I'm using this platform to gather signatures from my fellow classmates also taking this module at UEA, as form of agreement that 'I Am' is unsatisfactory and deserving of complaint.

Please read the whole letter I plan on sending to the Hub below, and sign the petition if you are in agreement. I also highly urge you to add any comments you may have in the discussions box so that I may send a compilation of everyone's thoughts to the Hub as well.

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To whomever it may concern,

I would like to file a formal complaint about one of my modules this term. I chose ‘I Am’ on the basis of its promising module overview (as seen below) however I feel I have been severely misled and disappointed by what can only be described as a complete shambles of a module.

The purpose of this Module is to explore notions of personal identity and investigate how a heightened self-knowledge can benefit our relationship to and impact upon the world. In LDC, the question of human subjectivity is approached daily in the texts, novels, plays and poetry that constitute its curriculum. Using the rubric of Graduate Identity Theory, a programme of workshops will investigate how the study of these materials shapes our own self-image; our approach to life, and ultimately, our identity. Beginning with an introduction to Freud's theory of consciousness, we will be building a portfolio of material that considers the concept of identity from the ego to the online avatar. In activities such as creating blogs, tweeting and participating in other social media sites, we will experiment with the manipulation of identity and assess the impact of our online personas. The workshops and the production of an 'I Am (LDC)' portfolio are designed so that individuals can raise to consciousness their own unique attributes and make confident claims, through academic pursuit, about who they are and what they can do. The techniques of rhetoric, positive psychology and neuro-linguistic programme (NLP) will also be discussed as tools for esteem building and identity formation. Overall, the workshops will be designed to afford the opportunities to develop, practise and rehearse those identity claims so that upon graduation, identity can be affirmed by the new social and economic world that the individual will enter.

Despite these initial claims, it has transpired that the one and only purpose of this module is to create a class blog along the lines of careers and identity. After a confusing talk given by a careers centre employee who was under the impression we were creating blog posts to submit to her LDC based ‘AfterEnglish’ blog (launching in February next year) the module seemed to shift completely into the territory of careers. In fact, it seemed we were now creating a site to give advice to LDC graduates, a far cry from the module outline of what seemed to be a thought-provoking, educational module.

Regarding the texts studied each week, the overview was in part correct. Each week we discuss the reading assigned the week before, including the aforementioned ‘Graduate Identity Theory’ and Freud work. We often have really interesting class discussions around these texts, however the seminar leader seems to be clutching at straws in trying to link these extremely unrelated texts to the all-important blogsite. Admittedly she is not the module leader, however she seems to be as much in the dark about the usefulness of these texts as the students, therefore no real teaching ever occurs. On asking whether or not we had a reading week for this module, we were met with ‘I don’t know’ as a response, and I don’t believe she plans on further clearing up what the module is about, either to herself or to us.

Understandably, the most concerning aspect about such a vague and scattered module is the final assessment and its impact on my mark for the year. After the first four weeks being spent repeatedly asking what it was, exactly, that we were supposed to include in our formative and summative assessments, I resigned myself to the fact that we’d get no more information that ‘an 800 word blog post about careers and identity’. The brief was exactly the same for both the formative and summative pieces, with the addition of a 1,700 word critical commentary (assumedly to bring the total count up to 2,500 words) on how the process went and what difficulties we faced. Needless to say, I can’t wait to write it, however I fear it may be quite similar to the complaint I’m filing now.

I’m also concerned about what we’re supposed to be learning in this module. I understand that the blog writing demonstrates English language skills, however nothing we study in class has anything to do with this. With only two pieces of writing to be done each, we are making a group blog which, in theory, sounds like a good idea (assumedly this is the ‘portfolio’ mentioned on the module overview). However in practice, I don’t understand how this is at all useful for my module, course, or degree. Each class member has been assigned a ‘role’ in creating the blog, for example some have been given the task of editing or designing the blogsite. I took the role of photographer as although it is not English based it utilises a hobby of mine, however as roles ran out, one class member was given the task of compiling ‘morals’ for the site and another told to moderate the comments section. Some slight issues have cropped up, however, mainly that the blog will not be ‘launched’ until the day the module ends (making her job absolutely obsolete). After questioning why we could not all have access to the blog (as at the moment it is private and only the designers can see the site) I was told that it was because ‘that’s their job’. Apparently, therefore, we are not even blogging as nobody has any creative control over their pieces past putting words on a page.

All in all, I am shocked at how misleading and badly organised this module is. The utter lack of clear direction, purpose, and teaching has made me wonder exactly where the £1,000 I am essentially paying for this module is actually going. I don’t appreciate being used as a guinea pig for a new and far from ready module that does not meet the standards that I expect from UEA.

Yours sincerely,

Jennifer Welsford