Episode 5: Module Fairs and Module Choices

It's module choice time, so fire up that podcast player and have a listen to...

Episode 5 of 'TL;DR - The Arts ESE Podcast' from the University of Nottingham's Faculty of Arts ESE Team is out now!

In this week's episode we talk to English & History Joint Honours student Alice Calcraftas she reflects on module fairs, module choices and how to make the decisions that best suit your studies.

We'll also be letting you know about the events and opportunities happening in the Faculty of Arts.

For more information about the Faculty of Arts ESE Team, please visit the University of Nottingham's Faculty Arts ESE website

Hosted by Liv Hough

Produced by Alex Blades

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Hi everyone, I'm Liv from the Faculty of Arts Education and Student Experience Team, or ESE for short, here at the University of Nottingham. Welcome to TLDR, the Arts ESE Podcast. This is a monthly podcast designed to give you a quick overview of what's going on in the faculty and spotlight some of the things that our students and staff are up to here at UOM. While your weekly news bulletins are your main course of information, this podcast is more of an accompaniment, like a nice bread roll at the start of your meal. So, no matter where you are, if you want to know what's happening in the faculty, I've got you covered here on TLDR, the Arts ESE podcast. So we're almost at the end of spring term. You've been through assessments in January, a term's worth of teaching, and now the Easter break is on the horizon. Well, we're back to let you know what's going on and to give you some extra insights that you might not find elsewhere. But before that, here's some news about upcoming events and opportunities, along with other things that you might have missed. The spring term student staff forums or SSFs are underway. These are an amazing chance to have your say and help create change in your school or department. While some SSFs have already happened, you can still provide feedback via the SSF padlets or forms and see the changes made as a result of past meetings. So check your Moodle community hubs for upcoming SSF dates and for past action logs. In other rep news, the Arts Rep Awards are back. Our Arts Faculty reps play a vital role in driving real change. They gather student feedback, challenge issues, and help shape the decisions in the student staff forums, teaching committees and the faculty education and student experience meetings. Their work directly improves the student experience and it deserves to be recognised. So if you know a rep who has truly made a difference, someone who has gone above and beyond the extra mile to capture feedback, champion ideas, or push through solutions that improved a course or the wider student experience, we want to hear about them. Voting opens this week, so keep an eye out for an email from the ESE team about how you can cast your vote. For final year students, the National Student Survey is still open and will be until the 30th of April 2026. The survey is your chance to look back on your higher education experience and to speak out on everything from teaching on your course, access to resources and equipment to even your experiences giving feedback. In addition, taking part in a survey gives you the chance to win a top prize of £250. Until the end of this week, you get to have your say about your individual modules via the student evaluation of module surveys. The links and QR codes for these surveys should already have been given to you by your module conveners, alongside allocated time in lectures or seminars for you to evaluate the module and to suggest improvements. You can also access your SEMs by simply logging into your Bluecastle account. Speaking of modules, it's time for the annual module fairs. These events are run by departments to help inform first and second year students about the modules available to study during the next academic year. We'll be discussing more about this later on in the episode, so stay tuned. And finally, the Easter break begins at the end of next week and lasts up until the 26th of April. Whilst many of you may return home, we are aware that a lot of students do choose to stay in Nottingham over Easter. Whilst no teaching will happen during this period, most university support services and facilities will remain open and available to you. More details can be found on the university website. This week, here to discuss module fairs and choices, is second year Joint Honours English and History student Alice Calcraft. Hi Alice! Hello. So tell us a little bit about yourself and your time here at UON.

SPEAKER_00 4:14

So, as you've heard, my name is Alice and I'm in my second year studying English and history. Outside my academics, I spend lots of time getting involved in extracurricular activities both in societies and related to my course. I play the cello and I'm a member of two university orchestras and a string quartet. I'm the co-general sector of the music society. I'm also a huge Taylor Swift fan and I'm the president of the Taylor Swift Society. I'm a senior course rep, peer mentor, and of course a student engagement associate, and I volunteer for a few different charities. And when I'm not in lectures or society events, you can most likely find me reading in one of the cafes on campus or walking around the lake.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

My goodness, you do get up to what you want here. That is amazing. So and that's all just you're in your second year now. So second year, and that'll be the second time you've made module choices. Can you tell us a little bit about how you've made your decisions about modules in the past?

SPEAKER_00 5:07

Of course. So last year I made my module selections based purely on what I was interested in, and as a joint honour student, I do have restrictions over the amount of credits I can take for each subject, and the balance between the autumn and spring semester is quite important. Predominantly for English, I knew I mostly wanted to take literature modules, so I chose that those ones I was most interested in and then framed my other choices around that. And as I was very excited for the huge variety in the module choices in my first year, looking to my second year, I started reading through the options and the content in the module catalogues quite early. And this meant by the time the module fairs and the module selection process, I had a good understanding of what I was interested in.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

So as a giant honour student, then you've had access to two different module fairs in your first year. Would you say that they were helpful in your first year for making the decision? Did you did you attend them?

SPEAKER_00 5:59

Yes, definitely. I found them really helpful. Um particularly the History Module Fair, is they were both in different formats. So the history one was you walked around speaking to module conveners, and the English one was a talk in a lecture theatre. I think it might be similar, might be different this year. Um but at the History Module Fair, particularly, I really enjoyed the chance to speak to module conveners about their modules, and it was really great to be able to hear directly from them about why they were passionate about their subjects. And I ended up choosing modules I hadn't considered before based on what I learned through the fair, and it was really nice to be able to hear so many people so passionate about what they study.

SPEAKER_01 6:33

That is really lovely to hear about your experiences, particularly with the history module fairs. We actually had some feedback in the School of English last year around that style being the best for module fairs. So coming into this year, we've actually adopted that style in the School of English. So that'll be really exciting. You'll get to see it later on. So now having done the modules that you chose last year, um would you have picked differently if you were now able to time travel back?

SPEAKER_00 7:02

I don't think so. No, I've really enjoyed all of my autumn modules and found them all really fascinating, beneficial, and gaining skills that will help me go into the spring semester, but also that will help I will take them to my third year and then so far and this spring semester I've really enjoyed all my modules so far.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

Oh, that's really lovely to hear. So you're a joint honour student, which we've touched on. Um so do you find that there's conflicts in the areas that you want to study in both of your subjects in terms of maybe module clashes or the amount of credits you can take?

SPEAKER_00 7:33

I've found that being a joint honour student has uh offered me lots lots of flexibility. So I've had very limited restrictions on the areas of study I can choose to do as long as I have equal weighting between the two subjects and the semester balance, um, so I can effectively study whatever I'm interested in, which is so amazing. Last year I did uh have a timetable clash between two modules I'd chosen for to study in the autumn semester, which I then discovered when timetables were released in September. But there's a really good system allowing you to change modules and because the module choices are so broad, I didn't find it difficult to choose anything else I was interested in. So yeah, it was very easy to switch from my change my mind.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

But how did you decide between the two? I mean, if you'd chosen two that you were really interested in, it's wonderful to hear that you were able to find an alternative, but I'm just interested. How did you make that decision?

SPEAKER_00 8:21

I touched on earlier, I'm particularly interested in the literature side of English, and there's a bit more for English you have to choose from multiple areas of study, whereas history is entirely broad, you can choose whatever you want for history. Um and so f I was explicitly focusing on the literature side, and yeah, that's how I made my decision. I wanted to carry on for English, but then I changed my mind for history, and there was more choice for that.

SPEAKER_01 8:48

So the flexibility that was offered in the second year modules as opposed to I suppose in English you do focus in on one section of English within the module. That's really interesting. Okay, so back to module fairs. They are coming up really soon. So are you going to be attending them again this year?

SPEAKER_00 9:05

Definitely I'll be attending. Um sorry I've I've looked into the information online and from what I've heard from my tutors, but it's definitely useful to go in person and particularly as a joint honour student, understanding the process of dissertation and other processes of modules. And I also find it such a fun experience to be in a room f full of so many people passionate about what they're studying and discovering all the exciting modules and opportunities available.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Yeah, I mean I might be a little bit biased being based in the School of English, but I have heard that we'll have refreshments. I can't speak for humanities, but I can speak for English. There will be some refreshments, so I would, you know, I as well as them being a very good opportunity to learn about modules, I would recommend coming along for some biscuits. Um so would you say because you've gone through the module selection process last year, would you say that you feel more prepared and informed to be able to pick your modules this year?

SPEAKER_00 10:00

Yes, definitely. Um the skills that I learnt, I've learnt over the past year, both in the academics but also in decision making, things like that, uh will be really helpful um in going to towards third year, and they'll be helpful for if you're going from first to second year. It's a really really good process, learning process, but also it's it's really exciting, I think, to be able to learn get the opportunity to learn so many different things.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

And were there any particular resources or people within the university that helped you through that process last year that you'll likely try to use again this year? I'm thinking maybe personal tutor or any particular module conveners?

SPEAKER_00 10:39

I yeah, I found it really helpful to talk through my ideas with my tutors and seminars and additional meetings. And I also found throughout the year certain lecturers link their lecture topics to modules that you get a more chance to go in depth in the future. And I found this very helpful throughout the year to gain an understanding of what I might want to study in the future.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Yeah, that's it's really nice that there is that wealth of expertise in within the faculty and these tutors and people who have that genuine passion who will be able to talk to you about it and recommend how to take it further. That's I think that's one of my was one of my favourite things about being in second year. Um so I suppose one big benefit coming up is the fact that you get to consider your choices over the upcoming Easter break. But do you think that this space is actually helpful?

SPEAKER_00 11:28

I think so, definitely. So personally at the moment I've got lots going on with assessments and other extracurricular activities. So having this break will give me more of a chance to think and properly read through the detailed information on each of the modules, and particularly because the module fairs are on the last week before Easter, you've got that long break to consider, and you can always email anyone that if you have any additional questions, even if you're not in based in Nottingham itself.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

So, apart from thinking about your module choices, do you have any particular plans over your very well-earned Easter break?

SPEAKER_00 12:01

Um, I've got lots of work to do on my assessments, and particularly after the Easter break ends. So I want to get as far as preparing and writing for those, but I also want to take breaks too, which is very important always, and spend time with my family and enjoy the lovely weather and read outside, which is one of my favourite things to do, which is so nice to do when the weather's getting warmer.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Oh, that sounds like a dream. I really do hope that you take that very well-deserved break as well as all of the amazing things that you've been up to. Um, so finally, if you could give us one piece of advice for first year Alice, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00 12:37

I'd say definitely continue to pursue what you're passionate about. So, as I've mentioned, I chose my modules last year based on subjects I knew I loved and wanted to learn more about, and this was so beneficial in ensuring that I've been engaged throughout the year in the autumn semester and now into the spring semester, and this is how I plan on choosing my third year modules. And whilst of course there are lots of different reasons for choosing certain modules, such as if you like the style of assessment, if you like the module convener, and other lots of other reasons, for me I think it's it's been best to ensure I pursue what I'm passionate about.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Thank you so much, Alice. We really appreciate you coming along today and chatting with us.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 13:17

As we said earlier, module fairs will take place over the next few weeks. We can't recommend strongly enough that you attend your department's module fairs so that you can be well informed about your options for the next academic year. Details about your module fairs will be shared this week, and module enrolment will open on the 27th of April upon your return for the summer term. And that's it for now. Like you, we're taking a break in April, but we'll return in May for our final episode of the 2526 academic year. In the meantime, thank you so much for listening. I've been Liv, and this has been TLDR, the Arts ESE Podcast.