Do you think university will be back to 'normal' in September?

So I'm starting university in September to do nursing and I'm just wondering what people think is going to happen. My mum doesn't think we'll be in for lectures and that they'll still mostly be online because it's going to be a lot of people in one room. I'm hoping we'll at least get to go in for clinical stuff as Idk how I'd learn that at home. What does everyone else think?

Reply 1

mike23mike

Kinda. There is a limit to having only 50 people in a class max so that is putting a spanner in the works. At the undergrad level, typical class sizes range from 100 to 400 (depending on the course). Thus it's possible that the main lecture will be a zoom lecture but the seminars (20 people) or tutorials (6-8 people) will be face to face. Typically for a 10-credit module, there would be 24-26 hours of lectures/ seminars. That equates to a virtual 1-hour zoom lecture and a face to face 1-hour seminar. I think that's the best you can hope for. The zoom lecture option is not so bad - they will be recorded so if you miss it you can watch the recording and still come prepared for the seminar later that week.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 2

username5702009

I think it will be a mixture. There are large numbers of overseas students at some universities, not sure what will happen if they are from a country that by then still has a low vaccination rate.

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

Original post by mike23mike

Kinda. There is a limit to having only 50 people in a class max so that is putting a spanner in the works. At the undergrad level, typical class sizes range from 100 to 400 (depending on the course). Thus it's possible that the main lecture will be a zoom lecture but the seminars (20 people) or tutorials (6-8 people) will be face to face. Typically for a 10-credit lecture, there would be 24-26 hours of lectures/ seminars. That equates to a virtual 1-hour zoom lecture and a face to face 1-hour seminar. I think that's the best you can hope for. The zoom lecture option is not so bad - they will be recorded so if you miss it you can watch the recording and still come prepared for the seminar later that week.

To be honest, this might sound bad but I really wouldn't mind zoom lectures. It would mean less commuting and I'd still be able to learn. Just hopefully I'll get to go in for the smaller seminars and tutorials so I get to see some people. Thanks!

Reply 4

Emily5243

I think a lot of it will be back to normal except maybe lectures as they are usually very large (my year group has over 300 people so I feel like lectures would still be online). But, as a nursing student, you will have lots of placement so that should be normal. I'm starting my placements for medicine in July and the plan is for everything to be as close to normal as possible. We still had clinical skills teaching face-to-face, even in lockdown, so I would imagine things like that would be normal for you

Reply 5

Ðeggs

I think it will likely be a mixture or blended learning. Lectures that have hundreds of students will likely take place online as the university won't be able to fit hundreds of people within an indoor space when considering social distancing etc. However, smaller classes, seminar discussions or lectures for third year or postgraduate students I suppose which are smaller in size can probably take place in a class room with social distancing, hand washing stations, perspex screen etc.

Reply 6

21gem21

No it will be mostly remote learning. There will likely be another spike in the winter so I have no doubt there will be a return to lockdown restrictions. I would honestly defer for another year the way things are as the universities are getting money for old rope.

Reply 7

University of Portsmouth Student Rep

Official Rep

Original post by Anonymous

Hello!

I would recommend emailing your university to find out what your university specifically will be doing. All uni's may follow similar guidelines but have specific differences depending on certain courses which require practical's and lab workshops, so it's definitely worth an ask!

Sam- Official Student Rep :smile:

Reply 8

Anonymous #2

I think it will depend on the uni. I asked during my interviews and some unis said they were going to stick with the blended approach as it had been working well, whilst others said they were planning on just running everything as normal as long as conditions and laws allow. This will be for relatively small class sizes though, less than 50.