Student Survey Report-B5.Indd
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WebPA Student Surveys As part of the evaluation activity undertaken by the WebPA Project or pilot implementations, student surveys were conducted at Loughborough University, the University of Hull, and the University of Leeds. These surveys were conducted independently of each other with each survey being developed separately at each institution to address individual needs, and thus each having a different focus. This makes cross-institutional comparisons challenging. Nevertheless, key points do emerge. This report includes: had used WebPA during the 2007- • a summary of the survey approaches 2008 academic year. The majority of adopted by each institution questions were the same as those used in the initial survey, thus allowing • key messages arising regarding some comparative analysis to be students’ attitudes towards group work made carried out between the two. • key messages arising regarding This second survey generated 386 students’ attitudes towards peer responses (an 8.5% response rate) from assessment of group work students across 12 different academic • the students’ experiences of using departments. A brief report was WebPA produced in August 2008 summarising the results arising (not available • general conclusions derived from these publically). surveys. The University of Hull Survey approach adopted by each Two separate student cohorts (of Biology Students and Chemistry institution Students) were surveyed. Prior to using Loughborough University WebPA both sets of students were Two surveys were conducted at questioned about their experience Loughborough by the WebPA team. of group work, their preferences with regard to group work, and their The first survey involved a paper-based confidence of using IT systems. questionnaire issued to a single cohort of students from a single engineering After using WebPA the same cohorts department. This resulted in 51 responses were surveyed to measure any impact (a 74% response rate). The main focus of or change in attitude resulting from the the survey was on capturing the students’ experience. experiences and attitudes towards both peer assessment in general, and WebPA In total 177 students responded to the in particular. A brief report was produced pre-survey and 110 students responded in January 2008 summarising the results to the post-survey. A brief report was arising (not available publically). The second survey involved an online questionnaire which was circulated to ® all students across the University who WebPA STUDENT SURVEYREPORT Student Survey Report-B5.indd 1 01/06/2010 13:22:36 STUDENT SURVEY produced summarising the findings • it allowed for the workload to be arising from both surveys. shared • it enabled them to tap into different The University of Leeds strengths and competencies At Leeds a small cohort (29 Design students) were was surveyed following • it helped to generate more ideas a group work exercise involving peer • the social aspect provided a assessment through the use of WebPA. more enjoyable working/learning The students were asked a series of experience. questions designed to measure their response to the experience. A summary An interesting aside note relating to of the results arising was produced in the survey at Hull demonstrated a December 2008. dichotomy between those who favoured the use of web technology as a means Students’ attitudes towards group of enhancing group work interaction (through e-mail, discussion boards etc.) work as a means of enhancing group work The surveys conducted at the interaction and a sizeable proportion University of Hull, and to a lesser extent who declared a strong preference for Loughborough University, generated face to face engagement. data on students’ attitudes towards group work as a learning medium/ At Loughborough a significant majority experience. of students (74.3%) expressed a preference for modules to include a In general students had very positive mixture of group work and individual feelings with regard to group work coursework. activity. A sizeable proportion of the students At Hull the vast majority (93%) of (45.8%) expressed a preference for students responding had had previous groups to be ‘“self-selected’” over experience of group work. A large other means of selection (e.g. seeded REPORT proportion of respondents (78.2%) groups). stated that they “enjoyed working in groups”. With reference to the benefits of group work for students, a significant The benefits of group work that the proportion of the respondents at students identified included: Loughborough identified group work as contributing to the improvement of their • it enabled them to help and support communication skills (75.5%), team each other working skills (78.4%) and problem solving skills (59.6%). • it allowed them to share knowledge and information • it provided insights into alternative Students’ attitudes towards peer perspectives and methods of assessment of group work working The surveys conducted at Loughborough University and the 2 Student Survey Report-B5.indd 2 01/06/2010 13:22:36 University of Leeds generated data • a majority who expressed that on students’ attitudes towards peer relationships they had built up with assessment of group work. team members had influenced the scores that they gave (59.2%) Loughborough University • and a significant minority of students At Loughborough both surveys who stated that they did more work generated similar responses. Students because they knew they were being expressed a clear preference for assessed by their peers (38.2%). carrying out group work with a peer assessment element (77% through the Again, these response rates were online survey, & and 72.5% through the mirrored in the paper-based survey. paper-based survey). By comparison only 14.3% (online survey) and 7.8% Additionally, a significant majority of REPORT (paper-based survey) of students students stated that the experience of expressed a preference for group work peer assessment had improved or much without a peer assessment element. improved their skills in peer appraisal (77.7%) and self reflection/appraisal Through the online survey similarly (72.6%) skills. large proportions of students stated that they were: In measuring the impact of peer assessment a small majority expressed • comfortable with assessing their own the opinion that it had had a positive performance (79.8%) impact upon overall performance • comfortable with assessing the (54%) and the standard of the work performance of team members produced (53.4%). By comparison only (87.1%) 3.1% of respondents felt that it had had a negative impact. (The question of • comfortable with team members impact had not been included on the assessing their own performance paper-based survey). (70.4%) • confident that their assessment University of Leeds would remain anonymous (73.3%) The generally positive attitudes • satisfied that the assessment was fair towards peer assessment found at (63.1%). Loughborough University students were more or less reflected in the survey The results arising from the paper- conducted at Leeds, although this based survey showed similarly positive survey used a different set of questions. responses. Here a significant majority (90%) of Other interesting responses (received students described the use of peer through the online survey) included: assessment as “fairer”, with 92% of respondents of the opinion that they had • a small majority of students who assessed their peers’ work fairly, and stated that self and peer assessment 80% feeling that their own contribution had increased their motivation to had been fairly marked. carry out group work tasks (51.3%) STUDENT SURVEY 3 Student Survey Report-B5.indd 3 01/06/2010 13:22:37 STUDENT SURVEY Other notable results included a Students’ experience of using majority of students (63%) who felt that they learned more when team work WebPA was peer assessed, and a significant The surveys at each of the institutions minority (46%) who felt they contributed involved touched upon - to a greater or more when work was peer assessed. lesser extent - the students’ experience of using WebPA. In response to the question “to what extent do you think that peer Students commented favourably upon assessment should affect a student’s the ease of using WebPA to record mark for the peer assessment their self and peer assessment. The assignment?” it was interesting that, larger of the Loughborough surveys despite the overwhelmingly positive resulted in an overwhelming majority responses noted above, that a of respondents agreeing with the significant majority of students (70%) statements: felt that peer assessment should not contribute more than 40% of the • “It was easy to access WebPA to total marks allocated, with half of submit my marks” (91.1%) these feeling of the opinion that the • “I felt that WebPA was secure” contribution should be less than 10%. (90.9%) This survey invited free comment • “I was provided with enough which allowed students to touch upon information about the assessment a number of issues, with the issues within the software” (80.7%) of feedback, anonymity, and fairness • “The marking scheme/criterion were being readily discussed. Notable easy to understand” (80.4%) comments included: • “The WebPA software was easy to • “There is no need to see who navigate” (92.2%). said what, but it is helpful to know how the others have viewed your In addition, only a relatively small contribution so that you know what to proportion of respondents (25.7%) felt REPORT work on for next time.” they needed to use the ‘“Help’” option within WebPA when completing their • “I would be interested to know assessment. how I was marked but making it anonymous makes people answer The majority of students responding more truthfully.” to the Loughborough survey (54.3%) • “I think that for the work to be peer remarked that, given the choice, they assessed is good, but I do not think would like to use WebPA in other that these scores should affect the modules on their course. final marks in a huge way.” Similarly positive responses were given by those surveyed at the University of Leeds and the University of Hull.