At the UCISA SS15 conference, one of the sessions was a presentation by a student, Emma Anderson, from the University of Leeds. The presentation was entitled 'It's not just Facebook and Twitter. How students use technology in their everyday lives'. It was an insightful account of the student experience and interesting from our point of view, as 'providers' of the service as to how it is interpreted and used which is not always how we anticipate that it is going to be accessed.
I blogged about the presentation here http://bit.ly/1LbG9aV
As providers and developers of the service whether it be a IT helpdesk service or library service or any student facing service in a university, we aim to maintain a complete and coherent physical and online facility that serves all parts of the student journey and experience. From a students perspective, they want to dip in and out and take what they need, where and when they need it - to take the parts that are relevant to them whether it be a online resource or a study space.
The interesting areas to look at further are concerned with number of devices, what different devices are used for, that a variety of devices are needed, that study spaces need power and space and that social media is a small part of studying but a large part of life.
I drafted a survey which was based on these areas and tested it out on three students (not from Heriot-Watt University but 2nd/3rd year UG students). I asked them a series of questions based on Library and IT Help Services and facilities. I asked them to answer for the particular institution they had attended but it was not intended as a reflection of a particular University, rather their experience of university life. It was carried out in a fairly informal setting and included some ad hoc answers and information.
Q1 Do you know how to contact the IT Helpdesk at your University e.g. if your email wasn't working or a password needed changing
A1. No, would go to library service desk
A2 Looked up information online
A3 Yes, have office at back of library. Also can search website for email or telephone contact
Q2 - In the Library building - what are the 3 most important things that the library provides?
A1. PCs, books, study space
A2. Study space, PC, printing
A3. PC, printing, cafe/food area
Q3 - What sort of study space do you prefer to use or that you would like to see available?
A1. PC desk space, comfy chair, be able to whisper to the person next to me. Also group space.
A2. Reading room, books, lots of desks, sit with friends but lots of space so don't feel crammed in and not people moving in and out of the room all the time.
A3. Sometimes PC, sometimes space with no computer but a power socket. Silent space e.g. alcove with partitions. Not enough group space to practice presentations.
The following question they just answered together in general
Q4 - How many devices do you use?
Have phone, ipad, laptop plus use PC
Sometimes if using PC for work then use iPad to look stuff up at same time i.e. research for essay
Don't often take laptop into Uni so need PC at Uni
Wouldn't use laptop and PC at same time but use either of these plus ipad or phone
Study spaces away from PCs need plug sockets for ipad
Sometimes print out lecture slides beforehand and annotate during lecture as this is easier than making notes and matching up afterwards
Q5 - What do you use the Library Service Desk for? What would you go and ask about?
A1. If can't find a book. Pay off fines.
A2 If can't find a book.
A3 To hand in lost property. Haven't had to ask about books as bought text books and look online.
Q6 - What about using Self Service issuing and return for books in library?
A1. Good as quicker and don't have to talk to library staff! Also said good in case the book is a reference book and so you wouldn't feel daft if the machine displays a message saying reference only rather than being told.
A2 Good as same system as at another library so knew how to use. Good as gives a receipt showing date of return.
A3 Quick and simple. Good for out of hours. Good for short loans.
Q7 - Communication - what do you think about receiving emails from the university?
A1 Just skim read. Has to be relevant to studies. Don't read if about general university wide matters.
A2 Has to be quick and urgent with a relevant subject line.
Q8 - Communication - using the portal for communication
They were all both positive about this and gave explanations of how it worked and what the interface looked like. They had a good understanding of how it worked and how to access their respective VLEs. They seemed to consider a VLE as perfectly acceptable and didn't want anything more sophisticated or snazzy. The main reason for using the portal was to access the VLE and to receive notifications.
Q9 - Should the university use Facebook for communicating with students?
No to Facebook - although there should be a university Facebook page and a Library one - so I think what they meant was they would like to be able to view a University Facebook but don't want to interact with staff or lecturers.
They used Facebook groups for collaboration with other students
e.g. Revision group
e.g. Group work - could use a Moodle forum but would have to log in so Facebook group easier and useful for chatting and making changes to presentations. Use with other students but not lecturers.
It was an interesting discussion and does reflect quite accurately some of the results we have had from quick surveys at Heriot-Watt Uni about the purpose of visiting the library and what facilities are the most important. It has given me some good ideas about surveys that can be carried out next semester especially with new students starting in September and also as part of customer service excellence.
Showing posts with label studentfeedback. Show all posts
Showing posts with label studentfeedback. Show all posts
Friday, 14 August 2015
Tuesday, 4 June 2013
Campaigns
Campaigns are one of the initiatives that we've used to raise awareness of the Student Information Points and to advertise to students that we provide information. It has taken a bit of trial and error as it is quite a difficult concept to convey - that is, that the product you have is information about products and services.
We did an Easter Egg campaign where we had a basket of plastic eggs and some contained USB memory sticks and some sweets or chocolate. It was a lucky dip and gave us the opportunity to engage with students and raise the profile of the service.
Then we did a campaign where students could vote for a guide or publication that we would produce - they had to vote using ping pong balls for one of three options.
The winning option was for 10 places for £10 to visit in Edinburgh. This was a very good way of using a visual prompt to engage students and was simple but effective.
The most successful campaign that we've run is the Exam Locations Guide campaign. This was thought up by two of the SIP assistants at the end of last year for the December exams and then developed further and expanded for the May exams.
Exam locations are difficult for students because in a University such as Edinburgh the locations are widespread across the university and indeed the city. They are often in places students don't usually visit as they use the big halls not the usual lecture theatres or teaching rooms. There are quite a few university maps but none highlighting exam halls. So we produced a guide with a colour coded map and included other useful information. We also got various exam related items such as pens, stress balls, relaxation CDs, sweets etc. The guides plus the items were very popular and students appreciated the useful information at a potentially stressful time.
We did an Easter Egg campaign where we had a basket of plastic eggs and some contained USB memory sticks and some sweets or chocolate. It was a lucky dip and gave us the opportunity to engage with students and raise the profile of the service.
Then we did a campaign where students could vote for a guide or publication that we would produce - they had to vote using ping pong balls for one of three options.
The winning option was for 10 places for £10 to visit in Edinburgh. This was a very good way of using a visual prompt to engage students and was simple but effective.
The most successful campaign that we've run is the Exam Locations Guide campaign. This was thought up by two of the SIP assistants at the end of last year for the December exams and then developed further and expanded for the May exams.
Exam locations are difficult for students because in a University such as Edinburgh the locations are widespread across the university and indeed the city. They are often in places students don't usually visit as they use the big halls not the usual lecture theatres or teaching rooms. There are quite a few university maps but none highlighting exam halls. So we produced a guide with a colour coded map and included other useful information. We also got various exam related items such as pens, stress balls, relaxation CDs, sweets etc. The guides plus the items were very popular and students appreciated the useful information at a potentially stressful time.
Wednesday, 3 April 2013
Student Focus Groups
I have recently been involved in two sets of Student Focus Groups and have found them to be very interesting and informative. The first group was one that is part of a number of groups that have been set up and facilitated by the communication strand of our project. For background information, the Student Information Points that I manage are one strand of the Student Experience Project at the University of Edinburgh. The other strands are Communication, Pre-arrival and Induction, Online and Innovation, Enhanced Selection, Emergency Response and also Surveys.
As the project has progressed and evolved there has been more collaborative working between the strands and this has been very positive. It also means, on a practical level, that there is less chance of duplication of work and effort and more sharing of results.
A batch of focus groups was set up and facilitated for undergraduate students in December to ask them about communication at various stages of the student life cycle from application to pre-arrival to induction. The questions and discussions were based on how the information was communicated to students at the different stages via different channels, methods and media.
The focus groups set that I helped to facilitate was with Postgraduate research students in the College of Science and Engineering. There was a mixture of Home/RUK/International students and the questions were based around the ones that had been asked of the undergraduates. The students were asked about the communication methods used by the University/College/School to inform them before they arrived and once they were at the university. As these were PGR students there was obviously a difference between the amount of general information and methods as there was a greater involvement on a one-to-one basis with their supervisor. It was interesting that some had been undergraduates too at Edinburgh so they had some prior experience of the institution. The feedback was in general positive, they have high expectations and are very able so can filter and adapt information for their own purposes. There is a need as a PGR student at any institution to be self motivated and this was evident from the feedback - you need to be persistent and spend time investigating the information you need. This is good but obviously it means that any communication by the University/College/School has to be relevant otherwise it is filtered out. (There is a complication with an institution as large as Edinburgh that you are going to get information from a number of places as you will get whole University information then College i.e. Science and Engineering information then information from your particular School (Faculty).
Two points that surprised me but are pretty obvious really and happen at lots of places are firstly that most students have their University emails automatically forwarded to a gmail account. Secondly to find some information on the University website, sometimes it is quicker and easier to Google the phrase or key words you want and then follow the results link back to the website. Simple.
The second group that I have been involved in (mainly as an observer) was one that was set up and facilitated by Registry with an external facilitator. The format was that there were long sheets of brown paper stuck on the walls around the room in three sections. 1. Enquirer 2. Applicant 3. Student (this might have been a different title) - basically it was to get feedback at different phases of the student life cycle or journey. In each section there was a series of post it notes at the top of a column with different subjects e.g. website, library, matriculation, scholarships, portal, induction, feedback etc. etc. The students were given green post it notes and pink post it notes and had to go round writing feedback about as many areas as they could (green = good, pink = not good) and stick them in the appropriate columns on the brown paper sheet.
There were about 20 students - a mixture of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, PGT, PGR - international and home. They were all very engaged with the process and wrote lots of feedback on the post it notes. They also discussed their opinions informally while moving around the room and also more formally during the round table discussion.
I've been impressed at how useful and informative the focus groups have been. Student Information Points (SIPs) were added on at the end of both groups and the feedback is that students think they are a good idea, those that have used them have found them very helpful but they need to be more widely publicised. We have done and are continuing to do a series of campaigns to raise awareness of the SIPs and the services they offer. This year we will have the weeks leading up to Induction to promote the SIP service and already have started planning for Freshers Week activities and events.
As the project has progressed and evolved there has been more collaborative working between the strands and this has been very positive. It also means, on a practical level, that there is less chance of duplication of work and effort and more sharing of results.
A batch of focus groups was set up and facilitated for undergraduate students in December to ask them about communication at various stages of the student life cycle from application to pre-arrival to induction. The questions and discussions were based on how the information was communicated to students at the different stages via different channels, methods and media.
The focus groups set that I helped to facilitate was with Postgraduate research students in the College of Science and Engineering. There was a mixture of Home/RUK/International students and the questions were based around the ones that had been asked of the undergraduates. The students were asked about the communication methods used by the University/College/School to inform them before they arrived and once they were at the university. As these were PGR students there was obviously a difference between the amount of general information and methods as there was a greater involvement on a one-to-one basis with their supervisor. It was interesting that some had been undergraduates too at Edinburgh so they had some prior experience of the institution. The feedback was in general positive, they have high expectations and are very able so can filter and adapt information for their own purposes. There is a need as a PGR student at any institution to be self motivated and this was evident from the feedback - you need to be persistent and spend time investigating the information you need. This is good but obviously it means that any communication by the University/College/School has to be relevant otherwise it is filtered out. (There is a complication with an institution as large as Edinburgh that you are going to get information from a number of places as you will get whole University information then College i.e. Science and Engineering information then information from your particular School (Faculty).
Two points that surprised me but are pretty obvious really and happen at lots of places are firstly that most students have their University emails automatically forwarded to a gmail account. Secondly to find some information on the University website, sometimes it is quicker and easier to Google the phrase or key words you want and then follow the results link back to the website. Simple.
The second group that I have been involved in (mainly as an observer) was one that was set up and facilitated by Registry with an external facilitator. The format was that there were long sheets of brown paper stuck on the walls around the room in three sections. 1. Enquirer 2. Applicant 3. Student (this might have been a different title) - basically it was to get feedback at different phases of the student life cycle or journey. In each section there was a series of post it notes at the top of a column with different subjects e.g. website, library, matriculation, scholarships, portal, induction, feedback etc. etc. The students were given green post it notes and pink post it notes and had to go round writing feedback about as many areas as they could (green = good, pink = not good) and stick them in the appropriate columns on the brown paper sheet.
There were about 20 students - a mixture of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, PGT, PGR - international and home. They were all very engaged with the process and wrote lots of feedback on the post it notes. They also discussed their opinions informally while moving around the room and also more formally during the round table discussion.
I've been impressed at how useful and informative the focus groups have been. Student Information Points (SIPs) were added on at the end of both groups and the feedback is that students think they are a good idea, those that have used them have found them very helpful but they need to be more widely publicised. We have done and are continuing to do a series of campaigns to raise awareness of the SIPs and the services they offer. This year we will have the weeks leading up to Induction to promote the SIP service and already have started planning for Freshers Week activities and events.
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