STY2305 - RESULTS OF FIRST ONLINE COURSE SURVEY - OCT 2007

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Note from Greg: READ ME FIRST
Tips to help you understand the stats
Overall results at a quick glance
Survey questions
Students' written comments

See previous course surveys
Back to Greg's Homepage
 

Note from Greg

" Thanks to those who participated. 12 out of a possible 19 (by this point in the semester) students responded (approx. 63%). Overall, feedback was "neutral" to "I disagree somewhat" in several categories. In course outcomes, feedback was mixed, but that is to be expected only one month into the course. It was interesting to note the strong favorable responses on the questions dealing with giving an overview, inviting feedback, and respect. This is high praise for an instructor!

I also appreciate the informal feedback session you participated in on September 19, when several students of you indicated this material was not new for you, or it was too basic. Here are the other comments;

  1. some CETY students just aren't interested in programming - nothing personal!
  2. the textbook is an improvement over the previous version
  3. we've covered a lot of material already
  4. it's probably too early to tell where things should be changed (if possible) for now
  5. we should re-visit this again in 2-3 weeks (We accomplished this with this survey....Greg)
  6. FOOD FOR THOUGHT: HTML/web development tools could be incorporated?

Your written comments demonstrate some insightful observations about the course content, resources, and my teaching methods. Although they are not all positive, they are certainly constructive. There's lots of room for improvement!  Several suggestions have already been implemented, and I will be interested in subsequent feedback to see if you agree. I have added some comments to your written remarks below.

Thanks for your efforts. These surveys not only help me become a better instructor, they benefit you too! You have been an active participant in improving your learning environment and this will give you food for thought in future courses. As promised, these survey results are now a public document (linked from my homepage at http://homepages.cambriancollege.ca/gbcooper   ). I'll also be notifying your program coordinator and our Dean of the results. I intend to use this data in future classes (hopefully, ones with you!) and I'll encourage future STY2305 professors to take a look when planning this course."..........................Greg

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Tips to help you understand the stats

  1. "N=12" refers to the sample size, or the number of students who answered the question(s).
  2. The "-" column refers to the number of students who chose to NOT answer that particular question.
  3. The "Mean" represents the average response for that question. For example, a mean of "1.5" means the average is somewhere between a "1" (I strongly agree) and a "2" (I agree somewhat).
  4. The "SD" or "standard deviation" refers to a measure of how widely dispersed the values are from the average value (the mean) based on our sample, which is relatively small (N=12 It's like a "plus or minus" value that qualifies the range of each mean.
  5. The "median" is the "midpoint" between the highest and lowest value of the responses. (1,2,3,4, or 5 corresponding to a,b,c,d or e)
  6. The "mode" is the most frequent value or values of the response (a,b,c,d, or e)

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Overall results at a quick glance

Title N Frequency Mean SD Median Mode
- a b c d e
 1CO course is excellent? 12 0 0 6 3 3 0 2.75 0.87 2.5 b
 1CO expectations are clear 12 0 3 6 1 2 0 2.17 1.03 2.0 b
 1CO explains concepts 12 0 0 9 3 0 0 2.25 0.45 2.0 b
 1CO gives overview 12 0 8 2 2 0 0 1.50 0.80 1.0 a
 1CO instructor is knowledgeable 12 0 5 3 3 0 1 2.08 1.24 2.0 a
 1CO learning something 12 0 2 4 5 0 1 2.50 1.09 2.5 c
 2PR classes are not stimulating 12 0 1 7 4 0 0 2.25 0.62 2.0 b
 2PR sense of humor 12 0 3 6 1 2 0 2.17 1.03 2.0 b
 2PR textbook is used 12 0 3 4 5 0 0 2.17 0.83 2.0 c
 2PR use web site 12 0 4 4 3 1 0 2.08 1.00 2.0 a,b
 2PR web site useful 12 0 1 2 4 3 2 3.25 1.22 3.0 c
 3IN invites feedback 12 0 7 4 1 0 0 1.50 0.67 1.0 a
 3IN marking is fair 12 0 3 4 4 0 1 2.33 1.15 2.0 b,c
 3IN material returned on time 12 0 4 4 3 0 1 2.17 1.19 2.0 a,b
 3IN respect for students 12 0 9 1 2 0 0 1.42 0.79 1.0 a
 4OV hard to know what's important 12 0 2 2 5 3 0 2.75 1.06 3.0 c
 4OV not good use of class time 12 0 1 2 3 5 1 3.25 1.14 3.5 d
 5CM deals with disruption 12 0 3 3 4 2 0 2.42 1.08 2.5 c
 5CM helps students succeed 12 0 0 7 5 0 0 2.42 0.51 2.0 b
 5CM instructor is organized 12 0 1 7 3 1 0 2.33 0.78 2.0 b
 6OB learn outcome1 12 0 4 3 4 0 1 2.25 1.22 2.0 a,c
 6OB learn outcome2 12 0 2 5 3 1 1 2.50 1.17 2.0 b
 6OB learn outcome3 12 0 1 3 3 2 3 3.25 1.36 3.0 b,c,e
 6OB learn outcome4 12 0 2 1 5 2 2 3.08 1.31 3.0 c
 7LO survey was clear 12 0 4 3 4 0 1 2.25 1.22 2.0 a,c

 

Key to understanding survey question categories:

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The Survey Questions

An "a,b,c,d,e" scale was used for survey question responses, using the following:

a = I strongly agree, b = I agree somewhat, c = I'm neutral, d = I disagree somewhat, e = I strongly disagree

The questions that were used on the survey were:

General Questions:

  1. Overall, I would rate this course so far, as "excellent".
  2. I have a clear idea of what I am expected to learn.
  3. The instructor explains concepts clearly and effectively.
  4. The instructor gives an overview of what is going to take place at the beginning of the class so students know direction & purpose.
  5. The instructor is knowledgeable on the course material.
  6. Overall, I am learning something in this course that is valuable now, and will be later, after I graduate.
  7. The classes are not stimulating.
  8. The instructor maintains a sense of humor and applies it in an appropriate fashion.
  9. The Web site(s) are used effectively in this course. (e.g. WebCT, external web sites, etc.)
  10. The Web site(s) have provided me with important learning & information resources in this course. (e.g. WebCT, external Web sites, etc.)
  11. The instructor invites feedback from students and accepts constructive criticism without becoming defensive.
  12. Evaluation of course work (labs, assignments, tests, etc.) has been fair.
  13. Course material (labs, assignments, tests, etc.) has been returned in a reasonable time.
  14. The instructor treats students with respect.
  15. It is hard to know which material is important.
  16. The instructor does not make good use of class time.
  17. The instructor deals effectively with disruptions in class/lab activities.
  18. The instructor helps students meet objectives and achieve success.
  19. The instructor conducts organized and well-planned class sessions.
  20. The questions in this survey were worded clearly & concisely.

Course-specific Questions

  1. I am comfortable with and competent at web programming.
  2. I am comfortable with and competent at using HTML, XHTML and CSS to create and format web pages.
  3. I am comfortable with and competent at explaining how JavaScript works, what it can do, and the structures that make up the language.
  4. I am comfortable with and competent at using JavaScript features such as: variables, arrays, operators, control structures, conditional statements, loops, and programmer-defined functions to design, develop and debug web-based applications

Written-Comment Questions

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Students' written comments

One thing I like about this course:
One thing I dislike about this course:
One thing that would improve this course:
I have an additional comment:

One thing I like about this course:

User ID Response
1 ITS SLOW
2 class environment
4 Its a good refresher on HTML if you haven't used it in several years. Pushing web standards is the best way to do this, and introducing JavaScript is a good thing, especially because of things like AJAX.
5 N/A
6 javascript, once we get to it
7 The time to work on our work
8 N/A
9 learning to design a site
10 It's very easy going and only becomes strict when needs be
11 Slower paced, so its easier for students like me to learn, I've never touched it before...
12 time in between labs to work out bugs

One thing I dislike about this course:

User ID Response
2 calendar incorrect
4 Lab periods are somewhat unnecessary, the lesson is all I care about. Legacy HTML features should not be taught (frames), but we should be aware that they exist.
5 Quizes are worded poorly.
Good point. Yes, this is true for some questions, and I encourage students to "flag" bogus questions so I can fix them. This is for everyone's benefit. And you have been doing this more since this survey....Greg
6 to basic for us soty students, should of dropped the first 10 chapters....but i know others don't know this so...yeah
7 teacher talks about the previous problems too much
I'm not sure if you mean "problems" that we cover in previous chapters, ie: exercises, or "problems" outside of the course - not the latter I hope!....Greg
8 I feel there's not any work to be done its simply read the chapters and then a long wait for the labs.
Aren't you completing the recommended end-of-chapter exercises and de-bugging exercises I put in WebCT?....Greg
9 not very interested in this type of thing
10 The quizs are not imediatly available for review, this strains heavily on me as I do not know what I must work on harder.
Good point. I encourage students to remind me to "release" quiz answers after everyone has taken it, in case I forget to. I think this has improved. Do you?.....Greg
11 That I have to take programming, but I've chosen the hardware strain of my program. If we need to know scripting, it should be mixed in with the class that would use it. For example, learning how to write scripts in our server class...
12 quizzes have more weight than labs

One thing that would improve this course:

User ID Response
2 calendar
3 more extra code examples, which would help undestand the course more
I use the "live coding examples" strategy in lecture now, as was previously suggested, and put them in the academic share drive. Is this working for you?....Greg
4 I can't think of anything, the course is setup very well.
5 Quizes
6 seperate cety from soty and provide soty a more advanced course
7 nothing
8 maybe a few in class assignments here and there to make it worth coming to class
9 nothing
10 Make the Quizs available immediatly after taking them to review the questions and see what our answers where. The tests you do not have to do this for.
11 no idea...too early
12 make quizzes and labs or have labs weigh a little more than quizzes

I have an additional comment:

User ID Response
2 88%
4 Programming isn't as hard as people think. CETY students can also be programmers, and some have a strong background in it.
5 N/A
6 hi
7 no
8 N/A
9 nothing
10 This course as an overall is good, although learning becomes difficult when students are faced with mterial they do know wish to know or are not interested in.
11 no comments
12 have fun

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