Dear Joelle,

 

Yes, this is a department where survey returns are very high indeed. In fact, we don’t have much of a problem with our return rates, but that is because we’re mainly an on-campus institution (single campus) and one of my staff runs a very smart campaign of getting students engaged. We had a 74% return on the NSS last year. But I take your point.

I also firmly agree on your critique of the NSS itself. I have real reservations about several of the questions, and in particular the one along the lines of ‘As a result of the course, I feel confident in tackling unfamiliar problems’. We have found that students have a myriad of ways in which they interpret this….. More than that, I have yet to find any learner who would not like more feedback if given the opportunity to register that desire….

But that is an entirely different discussion altogether!

 

Best wishes,

Gwen

 

 

Thanks for this Gwen. Does it mean that this department will ensure that ALL students (or as many as possible) respond? I think one of the problems with the NSS survey (apart from its crudeness- lack of nuances) is the response rate (and the representative value of that response). Joelle

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Online forum for SEDA, the Staff & Educational Development Association [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Gwen M. van der Velden
Sent: 15 January 2008 22:10
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: NSS surveys/end of year surveys

 

Dear colleagues,

 

Today I received an interesting request, which I would appreciate your thoughts on.

One of our departments is considering using (part of) the NSS survey as an end of year survey throughout an undergrad programme.

There is an interesting discussion to be had about the desirability of that, and we’re having that discussion too. But the question I wanted to share with you, is whether taking such a survey repeatedly (three times over three years) is likely to result in students marking ‘sharper’ i.e. lower over time or not? Which influencing factors should we take into account?

Is anyone aware of any research on this kind of thing? Or has anyone already done this in their own institution?

Just as a bit of background, this is a department that takes the NSS and other surveys very seriously, and communicates very well with students. Students will receive a response on how the department is taking this feedback further, with due follow up etc. Where in the worst case we might assume that students may mark more negatively over time out of desperation because nobody seems to act, this is very unlikely to play a role here…

 

Looking forward to your experiences and comments!

 

Many thanks in advance,

 

Gwen van der Velden

Director of Learning and Teaching Enhancement

Learning and Teaching Enhancement Office

Wessex House 5.41

University of Bath

Bath

BA2 7AY

 

tel 01225 383775