Hello Sarah!

“How long have you got?” J

These sorts of questions are so difficult, aren’t they? Not least because they start from an assumption that there is ‘best’ or even ‘right’ way to do things; that there is a model student to whom we can all aspire. I find the moral undertones of such a starting point particularly unsettling.

Of course – our students are trying to navigate unfamiliar territory and it can be helpful and reassuring to have some sense of the boundaries, so it’s not really much use to simply say what we are probably all thinking: variations on “it’s up to you”. That said, I try not to be drawn into committing myself to an answer! (That moment where you realise you’ve suggested it takes 2 weeks but the poor student has 2 days…)

I’ve found conversations about the student’s past experiences to be a good starting point: how long have they taken in the past? Was that enough? Too much? What things do they usually do? What order do they usually do them? Why? Would you like it to take less time? Dis you not allow enough time? Between us we can then usually work out where any approach-tweaking might be good.

I usually feel better about a tutorial if I’ve encouraged a student to develop and have more trust in his/her judgment skills  - if they can start to understand ‘it depends’ as an invitation rather than a threat!

(Ed – just looked at the link you sent. That’s a nice way of raising awareness of the possible elements in the essay-writing process. Thanks for sharing.)

Joanne

P.S. I wonder how many people value the time between doing tasks as ‘work’? If you are on the bus thinking about your essay, does that count as doing your essay?

From: learning development in higher education network [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sarah Honeychurch
Sent: 18 October 2016 16:10
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: How long is a piece of string?

Hi there

One of my first year philosophy students asked me this morning if there’s any rough guidance on how long it should take to research and write a 1500 word essay. I was wondering if you good folk had any suggestions for literature/resources that might help me to give her some guidance.

Thanks all,

Sarah