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Role Play Scenario 33


You find yourself struggling with one of your courses. No matter how hard you work, you don’t seem to be able to improve your marks. Other students are experiencing the same; at this rate, it seems that no one will pass the course. You decide to speak to your tutor, Anne.

In this role play, you may speak to Anne.
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Excellent Student Approach
1.         Introduction
2.         Open Questions
3.         Develop Rapport
4.         Address the issues known
5.         Identify any additional issues
6.         Summary and plan going forward

1 - Meet with Anne at a suitable time.
2 - Explain that no matter how hard you work you are struggling to keep on top of the subject. To find out if this is common, you could ask, ‘do students often struggle with the demands of this particular course?’
3 - Ensure that you are respectful, but honest when discussing your issues with the course.
4 - Review what aspects in particular you are struggling with, and what other people have said they are struggling with. Explore with the tutor whether it is possible to focus on these areas more during teaching. Find out whether it’s possible to arrange additional teaching with the tutor, or with a postgraduate student. Perhaps the tutor can help you arrange additional study groups where you and your fellow students can discuss and learn together.
5 - It’s very unlikely that complaining to the tutor will change the course, or the content of it - as it is a professional course, this content is largely decided by national bodies. Therefore you need to work constructively towards understanding it.
6 - Develop a plan with the tutor to help you and your fellow students. As an example, this could  involve weekly peer-led seminars to hone in on difficult topics, with an additional group teaching led by the tutor every month. Consider arranging a follow up meeting to review the success of these measures and whether any other measures may be required in the future.
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