The ‘BEST Network Survey Tool’: Survey Tools for Assessing User Learning, Confidence and Skills: Standardising Feedback Across Diverse Interactive Virtual Learning Spaces

Project Description:

Development of survey tools for capturing feedback, in a timely manner, on virtual learning spaces for the purposes of assessing the effectiveness of this new mode of teaching content to learners from any background. Feedback to be captured would include: user confidence, platform stability and access, appropriate content delivery to target audiences, user engagement, improvements in learning of content and skills and teacher satisfaction. Survey tools would be integrated as part of the Adaptive eLearning Platform (AeLP) and would articulate with the existing platform Analytics tool. They will be built as an accessory to the existing AeLP Analytics function and made available for attachment to each virtual learning space.

The purpose of having such a survey tool is for retrieving data for scholarly dissemination and sharing of observed effects on student learning and engagement. At the recent International ASELL (Advancing Science by Enhancing Learning in the Laboratory) Lab Science Conference (2-5 APRIL 2013), the ASELL Survey tools tailored to learner experience in lab science learning were a feature with a whole session on extracting data for scholarly dissemination being a focus. Thus, there is a clear requirement for the ‘BEST Network Survey Tool’ as an integral part of scholarly virtual learning deployment for both teachers and students.

‘The BEST Network Survey Tool’ will comprise of two surveys: one for teacher peer review and the other for learner review.

User Group:

Academics/Teachers/Facilitators, Students, IT administrators

Subject area:

All types of content can be surveyed. All types of learning modes via the AeLP can be surveyed.

Estimated timeline:

Two-twelve months. This will be dependent on the availability of for eg. adaptive tutorials, case studies and vLabs that are available and amenable for attaching the ‘BEST Network Survey Tool’

Key Participants and budget:

Dr Patsie Polly (UNSW) and Mr Chris Christensen (James Cook University)

$5,000 (to produce and deploy)

Educational Outcomes:

Academics/Teachers/Facilitators, Students, IT administrators will recognise aspects of the Adaptive eLearning Platform and virtual learning environment which successfully delivered or did not deliver learning and teaching needs required for effective student and teacher engagement.

Apart from recognising learning bottlenecks encountered by students when using the foundational AeLP Analytics tool, The BEST Network Survey Tool will capture user engagement, confidence, improvements in learning of content and skills.

Project Sponsor:

Dr Patsie Polly, UNSW and Mr Chris Christensen, JCU

Future Use:

Continual deployment and adaption to each user group.

Risk Management:

Risk: Surveys would not be deployed in a timely manner alongside learning activities, resulting in loss of key information relating to for eg. deployment, content and user engagement.

Mitigation: Surveys would be specifically timed and integrated into each lesson and deployed after rigorous testing.

Risk: Feedback would not be acted upon, hence potentially compromising the deployment of future virtual learning activities and use of virtual learning spaces.

Mitigation: The survey tool would have a built in reminder ‘pop-up’ to be timed specifically with the aspect of the lesson or platform to be feedback upon.