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Student surveys and quality enhancement

Student surveys and quality enhancement. Dr. Paul Bennett , Head of Surveys, Higher Education Academy. The HEA’s surveys role. Deliver national post-graduate surveys (PRES and PTES) NSS further analysis and best practice sharing Support and consultancy around using survey data for enhancement

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Student surveys and quality enhancement

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  1. Student surveys and quality enhancement • Dr. Paul Bennett, Head of Surveys, Higher Education Academy

  2. The HEA’s surveys role • Deliver national post-graduate surveys (PRES and PTES) • NSS further analysis and best practice sharing • Support and consultancy around using survey data for enhancement • Annual Surveys for Enhancement conference • Survey related research and policy advice www.heacademy.ac.uk/surveys

  3. Outline The HEA’s surveys role Student surveys The NSS and quality enhancement- Communication- Staff attitudes- Analysis and exploration- Staff-student partnerships Surveying student engagement Surveying the experience of postgraduates

  4. Student surveys SURVEYS Student Extract

  5. Student surveys • Research method providing a partial – but often useful – representation of experience • Need to be triangulated with other information – especially qualitative • Comparing results useful but comes with health warnings • Surveys can be a good starting point for student engagement –not the end point

  6. The NSS and quality enhancement • NSS intended to inform student choice and quality assurance • HE White Paper (England 2011): “Well informed students driving teaching excellence” • Publication of NSS results has increased focus on learning and teaching in many institutions and a powerful lever for change… • …though questions remain over the focus of the survey and validity of making comparisons • NSS becoming better used in stimulating enhancement

  7. HEA’s NSS Institutional Strategy Working Group: ‘Making it Count: Reflecting on the National Student Survey in the process of enhancement’ (October 2012) Available via:www.heacademy.ac.uk/nss

  8. The NSS and quality enhancement • Progress in communication of NSS results: • - ‘Top-down’ dissemination to staff • - Dissemination of results to students unions • - ‘You said, we did’ • - Staff-student discussions in formal structures • - ‘You said, we didn’t’ and wider dialogue • - Staff-student partnerships at all stages – promotion, analysis, dissemination, further research, discussions, decision-making

  9. The NSS and quality enhancement • Staff attitudes • Important to mitigate perception that the NSS is ‘a stick to beat us with’ • ‘Deficit model’ focusing on poor performance, statistical rankings and ‘red lights’ – can be counter-productive with academic staff • More effective use focuses on sharing best practice, case-studies, mutual support and use of qualitative information (including free-text comments) • Being open about the strengths and limitations of the survey

  10. The NSS and quality enhancement • Analysis and exploration • NSS limitations include detail, focus and one-method • Vital to ‘triangulate’ with other information, e.g. • more detailed internal and module surveys • information about other (non-satisfaction) aspects of experience – e.g. engagement • information beyond ‘experience’, including grades, employability, retention, examiners’ reports • non-survey methods, including qualitative information for depth

  11. The NSS and quality enhancement • Staff-student partnerships • Student analyses can add interpretations – and find solutions – that staff committees can’t do on their own • Student unions, reps and other students need support in analysing, understanding and using NSS data • Vital for effective discussion of NSS and enhancement in system of student representation • Some institutions have used NSS results as a springboard for staff-student workshops and conferences

  12. Using NSS data Partnership approaches

  13. The NSS and quality enhancement Impact of learning experience on overall satisfaction Multiple regression of National Student Survey 2011 dataset

  14. The NSS and quality enhancement • Are the questions valid measures of quality (and does that matter)? • Graham Gibbs (2010) Dimensions of Quality • Valid, comparable measures of educational quality in institutions should relate to educational gain • Measures of effective practice (e.g. student engagement, intellectual challenge, deep learning) are good predictors of educational gain • Such measures can be found in the US National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) but not, on the whole, in the UK’s NSS

  15. The NSS and quality enhancement • CEQ research suggested some items indicate deep vs. surface learning: • A perception that workload is too high is strongly related to a surface approach • A perception that assessment is focused on memorisation and reproduction is strongly related to a surface approach • A perception that teachers are enthusiastic, give good feedback, make the subject interesting and communicate well is partly related to a deep approach • Questions in the NSS ‘optional bank’ are relevant for enhancement

  16. The NSS and quality enhancement

  17. Surveying student engagement • Amongst other things, engagement surveys like NSSE and AUSSE ask about: • - learning interaction with peers (in and outside class) • - learning interaction with staff (in and outside class) • - engagement in own study – self-directed learning and effort • - course challenge / depth of learning • Research suggest these ‘predict’ educational gain, especially ‘depth of learning’ • Less clear to what extent they predict NSS results and less researched in a UK context

  18. Surveying student engagement

  19. Surveying student engagement

  20. Surveying student engagement • HEA’s UK Engagement Survey Pilot • 14 items from NSSE adapted for UK use in internal surveys in 9 institutions (plus 2 more running variants of the whole NSSE/AUSSE) • HEA analysing pooled data, providing national aggregate for participants, testing reliability and commissioning cognitive testing • Institutions will produce case-studies on use of results for enhancement • Year 2 of pilot will expand the number of institutions involved and may test relationship with NSS items

  21. Surveying the experience of postgraduates • Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) - launched 2007, runs every two years • Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) - launched 2009, runs annually • Aim to inform enhancements to learning and teaching and advise national policy • Not intended to inform student choice • Results are confidential = no league tables • Benchmarking clubs facilitate comparisons • Allow for inclusion of locally specific questions

  22. Surveying the experience of postgraduates

  23. Surveying the experience of postgraduates • Significant redevelopment of PRES for 2013 • Focus on enhancement priorities in Researcher Development Framework and Quality Code (B11) • Greater emphasis on research skills and professional development – including supervisors’ role • Also importance of ‘Research community’ for PGRs • More detailed than NSS, but same principles apply in use for enhancement • PTES being redeveloped for 2014

  24. PDF of questionnaire available online via www.heacademy.ac.uk/pres

  25. Vitae study for HEA: ‘Using PRES to enhance the experience of postgraduate researchers’(September, 2012) Available via:www.heacademy.ac.uk/pres

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