Paula, what's the next step? Is this something you can do on your own?
My institution has them do satisfaction surveys to assure that student expectations are being met and that they are satisfied. They seem very biast because the only comments we get are the complaints. If the students are satisfied they tend to just answer the questions and omitt putting a comment in the required place.
We are committed to student satisfaction, thus satisfaction surveys are integrated into each academic term. Data are discussed with staff and action plans are implemented. Additionally, there are town hall meetings students are invited to and have opportunities to share issues or concerns with the program director. Students are assigned an academic advisor to further support and assure student and program expectations are met.
There is a survey given quartely for students to give us feedback on expectations and satisfaction.
At my institution, we like to read and then have hands on activities. We will even use videos along with power points and litaratures. The point in time that our students really meet their expectation and are satisfied, is when we have lab and hands on.
That's one of the basic problems of surveys, Terrell. Although it allows you to identify problems, it becomes a very negative experience for the faculty. Any ideas how to bring out positive comments?
Melissa, how do you keep a balance in this process, getting the positives as well as the concerns? What level of participation do you get at the town hall meetings? Are they for the entire student body or for a more narrowly defined constituency?
Yahaira, what changes have you personally implemented as a result of these surveys?
Stelian, does this mean that the class progresses at the speed of the slowest student and that you don't offer labs until everyone reaches a certain level of knowledge?
Lab is implemented in the ST210. The class has its own speed and the students need to keep up with it. In lab, we put our education to our hands on procedures.
At our institution we provide a thorough orientation and at the beginning of each term the students are given handouts that detail the Schools expectations, and the students are given an oppurtunity to discuss their expectations that they have from our institution. Our students are respected, and providing them with Term surveys helps in giving them autonomy and a chance to feel that they are being heard.
Our institution tries to be very upfront and honest about expectations with the students. As instructors we are clear on what we expect of them. We also try to encourage them to participate and be a part of the group, even in online learning, we focus on communication to help the student feel that they are a part of the group and keep them engaged in the process.
We have weekly meetings to talk about at risk students.
We make sure program directors and deans are in the classrooms regularly observing.
We make sure each admissions rep has a product knowledge training, so that each entering student will get a realistic picture of what is happening in the classrooms.
As well as end of course surveys and quarterly student satisfaction surveys. We review the feedback and address conserns accordingly.
Our campus uses surveys as one means of assuring student expectations are being met. In particular our students complete both a quarterly Student Satisfaction Survey as well as and end of course survey. The quarterly survey measures student satisfaction with each different department on campus. The end of course surveys measure the students satisfaction with the course they are completing as well as the instructor. Something that we do here that I think is very important when utilizing surveys is using a proactive approach to making sure students take the survey and then measuring what percentage of our students participated in the survey. Without a proactive approach I think most unhappy students would not take the survey. Without measuring what percentage participated we would not know how valid our sample size was, nor would we be able to evaluate performance and improve on sample size in the future.
In my experience, at orientation students don't know what they don't know. This makes it difficult to have a meaningful discussion about their expectations.
MeriAnn, getting students to participate is a universal frustration. Do you have any techniques that have proved particularly effective?
Jill, how frequently do program directors or deans make classroom observations? Are they followed by coaching sessions? Are the observations part of performance reviews?
Interesting point, Scott. I would have guessed that the unhappy students would be more likely to take the survey if they had confidence that something would be done about their complaints. Conversely, satisfied students don't want to be bothered.
Do you have problems with students indiscriminately completing the survey, thus subverting the data?
student satisfaction surveys and open honesty from the very beginning allows my college to do all that's possible to meet student expectations.
We have a number of checks in place. From the initial grad prep where new students are oriented to the logistics of being on campus and introduced to the Deans, Program Directors, Career Service and Student Services Advisors, to provisional period advising and student satisfaction surveys. In addition, each Program Director must meet with every student in his/her program at the mid-point of the term. Students are called regularly by the Program director if absent from school. We are very proactive with interacting with our student population so we address any and all concerns/problems from the beginning.
