Tough question, Diane. The effectiveness of surveys depends on a variety of factors; things like student confidence that something will happen, time when it's presented, the objective of the survey, etc. You may find that students are more responsive if the survey is given during the semester as a homework assignment, rather than something that is done hurriedly at the end of the course.
Getting students involved in other ways may be another alternative – feedback luncheons with randomly selected students each month, student committees formed to address specific quality of life issues are two thoughts. Does your class structure allow for using journal entries about specific student life issues as a tool? Proactive communication is always preferable to crisis intervention.
We have quarterly course evaluations. In addition, we have an annual survey requesting feedback on all the departments. We review the information an e-mail to our students on how we plan to resolve the issues. Once issues are resolved, we communicate them directly to the students.
The course material mentioned that the exit surveys aren't necessarily the best tool to use since a student doesn't want to rehash their reason. We haven't had much luck with receiving any response when we send out surveys to dropped students. We often have students that just disappear from the population. Also, we have students completing a quarter; however, never return. How could we address this issue without a survey?
1. Education and admissions are linked in creating expectations. When we train a new admissions rep -- they go through education training as well. New instructors go through admissions training. In this way we are always communicating the same set of expectations.
2. We never use the word "can't" If a student has expectations that may be outside of the realm of what we can deliver or what their education may offer, we sit down with them and discuss a more practical path for them to reach their expectations. We either help them reevaluate their expectations or we help them find a way to reach them. But we NEVER say that we can't deliver.
3. We follow up through a variety of early student surveys (usually week 1 and 3) and then regular quarterly surveys.
This sounds like a great way to do things. We probably need our instructors and admissions to meet together more. I think that would help iron out some of the hand off between the two as well as keep everyone on the same page with information.
Thanks for the idea.
Our Faculty meets with Admission reps on a regular basis to make sure they Admissions rep understand what we are teaching and what jobs can be expected. We have surveys that we do with students on a regular basis and there is a mentoring program for all new starts for the first few months they are in class.
It is important that students learn to communicate with people in authority; industry clearly is looking for those skills. If students will only communicate freely when they remain anonymous, it suggests a climate of fear and can result in further misunderstandings.
I think these forms are great they really help with getting other ideas to keep the students interested and in school. Retention is very important to all of us. So by having theis forum available it helps all of us
I agree that student at times will speak freely when they remain anonymous, and I also feel that meeting with the DOE is very benficial to the student in building open communication between DOE, Instructor and student, which in turn benefits the retention rate.
You are right about the importance of building a trusting relationship, Victoria. Students usually are reluctant to ‘speak' freely on surveys if they know that the instructor will see the comments and be able to identify them. For many, the fear of grade retaliation is just too great. Meeting with the DOE seems like an effective way to demonstrate the school's commitment to quality and honor the confidential nature of some communications.
Our school also uses the student survey format to evaluate student satisfaction and expectations of us as instructors, staff, and school environment. The results of these surveys are shared with instructors, and students are met with to discuss individual comments.
We also meet with our students one-on-one at the end of each quarter to discuss attendance and academic achievement. Meeting with our DOE allows students to have input in their success.
I, as an instructor, monitor attendance daily and academic acheivement and if I notice a trend starting, I will meet personally with the student to discuss and hopefully get at problem before it mushrooms. But you have to build a trusting relationship with students - assuring them that their success is your primary concern.
You are on the right path, Karl. It is critical that students have realistic outcome expectations and clear goals. Otherwise, you will have frustrated students and instructors as they try to compromise on the acceptable outcomes.
We have been revising our admission presentation to better communicate realistic outcome expectations from our training to inquirers. Some programs are easier to place graduates into employment at completion. When students enroll, it is our hope that they will have clearer goals and better see how we are delivering on those goals in our training.
Letting student's know that it's natural to have fears can be very comforting, Miriam. I'm sure they appreciate knowing that you will be there for them.
Usually, what I do is to let my students know, that is understandable to be afraid, when we face a new challenge, encourage them to continue until the end of the program, and that always I'll be there to listen, if they have any problem interfering with their educational performance.
Identifying actions that would be helpful is a good place to start, Miriam. How will you take the next step to making this a reality?
In our school the students are introduced to the Academic Environment at the Admission office and during a Orientation class.Unfortunately, We don't have Professional Advisors. Stablishing an Instructor-Student relationship is very important. It start from the student's first day of class. Adding your qustions to our emergency information form would be a huge help.
Thanks,
Thanks, Sarah. Seems that you have a well defined procedure in place.
The surveys are read by the school's director and all department managers. Any negative comments or complaints are handled by the manager for the particular department. The student's name is on the form, so we can talk to the student to see what is going on, try to remedy the problem, or explain why the situation is what it is if it can't be changed. The student's do see our responsiveness to their comments, so they know that they are read and handled.
If students believe that you value their input and will make a good faith effort to respond, they will give you some great ideas. However, if they don't see any results from their comments and suggestions, they will quickly tire of the exercise and ignore the surveys. How do you communicate your institution's responses to these comments, Sarah? Who decides what the action will be?
We use student satisfaction surveys just before the middle of the quarter and instructor critiques toward the end of the quarter. We get a lot of comments on those, both good and bad, that we use to improve.
