SUBJECT: Student Survey Demonstrates Need for Flexibility in Course Scheduling and Modalities

Greetings colleagues:

We are writing with information, gathered from students, about what they need in order to persist towards a completed degree.

Last fall we surveyed our students with a custom-made questionnaire in order to understand what they thought about course modality options and the way in which course scheduling is meeting their needs. The Student Experience Survey report on the quantitative data was shared in a December 5th email from the Provost.

We now have the Qualitative Response Analysis to share. We recommend taking a look at the key findings section (page 4-5) but, in brief, the student responses generally supported the quantitative data as it relates to flexibility. In particular, students are stressed about how to align their own schedules with course offerings which suggests colleges and/or programs should take a more strategic approach to course scheduling. Other issues raised were course workload requirements; course quality, particularly the effectiveness of in-person class time; instructor and student interactions; and, finally, dealing with absences. 

In the next few weeks, the Provost office will release an updated digital education strategy which builds on the 2017 strategic priorities to suggest that our targets for digital offerings should be curricular pathways, with diverse modality offerings, allowing students to complete their degrees more efficiently. The suggestions in the new strategy document describe ways to address the scheduling concerns raised by students in the survey. 

The Hub will be conducting student focus groups this term. Once you have seen the quantitative and qualitative reports, if you would like to suggest potential topics or questions for the student focus groups, please use this google form. The feedback from the student focus groups will be shared later this semester. 

Teaching during the pandemic revealed the constraints facing our students; faculty responded with flexibility. While maintaining course-level flexibility is still an effective way to support student learning in our courses, program-level flexibility is necessary for student persistence towards completion. 
 

Regards,

Mitchel Sollenberger
Associate Provost

Chris Casey
University Coordinator of Digital Education

Emily Matthews Luxon
Assessment Subcommittee Chair

Carla Vecchiola
Director of the Hub for Teaching & Learning Resources