strongly about. It’s been a shambles. There’s a lack of teaching, communication and engagement from some lecturers.
“I am currently studying an advanced sports and fitness course which is due to finish up this week but my progression on to a higher level has been halted due to poor teaching and communication.
“As if it wasn’t hard enough studying in a home environment during a pandemic, but to be teaching myself and using the likes of Google for help with my workload, instead of the lecturers, is shocking.
“We go to college to learn, grow and be taught by professionals in their fields. Instead, this year, has been nothing of the sort. We have been self-teaching with a lack of resources provided to try to pass a course we know nothing about initially.”
Glen said he’s not the only one who has been let down.
He said: “There are numerous students who feel strongly about this too. They’re feeling overlooked and unfairly treated.
“There’s poor teaching, poor engagement, little and poor communication, little or zero resources given to students, [a] lazy attitude from some lecturers and a lack of support.
“There’s also been little feedback and massive workloads to be completed within tight deadlines. Basically, we’ve had to selfteach ourselves.”
Glen continued: “There was also a time when lecturers went on strike during our assessment period and we were told, ‘here’s the assessment’.
“But we weren’t able to contact them for help. And if we did not pass, then we got marked down.
“Then a portal, where you hand in your assessments, was down for about six weeks so you weren’t able to submit your work. This is what’s been going on. There’s an investigation because of this and I’m not afraid to take this as far as I can.”
A spokesperson for Ayrshire College said: “Ayrshire College is committed to providing excellence in the quality and standards of our services, and with the support we provide to our students and customers.
“While we are unable to comment on individual students, we are aware of this student’s complaint, and are following our college complaints process to deal with these concerns. We take all complaints seriously and deal with them fairly, sensitively, quickly and in confidence.”