IRM Student Representatives Report

	Philip Graham 3.12.06

I personally found the IRM course very useful. To begin with I
was sceptical about how much immediate use could be gained but
felt it would benefit me as I was planning to do a PHD. As the
course progressed I soon realised that this course would actually
help me to do my 4th year honours project and better structure my
research work. Some of the initial guest lectures were slightly
dry but once the course got moving and the students started
giving the lectures it got very interesting. It was interesting
not just on an academical level but also to find out what the
people around me were into and involved with. The course work was
well balanced and giving the students the opportunity to do 4
paper reviews and be assessed only on the best 2 was a very good
idea. My initial plan was only to do 2 and be satisfied with them
but I found as I did them that I actually felt motivated to do
all 4. They were good as they allowed students to better their
coursework performance and abilities and actually see this
increase in skills and knowledge reflected in their course
grade. The course was generally very well accepted. In my opinion
it should be kept 100% coursework rather than trying to fit an
exam round the course. It gives the students a course which is a
little bit different from other courses which they would normally
do and encourages them to think in a slightly different manner
and consider their own work in a more objective and considered
way.