Opinions on OU tutors...

I understand that tutors are qualified in their subjects but I'm beginning to think, based on inefficient teaching skills, that they are not qualified teachers. To obtain maximum results they way we are taught cannot be underestimated. From my experience and from various comments read it seems to be luck of the draw. This is disappointing, I expected better. Thank goodness for OUPS!

Tutors aren't really there to teach you the course. The materials do the bulk of the work in my experience (IT and maths.)
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I've had ~10 different tutors, some for more than one module and some are qualified teachers. I could still email one ex-tutor today with a mathematical question and get a response. The tutors responding on course forums have also generally been very helpful and patient, sometimes including at least one of the authors. They have started recording more online tutorials and set up a collaborative space for student use. The total level of support seems to be improving quickly. I rarely need to resort to my own tutor in a private conversation when I get stuck, only for TMA/feedback queries and extensions (generally promptly answered/granted.) A bad tutor shouldn't be a huge handicap as long as their marking is fair and in maths that is generally (objectively) the case.

I don't know much about tutoring in other subjects but have read various stories elsewhere. I don't know how common 'bad tutoring' is overall.

if there can be two meanings or interpretations of what I put in my assignment my tutor for my 2nd module seems to purposely take the wrong one, it only started happening after the first tma which took ages to be returned and I e-mailed the tutor as I am doing two modules this year an needed to stay in front, both are level one and my marks for the other module are good is the second module so much harder or was the tutor annoyed with me and decided to always take the least favourable interpretation even when it was pretty obvious I meant it in the other way. Am I taking these marks badly or do I have a reason to think my tutor is being unfair?

For my first module, at the first face-to-face tutorial, someone called him a teacher and he went ballistic. He was adamant he was not a teacher, but a tutor, and it is not his job to teach but ours to learn for ourselves.

I am posting as a former OU tutor. I obviously can't speak for all tutors and every set of circumstances described in this thread but it's worth bearing in mind that:

- ALs are usually employed full-time in another role, often as a teacher, university lecturer, or in a profession related to their OU course.

- They are not well compensated for their AL role: http://www.open.ac.uk/jobs/tutors/sites/www.open.ac.uk.jobs.tutors/files/files/ecms/web-content/Salary-bands-and-points.pdf. A new AL in the example module here is paid £229.34 per month. This pays for their training, tutorials, email support, keeping up with the course material (quite a task), and (most burdensome of all) TMA marking. Marking 20 TMAs (let alone providing the extensive feedback that the OU seem to require) is extremely time consuming. I never worked out my hourly pay because it wouldn't have been any amount at all - I saw the AL role more as an opportunity to promote my subject and to support interested students.

- Some students require a lot of support which isn't necessarily obvious to others in the group. Students do (understandably) expect a lot from their tutors but many aren't completely on board with the idea that their "fair share" is 229.34/20=£11.47 worth of time per month, including marking of their TMAs.

That said, if your AL is acting inappropriately or you don't feel that you are getting the support you need, the OU does have a very robust line management system. If you can't talk directly to your tutor (or have done so without success) then do contact the OU. They are likely to speak with +/- performance manage the AL and will move your tutor group if necessary. I also don't think that these pressures are unique to the OU - they are a problem in traditional universities as well. In fact, traditional universities are sometimes worse as a lecturer might have 200 students in their module and as many answers to mark at exam time!

I certainly don't want to make excuses for poor tutoring but thought it might explain some of the mismatched expectations between tutors and students. I was an AL for a couple of years but had to invest a huge amount of time (that I couldn't financially justify) to satisfy my students' expectations. I agree, though, that you pay your tuition fees and should demand a corresponding level of support. It's up to ALs to either campaign for better recognition or to leave and let the market drive up tutor wages.