Computer Lab Management would like to know how we can improve the
quality of service in the computer classrooms.  We have used feedback in
the past to improve our services and facilities, and hope to use your
feedback to improve further.

  Our records show that you taught a class in one of our computer
classrooms during the last quarter. If you were not the person actually
teaching in the room, please forward this message to that person (such as
a TA).  Please take a moment to fill out the survey and try to be as
specific as possible. 

  The survey contains nine questions which are listed below.  To answer
the survey, reply to this message and mark your answers to the questions
below by putting an "x" or text, as appropriate, between the square
brackets provided (eg. [x]). Since a program will automatically tally your
responses for later analysis, please keep your responses between the
square brackets provided. There is space for comments at the end of the
survey.

  If you have taught in multiple classrooms, please respond for each classroom
separately.  For example, if you taught in both 21 Olson and 241 Olson 
please reply to this email twice, once for each room.  This will allow us
to match your comments with the specific computer classroom.

  Thank you for your time and input.

                        Tim Leamy
                        Computer Lab Management
                        tcleamy@ucdavis.edu

*****  Computer Classroom Survey *****

1.  Which computer classroom did you teach in during the this quarter?
(Please check only one.  If you taught in multiple classroom, please
reply separately for each classroom.)
[] 1 Olson              [] 21 Olson             [] 27 Olson             
[] 241 Olson            [] 247 Olson            [] 301A SurgeIV         
[] 1102 Hart            [] 1131 Meyer           [] 1154 Meyer           
[] 163 Shields 

2.  How long have you been teaching in the computer rooms?
  [] First time
  [] Less than a year
  [] 1-3 years
  [] More that three years

3.  Please describe the preparedness of the room for your class.
  Was the room cleared out and ready for your class?  [] Yes   [] No
  
  Did the Computer Room Consultant explain the "Class in Session" sign to
you and ask you which setting you preferred?  [] Yes [] No

  Do you have any additional comments regarding room preparedness?
  [             ]

4.  Was your class ever delayed or interrupted by ... 
  (please indicate the number of times each occurred)
  [] hardware/software failure
  [] AV/projection failure
  [] room not cleared out prior to class
  [] students entering the room during your class 
  [] a class held prior to yours running over its scheduled time
  [] a double scheduling (two classes scheduled for the same time)
  [] Other [            ]

5. Please rate the computers in the following areas.  (1 to 5, with 5 the
best and 1 the worst)
  [] Speed                      [] Reliability          
  [] Software                   [] Usability
  [] Appropriateness for your needs
  
  Do you have any additional comments regarding the computers?
  [  ]

6. Please rate the Computer Room Consultants in the following areas (1 to
5, with 5 the best and 1 the worst)
  [] Knowledge                  [] Helpfulness
  [] Courtesy                   [] Availability

  Were you able to find the Computer Room Consultant when you needed help?
  [] Yes      [] No

  Do you have any additional comments regarding the Computer Room
Consultants?
  [   ]

7. If you didn't teach in the same computer classroom last year, please
skip to #8.  Otherwise, compare the teaching environment for this quarter
as compared to the last time you taught in the room.  Is it:
  [] better
  [] worse
  [] about the same
Please let us know why:
  [           ]  

8. What can Computer Lab Management do to make your teaching experience
using computer classrooms better?  
[               ]  

9. Do you have any other comments about the computer classrooms.
[               ]

Thank you for your time and input.

Question 2. How long have you been teaching in the computer classrooms?

	Num	Percentage
First time	6	26.1%
Less than one year	1	4.3%
One to three years	6	26.1%
More than three years	10	43.5%

  Question 3. Preparedness of the room

Was the room cleared and ready?
 

	Num	Percentage
Yes	18	78.3%
No	5	21.7%

Did the CRC explain the class in session sign.
 

	Num	Percentage
Yes	4	17.4%
No	17	73.9%

Additional Comments

• Everyone was great - very helpful
• The room was cleared out after a shortly after we needed to get the class started so it was not as bad as a yes/no question indicates
• BUT IT WASN'T NECESSARY TO DO SO (On NO answer for "Did the CRC explain the class in session sign.")
• It was fine.
• Previous TA's stayed in room and talked during our session.
• Class in Session sign was fine; no need for consultant to ask about it.
• Consultant didn't know there was a class at the time scheduled
• Francisco Gonzalez did an awesome job helping my group and I prepare for our presentation. He helped us load the right programs on the MACs and kept us informed when the room was ready to use
• used class as homework assignment
• everything was fine--since I've regularly taught in computer classrooms I didn't need the CRC to explain the sign to me
• In Hart the HP laser printers don't print from Illustrator 10. It would be nice not to have to do the Illustrator 9 workaround. 

Question 4. Class sessions interrupted by ...

	Number of instructors reporting problem	Percentage
hardware/software failure	7	30.4%
AV/projection failure	2	8.7%
room not cleared out prior to class	4	17.4%
students entering room during your class	7	30.4%
a class prior to yours running over its scheduled time	3	13.0%
a double scheduling (two classes scheduled for the same time)	0	0%

Others:

• Occasionally students from previous class would remain at computers and not leave until I asked them. 
• had some compatibility problems -- when students brought in work on disks to do presentations in class sometimes it wouldn't work -- particularly had problems with PowerPoint

Question 5. Computers

Ratings of the computers (1-5, 5 the best)
 

Speed	3.8
Reliability	3.8
Software	4.3
Usability	4.1
Appropriateness for needs	4.3

Additional Comments

• every week at least one computer crashed. very disruptive.  (301A SurgeIV)
• Unfortunately the software failures occurred during students' PowerPoint presentations. Given the fact that they were nervous already in some cases the failures made it very difficult for the students to get back on track. We had some trouble getting the PowerPoint remote to work. As it turned out (another instructor told me this) we probably needed to plug it into a different USB port than the one were trying to use. The computers often impede sight lines (it's hard in a discussion class for students to see each other over the tops of the computers) and there's enough noise in the classroom that people on the sides and the back sometimes have difficulty hearing each other. (241 Olson)
• The laptops are great for discussions--they don't get in the way (in terms of either noise or obstruction). But the keyboards are very difficult to use for anyone used to a desktop and the students complained about the lack of a mouse. (247 Olson)
• They are wonderful but crash on occasion (1 Olson)
• computers are old but I really really like the laptops--much better than the bulkier computers in the other classrooms (247 Olson)

  Question 6. Computer Room Consultants

Ratings of the Computer Room Consultants (1-5, 5 the best)
 

Knowledge	4.1
Helpfulness	4.3
Courtesy	4.5
Availability	4.1

Were you able to find the Computer Room Consultant when you needed help?

	Num	Percentage
Yes	20	87.0%
No	1	4.3%

Additional Comments

• they shouldn't print during my class 
•  I never saw one in surge never tried to clear out the room or did anything at all 

Question 7. Comparison of teaching environment of this quarter versus last time teaching in the room.

 

	Num	Percentage
Better	3	13.0%
Worse	2	8.7%
About the same	4	17.4%

Better

• Faster machines fewer breakdowns. (1 Olson)
• the new computers are better than the old ones (21 Olson)

Worse

• The room is too big and voices don't carry well so it is difficult for students on one side of the room to hear students on the other side.  I oftentimes have difficulty as well hearing students in the back. (21 Olson)
• Mainly because of the problem printing from Illustrator 10 to the HP printers and the problem w/the slide scanner. Also we will need to switch to OS X one of these days pretty soon and it'd be good to know the plan/timetable. (1102 Hart) 

Question 8. What can Lab Management do to make your teaching experience better?

• change configuration to that of 247 Olson  (21 Olson)
• upgrade 301A Surge 4. More PC classrooms would be helpful - there don't seem to be many available 
• I am fully satisfied! 
• Clear out the rooms 
• Surge was worse than Shields no assistance very crowded 
• Continue doing a great job! 
• Have a microphone 
• Besides what's already been mentioned provide a stapler in the Hart lab which faculty and students can use. Since folks ask for a stapler all the time it means there is a need for it not that folks need to learn not to ask for a stapler. In a lab full of high tech equipment it is reasonable for students and faculty to have access to a mere stapler in the Hart lab. 

Question 9. Do you have any other comments about the computer classrooms.

• keep up the good work
• I really like the Class Management system.
• The classroom was great- we didn't have any problems
• Tim has been very helpful and done a great job of preparing my instructional CD for use each term by my students.
• my main complaint about 21 Olson is that the room is much too big to effectively teach a workshop-style composition class. The computers are too spread out and the ambient noise is too high to allow for much actual conversation in the room
• this is the best computer classroom for teaching composition courses because the room is small and so it's quite possible to foster a collaborative and collegial classroom environment and to have conversations in the room. MORE small classrooms please! (247 Olson)
• Most of the time the Hart lab is very well run and students report that the Mayer lab meets their needs well too.

Question #3 shows we need to work on room preparedness. While the rooms were cleared most of the time, the CRC did not explain the class in session sign very often.  This has been an ongoing issue which we hope to address by better training of our CRCs.  However, several faculty say that since they have taught in our rooms before they don't need the info about the class in session sign.  Perhaps we should attempt to target first time instructors only for this info.

Question #4 shows we still need to work towards reducing class interruptions.  We need to do a better job clearing out the computer classroom and preventing students from entering a class in session.

The overall computer rating was fairly good.  Each measure was 3.8 or higher on a scale of 5.  In the past most scores were over 4.0 so some are down a little.

The overall ratings of the CRCs were good.  Each measure was 4.1 or higher on a scale of 5.

Question #7 shows that the computer upgrades made the teaching environment better.  Other than that there didn't seem to be much change.

Several issues were raised which Computer Lab Management will attempt to address:

• There were several comments that 21 Olson was too large, especially in comparison to 247 Olson.  247 Olson seats 22 students while 21 Olson seats 30.  We don't think we will be able change the current configuration since some classes need the larger number of seats.  If and when we are able to develop another Mac computer classroom we will determine if we can make a smaller (~25 seat) room.
• There was a request for an additional PC classroom.  We will be moving existing facilities from SurgeIV to Hutchison and in the process we will gain a PC computer classroom.
• We are planning on upgrading 301A SurgeIV this summer as suggested.
• Illustrator 10 was unable to print in 1102 Hart at the beginning of Fall quarter.  We updated the print queue software and changed the Illustrator printing preferences to fix the problem.

• Faculty Survey (Spring 2002)
• Student Survey #1 (Winter 2002)
• Student Survey #2 (Winter 2002)
• Student Survey #3 (Winter 2002)
• Faculty Survey (Fall 2001)
• Faculty Survey (Spring 2001)
• Student Survey (Winter 2001)
• Faculty Survey (Fall 2000)
• Duplex Printing (Summer 2000)
• Faculty Survey (Spring 2000)
• Student Survey (Spring 2000)
• Student Survey (Winter 2000)
• Faculty Survey (Fall 1999)
• Faculty Survey (Spring 1999)
• Student Survey (Spring 1999)
• Student Survey (Fall 1998)
• Faculty Survey (Winter 1998)
• Student Survey (Winter 1998)
• Student Survey (Winter 1997)
• ASUCD Student Computer Survey (Winter 1997)

Comments: tcleamy@ucdavis.edu URL: http://lm.ucdavis.edu/pubs/survey/faculty_f01.html   Last reviewed: Mon, 13-Jan-2003 Last updated: January 13, 2003