Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the MLT Centre hold its main classes in unpopular parts of the timetable?
The MLT Centre has to schedule its classes at times when students from the whole university can attend them. These are, of necessity, unpopular parts of the timetable (e.g. evenings and Wednesday and Friday afternoons). However, we are experimenting with more daytime slots and aim to gradually increase the number of these.
Why do the classes run for two or three hours at a time?
Most of our students have to come to the MLT Centre from all parts of the University, some quite far away from the Portobello Centre where we are based. We feel that it is more reasonable for them to have to make the trip only once a week. But the idea is not that classes should run continuously for three hours. To minimise tiredness and loss of concentration, tutors are advised to have a break in the middle of this period and to vary the kind of activities undertaken in the course of the class.
Why do the students in my class seem to have a range of different abilities?
There may be a number of reasons for this:
At stages 1 and 2, students often register for courses that are actually too easy for them, either because they are anxious about their own abilities or because sometimes they simply wish to obtain easy credits. We do our best to prevent this, by offering strong advice against it. Only rigorous placement testing would eliminate it altogether and the number of incoming students is such, at the start of each session that this would be extremely difficult to organise.
At Stage 3, some of the difference stems from the fact that our learners have had significantly less class contact time at stages 1 and 2 than post A-level entrants, coming directly from school. Hence the importance of independent study in the earlier stages of our programme.