STUDENTS’ SELF-REPORTS ON LEARNING EXPERIENCES IN UW-ACE (Fall 2004) Survey and Report Prepared by Vivian Schoner, PhD Strategic Consultant, Research and Evaluation, Centre for Learning and Teaching Through Technology Date: February 25, 2005

Student Response Rate Patterns

The numbers of students completing the survey are small compared to overall enrolment in UW-ACE courses in the Faculties. Using figures from Quest, the results are as follows: Faculty Quest Enrolment% Survey AHS15256 Arts30416 ENG 7395 ENV14147 MATH31704 SCIENCE94744 Note also that students completing the survey are self-selected, therefore, this is not a random sample of students. For this reason the unit of analysis is number of responses, not number of students. Student Response Rates

DATA COMPILATON Total number of courses = 162 Number of courses removed by request of instructor = 34 Number of empty surveys = 15 Total number of courses having one or more students complete the survey = 113 Student respondents across all faculties, N = 865 [Total number of student responses = 17,604] PROCESS A word about process Numbers of Courses in Survey and Students Completing Survey

RESULTS RANGE, NUMBER AND RANKINGS OF STUDENT RESPONSE CHOICES PER FACULTY In all, the results proved to be similar amongst all students across all Faculties. Table 1 UW-ACE Student Response Patterns for all Faculties (% Rounded)*

Faculty Graphs The general direction of responses for each of the Faculties is to increase in percentage points moving from the negative to the positive.

Rankings Based on Student Response Choices In the following table, student response percentiles are rounded and compressed into 3 categories to facilitate comparative rankings of students’ reported learning experiences within each of the six Faculties. RESULTS Least to Most Negative % Ranking Av = 16% Least to Most Undecided % Ranking Av = 20% Most to Least Positive % Ranking Av= 64% AHS 141ARTS 161AHS 681 SCI 141AHS 182ARTS 681 FES 152SCI 203SCI 662 ARTS 163FES 203FES 653 ENG 184ENG 224ENG 604 MATH 225MATH 255MATH 535

Student Responses to Teaching and Learning Through Technology

List of Questionnaire scales Online Learning Activities Online Collaborative Learning (small group/teams) Technology Function Student Satisfaction Online Instructor Feedback

Student Ratings of Learning through Technology Most negative Most Positive

OVERVIEW OF RESPONSES (FACULTIES X SCALES) 1. Scale: Technology Function: All Faculties (%) Access and Ease of Use FacultyVery Difficult UndecidedEasyVery Easy Cum. Positive % SCIENCE FES ARTS AHS MATH ENG % Combined Neg 9 UnD 12 Pos 79

OVERVIEW OF RESPONSES (FACULTIES X SCALES) 2. Scale: Student Satisfaction: All Faculties (%): Course Organization; Workload; Technology Support(%) Access and Ease of Use FacultyVery Unsatisfied UnsatisfiedUndecidedSatisfiedVery Satisfied Cum Positi ve% AHS SCIENCE FES ARTS ENG MATH % Combined Neg 10 UnD 18 Pos 72

OVERVIEW OF RESPONSES (FACULTIES X SCALES) 3. Scale: Online Instructor Feedback: All Faculties (%): Helpful; Informative; Appropriate FacultyStrongly Disagree DisagreeUndecidedAgreeStrongly Agree Cum. Positive % ARTS AHS SCIENCE FES ENG MATH % Combined Neg 18 UnD 23Pos 59

OVERVIEW OF RESPONSES (FACULTIES X SCALES) 4. Online Learning Activities: All Faculties (%): Experiences with Learning Support Features for Online Learning; Learning Experiences with Online Course Materials FacultyStrongly Disagree DisagreeUndecidedAgreeStrongly Agree Cum. % Positive ENG FES AHS SCIENCE ARTS MATH % Combined Neg 20 UnD 23 Pos 57

OVERVIEW OF RESPONSES (FACULTIES X SCALES) 5. Scale 5. Collaborative Learning (small group/team): All Faculties (%): Online Collaborative Activities; Learning through Peer Interaction FacultyStrongly Disagree DisagreeUndecidedAgreeStrongly Agree Cum. % Positive ARTS SCIENCE AHS FES ENG MATH % Combined Neg 25 UnD 25 Pos 50

Course Profiles

Sample Course Profile Graphs AHS N= 18ARTS N= 25 FES N=20 MATH N=63SCIENCE N=57 ENG N= 13

Preliminary Observations Students overall, report that the UW-ACE Technology works very well. Open-ended comments are generally positive. Some have made suggestions about what could be done differently or additionally (see final report) We need to further explore ways to improve instructional design and teaching techniques for online learning and collaborative learning activities The "undecided" response rates are high. We need to rethink how to reduce these rates, or to rethink providing this as a response choice The low numbers of students completing the survey should be improved if more instructors encourage them to take the questionnaire