Leadership

Student Academic Experience Survey

This report by the Higher Education Policy Institute shows students in the United Kingdom are reporting statistically significant improvements in perceptions of value for money from their higher education experience in a marked reversal of a five-year downward trend.

There were 38% of students saying they had good or very good value for money from their course, up from 35% last year.

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      string(5489) "Leadership BriefingLeadership Briefing – www.teachingtimes.comReports Summaries – a weeklyservice of essential summaries,in-depth reports and criticalanalysis that’s new and relevantto education, linked to originalsource documents.THE 2017 STUDENT ACADEMIC EXPERIENCESURVEYKeywordsStudent,academicexperience,highereducation,ethnicity,accommodation,sexualorientation,policies,teaching qualitySummaryThis report, published by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and the HigherEducation Academy (HEA) proves shows that the student experience differs depending onethnicity, the type of accommodation and sexual orientation.Such factors have a direct impact on how engaged students are with their studies as well as on theiroverall quality of life. It shows: ■ how hard students are working; ■ how satisfied they are with their lives; and ■ what they think of recent government policies.The report suggests that improving teaching quality is an important factor in whether students believethey are getting value for money.The study also shows a wide variation in the number of teaching hours – with subjects such as historyhaving an average of eight hours per week, while medicine had 19 hours plus many more workinghours outside of the classroom.Students on medicine and dentistry courses were the most likely to feel they were getting value formoney, while social studies and business students were the most likely to feel they were not gettinggood value.There was a strong sense that universities were not doing enough to explain how tuition fees werespent – with only 20% of students saying they had received enough information.The annual study also examines wellbeing and happiness – and this has fallen to only 14% ofstudents saying they were satisfied with their lives.There are also negative outcomes for students’ sense of happiness and anxiety – with students havinglower levels of wellbeing than young people outside of university.Young women and gay students at university are particularly likely to feel unhappy.Over 14,000 full-time undergraduates took part in the survey this year.Main Points:Week Commencing 12th July 2017http://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2017-Student-Academic-Experience-Survey-Final-Report.pdfhttp://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2017-Student-Academic-Experience-Survey-Final-Report.pdfLeadership BriefingLeadership Briefing – www.teachingtimes.comReports Summaries – a weeklyservice of essential summaries,in-depth reports and criticalanalysis that’s new and relevantto education, linked to originalsource documents. ■ It reveals that only 19% of students believe they receive enough information on how their feesare spent. And this suggests that institutions need deeper engagement and personalisationof approach with students at every stage of their higher education experience to meet theirexpectations better. ■ Across the UK, nearly as many students (34%) think they are receiving poor value as think theyare receiving good value (35%). Declining perceptions of value are evident among students fromEngland, Scotland and Northern Ireland but the biggest decline is in Scotland. ■ There is inconsistency between the attributes students want their staff to display and the attributesthey do display. For example, almost all (94%) students want their staff to undertake continuousprofessional development in teaching but far fewer (57%) think this happens. ■ The Survey explains the relative underperformance of students from Black and Minority Ethnicbackgrounds. For example, White students tend to feel more positive about teaching staffcharacteristics than students of other ethnicities, and Asian students are less likely to feel theyare learning ‘a lot’ than White students (59% versus 66%). ■ This may be partly explained by accommodation choice: 60% of Asian respondents live at homewhile studying, compared to just 24% of all respondents. The authors call for higher educationinstitutions to explore the “sticky campus” concept to ensure all students are fully integrated. ■ The Survey additionally paints a more detailed picture of the experiences of students of differentsexual orientations than ever before. Students who identify as straight do better on each of thefour wellbeing measures than other students. This suggests higher education institutions havefurther to go in providing a fully supportive environment for people of all sexual orientations. ■ Only a small proportion of respondents are at alternative providers and they are generally in thebigger, better-known alternative providers which are atypical. However, it is still notable that thosealternative providers’ students who are covered by the Survey provide more positive responses inmany areas than respondents as a whole. For example, they are: ■ more likely to believe they have enough information on where their fees go (35% versus 20%for all respondents); ■ more likely to be having an experience that is exceeding their original expectations (35%versus 25%); and ■ more likely to think they are getting good value (54% versus 35%).WEB LINKThe 2017 Student Academic Experience Surveyhttp://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2017-Student-Academic-Experience-Survey-Final-Report.pdf"
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Leadership

The 2017 Student Academic Experience Survey

9 Jun 2017

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      string(4832) "for Scholarship and Teaching and Learning, 11, 1-4. ■ Dunworth, K., & Santiao Sanchez, H. (2016). Perceptions of quality in staff-student written feedback in higher education: a case study. Teaching in Higher Education, 21(5), 576-589. ■ Flanagan, S. (2014). How does storytelling within higher education contribute to the learning experience of early years students? Journal of Practice and Learning. 13(2-3), 146-168. ■ Flint, A., Oxley, A., Helm, P., & Bradley, S. (2009). Preparing for success: one institution’s aspirational and student focused response to the National Student Survey. Teaching in Higher Education, 14(6), 607-618. ■ Garratt, D. (2011). Reflections on learning: widening capability and the student experience. Cambridge Journal of Education, 41(2), 211-225. ■ Golding, C., & Adam, L. (2016). Evaluate to improve: useful approaches to student evaluation. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 41, 1-14. ■ Golubchikov, O. (2015). “Negotiating critical geographies through a “feel-trip”: experiential, affective and critical learning in engaged fieldwork. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 39, 143-157. ■ Grebennikov, L., & Shah, M. (2013). Student voice: using qualitative feedback from students to enhance their university experience. Teaching in Higher Education, 18(6): 606-618. ■ Hagenaur, G., & Volet, S.E. (2014). Teacher-student relationship at university: an important yet under-researched field. Oxford Review of Education, 40(3), 370-388. ■ Hoon, A., E. Oliver., Szpakowska, K., & Newton, P. (2015). Use of the ‘Stop, Start, Continue’ method is associated with the production of constructive qualitative feedback by students in higher education. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 40(5), 755-767. ■ Jenkins, A., Jones, L., & Ward, A. (2001). The Long-term Effect of a Degree on Graduate Lives. Studies in Higher Education, 26(2), 147-161. ■ Khan, M. (2013). Evaluation of Course Evaluations: Views from Students, Staff and Senior Management: Enhancing Student Feedback and Improvement Systems in Tertiary Education. CAA Quality Series 5, 112-123. ■ Lambert, J. (2013). Digital Storytelling: Capturing Lives, Creating Community. Abingdon: Routledge. ■ Lenton, P. (2015). Determining student satisfaction: An economic analysis of the National Student Survey. Economics of Education Review, 47, 118-127. ■ Mackenzie, J. (2008). Conceptual learning in higher education: some philosophical points. Oxford Review of Education, 34, 75-87. ■ Menis, S. (2017). Non-traditional students and critical pedagogy: transformative practice and the teaching of criminal law. Teaching in Higher Education, 22(2), 193-206. ■ Nasser-Abu Alhija, F. (2017). Teaching in higher education: Good Teaching through students’ lens. Studies in Education Evaluation, 54, 4-12. ■ O’Donovan, B., Price, M., & Rust, C. (2008). Developing student understanding of assessment standards: a nested hierarchy of approaches. Teaching in Higher Education, 13(2), 205-217. ■ Petty, G. (2014). Teaching Today. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes.  ■ Seale, J. (2010) Doing student voice work in higher education: an exploration of the value of participatory methods. British Educational Research Journal, 36(6), 995-1015. ■ Sherwood, G and M.A. Nind. 2014. “Parents’ experiences of support: co-constructing their stories.” International Journal of Early Years Education 22 (4): 457-470. ■ Silverman, D. (2014). Interpreting Qualitative Data. London: Sage. ■ Spooren, P., Mortelmans, D., & Thijssen, P. (2012). ‘Content’ versus ‘style’: acquiescence in student evaluation of teaching? British Educational Research Journal, 38, 3-21. ■ Stein, S.J., Spiller, D., Terry, S., Harris, T., Deaker, L., & Kennedy, J. (2013). Tertiary teachers and student evaluations: never the twain shall meet?  Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 38(7), 892-904. ■ Surgenor, P.W.G. (2013). Obstacles and opportunities: Addressing the growing pains of summative student evaluation on teaching. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 38(3), 363-376. ■ Weiner-Levy, N. (2008). Universities as a meeting point with new academic knowledge, society and culture: cognitive and emotional transitions during higher education. Cambridge Journal of Education, 38(4), 497-512. ■ Winchester, T.M., & Winchester, M.K. (2014). A longitudinal investigation of the impact of faculty reflective practices on students’ evaluations of teaching. British Journal of Educational Technology, 45, 112-124."
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Professional Development

Evaluation through story-telling! – a tool for improving teaching

18 Apr 2018

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Leadership Briefing issue 7.10 (82)"
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      string(5887) "ResourceTHE STUDENT ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE SURVEYOriginal DocumentThe Student Academic Experience Survey. Which? partnered with the Higher Education Policy Institute to conduct the most comprehensive survey yet into the student academic experience. As previous HEPI surveys showed, the findings from the 2013 Which?/HEPI survey again reveal that there is no sign that as students pay more they are receiving more for their money, and that is reflected in a sharp increase in the proportion of students who feel that they are not receiving good value for money.KeywordsStudent, academic experience, university, funds, loans, courses, value, fees, teaching time, contact hoursSummaryWhich? partnered with the Higher Education Policy Institute to conduct the most comprehensive survey yet into the student academic experience. As previous HEPI surveys showed, the findings from the 2013 Which?/HEPI survey again reveal that there is no sign that as students pay more they are receiving more for their money, and that is reflected in a sharp increase in the proportion of students who feel that they are not receiving good value for money.This is the fifth iteration of a survey that HEPI has conducted of the academic experience of students at English universities, the first in 2006.· Almost one in three first year students at UK universities say their courses are not good value.· Dissatisfaction grew when fees rose for English students.· There are big variations in teaching time with students at some universities getting twice as much as those doing the same subject elsewhere.· The issue of relative standards needs urgent investigation.· The raising of fees paid by students from England to a maximum of £9,000 a year from last autumn has put universities under increasing pressure to deliver, and be seen to deliver, value for money.· Of 17,000 students polled across the UK earlier this year 29% said their courses were not good value for money, compared with only 16% the last time the study was carried out in 2006 when fees were just over £1,000 a year.· Students who received less contact time with tutors in the form of lectures, seminars and tutorials were three times more likely to say they did not think their course was value for money, according to the report.· Many students were working harder than in previous years with the amount of private study they said they were putting in per week rising from 12 hours 48 minutes in 2006 to 14 hours and eight minutes in 2013.· Some 65% of students said they gained from being taught in small groups of up to five students.· A third (32%) said they might have chosen a different course had they known more about the academic experience, with a fifth (21%) saying that information from universities was vague and almost one in 10 (9%) that it was misleadingMain Points:· Contact hours are important to students and in the 2013 survey, the great majority of students were satisfied regardless of how much contact they received but within this overall general satisfaction, those with the least contact were least satisfied.  Universities that do not satisfy students about the amount of contact they provide will have more dissatisfied students.· Students were asked for priorities for the use of the additional fees they now pay.  Increasing contact with staff together with reductions in the size of teaching groups were the two options whose mention had increased over the years more than any others.· Students who have term-time employment are marginally more likely on average to miss time-tabled lessons (9% compared to 7.2% among those who did not have employment).  Considering the evidence that students with term-time employment tend to do less well in their studies than others, this will be of concern if the new funding arrangements lead to more students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds taking such employment.· The QAA guidelines assume that a full-time student at a UK university studies for a total of 1200 hours per year (with the QAA judging that 10 hours of study provides one credit and a three year honours degree requires 120 credits per year for 3 years).  The implications of the findings of the 2013 survey (which are consistent with the findings from earlier HEPI surveys) is that on average students at English universities study for no more than 900 hours per year ie students study for less than 3/4; of the time that is expected for a degree programme.   This suggests that on average the standards of degrees are not as has been assumed – or that the calibration of a credit against 10 hours of study needs to be reconsidered.· There is a large variation between those universities that require the most and those that require the least amount of effort in any one subject. In addition, the findings also reveal that there are many institutions where formal lessons are relatively few and that is not compensated by the amount of private study required – which raises again the question about the comparability of standards between these institutions.  It is unlikely that on average students studying for less than half the time studied by other students in the same subject will achieve the same outcomes but almost all obtain degrees, no matter the differences in the amount of studying they have done.· Nearly one third of the students surveyed said they would definitely or possibly have chosen a different course if they had been given the chance, with a significantly larger proportion of students from new universities saying so than old (which is not surprising given"
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Leadership

The Student Academic Experience Survey

23 May 2013

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      string(5722) "Leadership BriefingLeadership Briefing – www.teachingtimes.comReports Summaries – a weeklyservice of essential summaries,in-depth reports and criticalanalysis that’s new and relevantto education, linked to originalsource documents.HEA STUDENT ACADEMIC EXPERIENCESURVEY 2014KeywordsTuition fees,value for money,university,lecturers,students, highereducation,fees, degree,undergraduates SummaryThis research of 15,046 UK students by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and theHigher Education Academy (HEA) has found that a third of students in England, who pay up to£9,000 in tuition fees, say their degree course is very poor value for money and that they havejust 10 minutes extra with university lecturers despite the rise in fees since 2012.One third of current first- and second-year students (33%) said they were receiving poor or very poorvalue for money, compared with 18% in 2012.And just 36% of these students thought their course represented good value for money, comparedwith 52% in 2012.But the study found students in Scotland were more likely to say their course was worth the money,with 70% of those at Scottish universities rating their course as good or very value. However, Scottishstudents pay no tuition fees, if they study at a university in Scotland.The Hepi/HEA report says regional differences in perceptions of value for money are “not unexpectedgiven that Scottish and other EU-domiciled students from outside the UK, who constitute the vastmajority of students at Scottish institutions, effectively pay no fees”.When asked what their top three priorities would be for institutional expenditure, 48% of UK studentspolled said “reducing fee levels”, followed by having more teaching hours and reducing the size ofteaching groups (both 35%).The survey also found 31% said they would definitely or maybe have chosen another course if theywere to have their time again.The survey found that in the first and second years of their degree, undergraduates have an averageof 14.2 hours of “contact” time – for example time spent in lectures and seminars, and spend another14.3 hours on average in private study.This is much less than the 40 hours a week of study suggested in the Quality Assurance Agency’s(QAA) guidelines. The findings show students do not attend about 9% of lectures and seminars laidon by their university, with the most common reasons for absence being that undergraduates did notfind the lectures very useful and that the notes were available online.Week Commencing 26th May 2014http://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/HEA_HEPI-Report_WEB_160514.pdfhttp://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/HEA_HEPI-Report_WEB_160514.pdfLeadership BriefingLeadership Briefing – www.teachingtimes.comReports Summaries – a weeklyservice of essential summaries,in-depth reports and criticalanalysis that’s new and relevantto education, linked to originalsource documents.Key Findings: ■ Full-time undergraduate students in UK universities have high levels of satisfaction: 86% arefairly or very satisfied with their course. However, 31% say they would definitely or maybe havechosen another course if they were to have their time again. ■ The benefits of smaller class sizes are clearly recognised by students: 89% of students felt theygained ‘a lot’ or ‘quite a bit’ educationally when attending sessions with no other students, withsimilar levels of positivity for tutorial-sized classes of up to 15 students in which interactivelearning is most feasible. 50% of students experiencing classes of between 1 and 5 otherstudents find them ‘a lot’ beneficial, while the figure is only 10% for those with classes of morethan 100 students. ■ Undergraduates in their first and second years have an average of 14.2 contact hours per weekduring term time and complete another 14.3 hours of private study on top. This is less than three-quarters of the 40 hours a week assumed in the Quality Assurance Agency guidelines but otherstudy hours, such as placements, raises the total to 33.9 hours, and two thirds of undergraduatestudents (64%) are satisfied with their contact hours.  Students with 0-9 contact hours are notablyless satisfied than those with 20-29 contact hours. ■ New questions introduced on the wellbeing of students show that when asked to plot ‘how happydid you feel yesterday’ on a scale between 0 (not at all) and 10 (completely), 72% of the generalpopulation chose between 7 and 10 compared with only 62% of full-time students. ■ The balance of total workload varies significantly by discipline, by institution and by year ofstudy. For example, students in disciplines allied to medicine study for 50.9 hours a week, whilestudents on courses in mass communications documentation study for 26.7 hours a week.Workload is around 30 hours per week across most disciplines and institution types. ■ 70% of undergraduates at Scottish institutions, who typically pay no fees, believe they arereceiving good or very good value for money, compared with only 41% in England, where feesare typically £9,000. One-sixth (18.3%) of first and second year students from the UK studyingat institutions in England believed their course represented very poor or poor value for money in2012, but the figure has now risen to one-third (33.1%). ■ When asked about their top three priorities for institutional expenditure, 48% of undergraduateschose ‘reducing fee levels’ (55% for first and second years in England). The next four prioritiesare more teaching hours (35%); smaller class sizes (35%);"
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Leadership

HEA Student Academic Experience Survey 2014

22 May 2014

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