Written Analysis of Pilot Surveys in Academic year 2013/14

DIT - BA Interior Design & Furniture - First Year CAD Module

Survey 1 Using blended learning in 3rd Level Teaching
Q.1 On a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being most in agreement How useful do you find Video Tutorials in your learning?

Analysis: 11 of 16 respondents gave a scale of 1 or 2, with none giving a scale of 4. However, 5

respondents gave a scale of 3. Therefore the majority feel that they are either very useful (4no.) or
useful, while almost one third feel that they are not so useful. However, no student feels that they
are not useful at all. No student filled in the Comment box and it was not compulsory to so.
Verdict: This shows that it is worth using video tutorials (screencasts) as an aid to my teaching.
Q.2 On a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being most in agreement - Are they a useful aid to learning - blended with face-to-face lectures?

Analysis: 10 of 16 respondents gave a scale of 1 or 2, with 3no. giving a scale of 3 and of 4. Therefore
the majority feel that they are either a very useful aid (7no.) or a useful aid, while one third feel that
they are a not so useful aid. No student filled in the Comment box and it was not compulsory to so.
Verdict: As 2/3s of the students are on the positive end of the scale, this shows that they are a
useful aid to most learners, blended with face to face teaching.
Q.3 On a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being most in agreement - Could you use them solely, without face to face lectures - to learn a skill eg.CAD?

Analysis: 4 of 16 respondents gave a scale of 1 (1no.) or 2, with 12no. giving a scale of 3 or 4.

Therefore 75% of respondents feel that they could not use them (screencasts) solely, without face to
face lectures, to learn a skill such as AutoCAD. No student filled in the Comment box and it was not
compulsory to so.
Verdict: As 75%of the students are on the negative end of the scale, this shows that most learners,
in this case, feel that they need to have face to face classroom teaching combined with the
screencasts.
Q.4 On a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being most in agreement - Is the picture quality adequate for the purpose?

Analysis: 11 of 16 respondents gave a scale of 1 (4no.) or 2, with none giving a scale of 4. However, 5
respondents gave a scale of 3. Therefore the majority feel that the picture quality is very adequate
for the purpose or adequate, while almost one third feel that it is not quite adequate. However, no
student feels that it is totally inadequate. No student filled in the Comment box and it was not
compulsory to so.
Verdict: As 11 of 16 students are on the positive end of the scale, this shows that most learners, in
this case, feel that the picture quality for the screencasts is adequate.

Q.5 On a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being most in agreement - Is the sound quality adequate for the purpose?

Analysis: 12 of 16 respondents gave a scale of 1 (5no.) or 2, with none giving a scale of 4. However, 4
respondents gave a scale of 3. Therefore the majority feel that the sound quality is very adequate for
the purpose or adequate, while 25% feel that it is not quite adequate. However, no student feels
that it is totally inadequate. No student filled in the Comment box and it was not compulsory to so.
Verdict: As 75% of the students are on the positive end of the scale, this shows that most learners, in
this case, feel that the sound quality for the screencasts is adequate.
Q.6 How often do you refer to the video tutorials for help?

Analysis: 13 of 16 respondents gave an answer of often (3no.) or sometimes, with no respondent

giving an answer of never. However, 3 respondents said they seldom referred to the screencasts.
Therefore, the vast majority over 80% - refer to the screencasts for help often or sometimes, while
20% do not. However, no student said that they never refer to them. No student filled in the
Comment box and it was not compulsory to so.
Verdict: As 80% of the students are on the positive end of the scale, this shows that most learners, in
this case, do refer to screencasts when working alone, which is encouraging and shows that they are
a beneficial aid to learning.
Q.7 On a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being most in agreement - Do you find VLEs such as 'Webcourses' useful for your learning?

Analysis: 11 of 16 respondents gave a scale of 1 (5no.) or 2, with 4no. giving a scale of 3, and only
1no. giving a scale of 4. Therefore the majority feel that they are either a very useful aid (5no.) or a
useful aid, while 25% feel that they are a not so useful aid and 1 student feeling they are no aid at
all. No student filled in the Comment box and it was not compulsory to so.
Verdict: As 2/3s of the students are on the positive end of the scale, this shows that they are a
useful aid to most learners, which indicates a proactive approach from learnings to using on-line
environments.
Q.8 On a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being most in agreement - Would you welcome more on-line methods of teaching, as opposed to face to
face teaching?

Analysis: 7 of 16 respondents gave a scale of 1 (3no.) or 2, with 7no. giving a scale of 3, and only
2no. giving a scale of 4. Therefore this is a fairly evenly split response between welcoming more online methods of teaching, as opposed to face to face teaching, or not welcoming them. No student
filled in the Comment box and it was not compulsory to so.
Verdict: As 57% of the students are on the negative end of the scale, this shows that they are
probably reticent about the prospect of replacing face to face teaching with on-line methods, but
due to the close split of opinions it would probably indicate a preference for a combination of both
types of teaching i.e. a blended learning approach.
Q.9 On a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being most in agreement - Do you think on-line learning would ever be a substitute for face to face
learning?

Analysis: 4 of 16 respondents gave a scale of 1 (1no.) or 2, with 6no. giving a scale of 3, and a scale
of 4. Therefore, 75% give negative response to this question. No student filled in the Comment box
and it was not compulsory to so.

Verdict: As 75% of the students are on the negative end of the scale, this shows that they are mainly
opposed to the prospect of replacing face to face teaching with on-line methods altogether.
Q.10 Are there any technologies which you feel would benefit your learning on the course?

Analysis: Only 6 of 16 respondents responded to this question. Of the 6 that responded 3no. Simply
said No. 2no. students said Not sure and Cant think of anything. 1no. respondent said More
YouTube tutorials. 10 students did not fill in the Comment box as it was not compulsory to so.
Verdict: As it was not compulsory to answer this question most students didnt do so. Those who did
gave yes/no type answers. Therefore, not much knowledge can be gained from this question and
this can be learned from as not a good way to pose a question.
Overall verdict on Survey 1: The results can be seen for individual questions. However, it can be
observed that no rich responses have come forth due to the comment box not being compulsory to
complete below each question, and question 10 not yielding much useful information.
This can be learned from for my future surveys for the retrospective surveys in November 2014.

Survey 2 First year feedback Semester 2 2013/14 CAD module

This was a qualitative anonymous on-line survey assessing feedback on 2 modules, with 9 questions
in total. The relevant feedback on the CAD module only has been extracted and analysed here. Only
8 of 16 students responded to this survey.
Q.2 What did you like about the CAD semester 2 module?
Analysis: 5 of 8 students said that they liked learning 3D CAD and improving their CAD skills. 3 of 8
students said that they liked that the module focussed on one project brief.
Verdict: The majority of the students liked learning 3D CAD, which was a new learning experience in
the second semester.
Q.4 What aspects of the CAD semester 2 module did you find difficult?
Analysis: 4 of 8 students said that they found learning new 3D CAD skills difficult. Some comments
made were that it was great when it clicked and you need to practise on your own, but practise
makes perfect and that It was a lot of new things in a short space of time. Trying to remember all
the cad tools.... 1 student said that there are some problems with the CAD software in our college.
2 students said that they struggled and found CAD difficult in general, with comments such as:
I'm finding it a little hard to keep on top of the work, just as the work load is heavy and most of the
class are at a very high standard with their CAD and I find CAD itself very hard and that made other
tasks more difficult.
Verdict: Half of the students found elements learning 3D CAD difficult, which was a new learning
experience in the second semester. However, they seemed to get satisfaction when they became
competent with the software. 2 of the students gave comments that alluded to the high workload in
the Interior Design & Furniture course, which shows that there is an argument for a need for a
blended learning approach to overcome new challenges in first year.

Q.6 Did you find the use of video tutorials useful in the CAD 2 module?
Analysis: 7 of 8 students said Yes to this question and 1 said that the 3D ones were specifically very
useful. 4 students said that they were very helpful or very useful, and other comments were that
they used them a lot and they were useful when they needed to look back at something and I've
always found the videos useful, as I don't like to ask questions over, I can refer back to the videos.
Verdict: All 8 of the students found the screencasts very useful in different ways which suited their
learning, which again puts forward an argument for a need for a blended learning approach to
overcome new challenges in first year.

Q.7 Did you enjoy group work in the module - CAD (and Construction studies)?
Analysis: 4 students said Yes to this question, with comments such as I prefer working in a group,
I did learnt a lot and the group work was my favourite part, I felt that we encouraged each other
throughout. 3 students said Yes and No to this question, with comments such as I was placed in
a group of people that we all got on really well inside and outside of college . and we didnt have
any difficulties, but for the most part I rather work on my own, I liked when we were working in
class together, but otherwise it was very difficult when someone didnt pull their weight and I felt it
was really hard to get everybody to cooperate in the projects, but it was easier as the work load was
divided. 1 student said No to this question and commented I prefer working alone.
Verdict: The students had varying views on group work in the module. It could be argued that this
question will have no bearing on my research, as the screencasts are meant to be used by the
student to re-cap and when they are probably alone, but I thought it was useful to show the results,
as it may have some bearing on the research questions in my questionnaire, looking at the use of
discussion forums on-line, for peer learning, in tandem with post lecture screencasts.

Q.8 How did you find the academic support on these modules to be?
Analysis: 3 students said the academic support was very good or great. 2 students said it was
okayor good. Only 3 students gave a richer response i.e. I thought the lecturer was very
supportive in helping with an issue. One of the nicest and most helpful lecturers in the course. Notes
that were given were easy to understand, The lecturer were always there to help if we came into
difficulty which was very beneficial and the video tutorials and communication if something was
wrong is always great.
Verdict: It could be argued, once again, that this question will have no bearing on my research.
However, what I have learned from the response to this question was that it could have been
phrased better to get more in-depth responses from more of the students. The question is probably
too self-indulgent and the students may feel they cannot give a negative response, even though the
survey is anonymous. The question could be rephrased to ask students how important they think
academic support is for first year students and whether a blended learning approach can help them
to overcome new challenges.

Q.9 Would you find it useful to continue with the lecturer of these modules in the future?
Analysis: All of the students said yes to this question, with individual comments such as great
teacher, I like the way the classes are taught, definitely, once the pressure was off, looking back
at the work now was very enjoyable and learned a lot, with CAD yes and lecturer is extremely
friendly and helpful.
Verdict: While the feedback is reassuring, it could be argued, once again, that this question will have
no bearing on my research. The question is probably too self-indulgent and the students may feel
they cannot give a negative response, even though the survey is anonymous.

Overall verdict for survey 2: There are definitely some rich and thick responses from this survey
which can be useful if designing future questionnaires. Some of the questions are inappropriately
biased towards the lecturer or some may not be relevant to the research question. However, if they
are rephrased and re-focussed towards the research question and the students learning they could
be useful.
This survey can be learned from for the retrospective surveys and focus group in November 2014.