Jameson (2009) Title: A Case Study of the Effectiveness of the Electronic Survey as a Research Tool for Measuring Students’ Experience of e-Learning

getCITED

Home Search Add Content Reports Help

Edit Publication | Edit Contributors | Delete Publication | Edit References | Edit Citations

Add to Bookstack | Show Bookstack | Change Bookstack

Title: A Case Study of the Effectiveness of the Electronic Survey as a Research Tool for Measuring Students’ Experience of e-Learning

Post a Comment

CONTRIBUTORS:

Author:

Jameson, J. (University of Greenwich)

CONFERENCE NAME:

Association for Learning Technology Conference (ALT-C) 2009

CONF. LOCATION:

University of Manchester

CONFERENCE YEAR:

2009

PUB TYPE:

Conference Presentation

SUBJECT(S):

electronic survey, survey design, e-learning, learning technology, case study, research tools, surveys

DISCIPLINE:

Education

HTTP:

http://alt.ac.uk/altc2009

LANGUAGE:

English

PUB ID:

103-462-546 (Last edited on 2009/09/19 14:37:34 GMT-6)

SPONSOR(S):

ABSTRACT:
This paper uses a case study approach to consider the effectiveness of the electronic survey as a research tool to measure the learner voice about experiences of e-learning in a particular institutional case. Two large scale electronic surveys were carried out for the Student Experience of e-Learning (SEEL) project at the University of Greenwich in 2007 and 2008, funded by the UK Higher Education Academy (HEA). The paper considers this case to argue that, although the electronic web-based survey is a convenient method of quantitative and qualitative data collection, enabling higher education institutions swiftly to capture multiple views of large numbers of students regarding experiences of e-learning, for more robust analysis, electronic survey research is best combined with other methods of in-depth qualitative data collection. The advantages and disadvantages of the electronic survey as a research method to capture student experiences of e-learning are the focus of analysis in this short paper, which reports an overview of large-scale data collection (1,000+ responses) from two electronic surveys administered to students using surveymonkey as a web-based survey tool as part of the SEEL research project. Advantages of web-based electronic survey design include flexibility, ease of design, high degree of designer control, convenience, low costs, data security, ease of access and guarantee of confidentiality combined with researcher ability to identify users through email addresses. Disadvantages of electronic survey design include the self-selecting nature of web-enabled respondent participation, which tends to skew data collection towards students who respond effectively to email invitations. The relative inadequacy of electronic surveys to capture in-depth qualitative views of students is discussed with regard to prior recommendations from the JISC-funded Learners’ Experiences of e-Learning (LEX) project, in consideration of the results from SEEL in-depth interviews with students. The paper considers the literature on web-based and email electronic survey design, summing up the relative advantages and disadvantages of electronic surveys as a tool for student experience of e-learning research. The paper concludes with a range of recommendations for designing future electronic surveys to capture the learner voice on e-learning, contributing to evidence-based learning technology research development in higher education.

STATISTICS

Click on # to view
Citations		0
References		0
Comments		0
Quality		0/0.00
Interest		0/0.00
View(er)s		3/606

Quality
	N/A
High
	7
	6
	5
	4
	3
	2
	1
Low

Interest
	N/A
High
	7
	6
	5
	4
	3
	2
	1
Low

Prev | Next