1. How to win module feedback and influence practice?
Dr Julie Blackwell Young
26 April 2018

2. Student voice at Abertay- a recent history
2009/10 Bristol online surveys introduced- questionnaire design partially devolved and process managed by each School
2011/12 Evasys introduced- attracted to paper scanning= high response rates, end of module surveys, in class, results manually scanned centrally. One School trialled online, other three paper.
2012 participated in NSS- for the first time.
2014/15- moved to fully online, mid module internal surveys, central questionnaire (NSS-type), new Programme- level survey introduced, also based on the NSS.
To provide an important mechanism for gathering valuable information on students’ learning experiences which can be used for both enhancement and assurance purposes.

3. Student voice at Abertay (until 2016/17)
2016/17 online surveys but in-class completion
Mid module (weeks 6/7) for UG (stages 1-4) and PGT. 9 plus 2 NSS-based questions- standardised.
Annual programme surveys (stages 1-3 UG and PGT). NSS-type questions- standardised
HEA PRES (2017)
Programme Committees (weeks 7/8) (staff & student committees)
Student Voice Forum - institutional
Informal feedback mechanisms
BUT…

4. NSS 2017 – Student Voice
q23. I have had the right opportunities to provide feedback on my course- Abertay 85%; Scotland 85.2%
q24. Staff value students’ views and opinions about the course- Abertay 72%; Scotland 73.7%
q25. It is clear how students’ feedback on the course has been acted on- Abertay 54%; Scotland 53.1%
There is clearly an issue with closing the feedback loop for our students (not just in Scotland).

5. System challenges
1. Response rates 2. Programme-focussed class rep system 3. Timing of surveys 4. Closing the feedback loop 5. More efficient and effective analysis 6. Guidance to both staff and students
2016/17 Review of internal student surveys
Short life working group established
Membership- academic staff, student reps, professional services, facilitated by TLE
Response rates
Highly variable between modules
Decline in response rates despite incentives in move to online
2016/17 requirement for in-class completion (39% response rate overall)
2. Programme-focussed class rep system
3. Timing of surveys
Mid term survey intended to serve both formative and summative purposes but, in effect neither as effectively
4. Closing the feedback loop Very variable. Disconnect in timings between Prog committees and surveys, lack of partnership working between class reps (prog focussed) and staff (module level)
6. Guidance- the importance of surveys, value of student feedback, the need to provide constructive, appropriate feedback.

6. New process 17/18 Principles
A set of 9 principles covering the value of the student voice, online system, closing the feedback loop, identifying and sharing good practice, alignment of survey system with institutional quality processes etc.
Practices
Change timing to weeks 10/11, full NSS questionnaire, more effective closing the feedback loop system, new inclusive Division-level student voice fora (week 7), new technologies…

7. Closing the feedback loop:
Weeks 10/11- survey window
Week 12- results sent to academic managers (Monday) then MLs (Thursday)
Week 14- ML writes a short report and publish on VLE for their students
First School Academic Committee next term- reports and actions formally approved.

8. Term 1 2017/18 Initial concerns from some staff (union involvement)
Highest response rate ever (paper or online)- 46.3% overall
Response rate still variable across modules
Despite being a potentially “dry” area, some staff really engaged with the process- seminar held on 7th December (week 14)
Potential for alternative modes of feedback going forward (audiovisual)

9. In-class informal feedback
Bluepulse, Top Hat and TurningPoint
Bluepulse – formative, feedback system
Top Hat and TurningPoint – polling/personal response systems
Getting students used to providing feedback and having a discussion about that feedback
Student anonymity and staff comfort are important
Can be used for discussion, debate including solutions
Bluepulse, Top Hat and TurningPoint
Bluepulse useful for ingoing convo with students
Staff need to feel in charge, can feel threatened by anonymous feedback – bluepulse not work because issues re what happened to data – worries about performance management
Definitely info from it was useful but needs to be got in non-threatening manner which polling did
Polling got over this and allowed academics to find out student prior knowledge and can promote discussion and debate
Can use for midway evaluation of module
On-going conversation is most useful thing and when staff become more sophisticated can do groupwork, establish base knowledge and getting feedback and making students feel OK with where they are and what they are doing.
Turning Point Cloud – students can use own devices and clickers – can provide textual responses not just MCQs
Students like anonymity
Can use browser not app
If want to store data, need to do an ethical approval thing

10. Module Survey Report BMT404 Practice Based Innovation

11. Hello! From Claire & Charlie
Your module leaders for BMT404 Practice Based Innovation.
Please take time to read our response to the module survey results. If there are any further questions, concerns or suggestions please contact us by . We may not always agree with your but we are always interested in what you have to say!

12. Introduction Module Survey Report
Earlier in the semester you were asked to take part in module surveys. The University deploys these surveys every semester with the objective of ascertaining the quality of the modules that you study. The purpose of this is to understand what happens in the lectures and classrooms of Abertay so that staff can maintain aspects that you like and to improve on areas that you don’t. Above everything, it is to create a dialog.
Who is this report for?
This report is primarily for you, the student. We have read the results and taken some time to reflect on the data and the comments. Our objective is to report back to you directly with points of action that we intend to use to maintain or improve the quality of the module, or to respond to any issues raised. You have taken the time to fill in the survey and in return I’ll take time to report back to you.
You can find a full copy of the module results for BMT404 Practice Based Innovation in the ‘Module resources’ area of the blackboard site.

13. What will be covered? Response Rate
Its good to know how many people participated in the survey so we can get a rough idea of how representative the survey is.
Key Observations
We will use the survey results to structure our observations and opinions on the results.
Module Leaders Response
Here we will present our response to the survey, comments and provide some actions we intent to take.

14. An overview of participation1
Response Rate
An overview of participation

15. This is above the desired response rate target of 50%.
However, even at 53.4% participation, there is a large chunk of the class who’s voices aren’t represented. We are unsure how we might improve this rate. It may be that you are quite happy and don’t feel you have anything to say. However, even this is feedback. We want to better understand what you want to allow us to either explain why things can’ t be the way you want or to make changes.