Faculty Survey - Fall 2011

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Survey Interpretation

Computer Lab Management (CLM) periodically surveys faculty who teach in our computer classrooms. CLM uses this information to improve the quality of service in the computer classrooms.

The survey results, especially questions #2, #6 and #7, show that overall faculty are quite happy with the computer classrooms. In Question #2, the majority of faculty feel that each area "Needs little or no improvement". The comments from faculty were overwhelmingly positive. One faculty member even reported that the computer classrooms were one of the reasons she accepted the position at UC Davis.

The top areas listed for improvement in Question 2 were "Classroom availability", "Larger classrooms (to allow more workspace at each station)" and "Temperature control". But overall most faculty were satisfied with those areas as well.

There were several questions and/or concerns raised by faculty, so CLM will follow up on these items:

  • CLM will develop better procedures to ensure that all the dry erase markers in the classroom are working.
  • CLM will continue to work to prevent non-students from interrupting classes
  • CLM is testing new whiteboard erasing products in 73 Hutchison which we hope will make those boards easier to clean.
  • CLM will determine how to send messages from Apple Remote Desktop while you are observing a station.

Survey Text

On 12/20/2011 Computer Lab Management sent an email to faculty who had taught in the computer rooms during Fall 2011 asking them to fill out this survey.

Survey Results

There were 20 responses.

Question 2. Please rate the following aspects of our services:

  Needs significant improvement Needs some improvement Needs little or no improvement No opinion
Classroom availability (able to reserve times needed) 0 0 15 5
Support from computer lab managers 0 0 18 2
Support from the Computer Room Consultant (CRC) 0 0 19 1
Preparedness of the classroom (room cleared out, whiteboard supplies, etc.) 0 1 19 0
Equipment reliability 0 1 18 1
Computer speed and usability 0 1 18 1
Classroom interruptions 1 0 18 1
Larger classrooms (to accommodate more students) 1 1 12 6
Larger classrooms (to allow more workspace at each station) 0 1 14 5
Smaller classrooms 1 1 11 7
Temperature control (room was too hot or too cold) 1 2 15 2
Cleanliness of the classroom 0 1 19 0
Classroom environment (for example: quieter, better layout) - Please specify below 0 3 15 1
Other - Please specify below 1 2 0 7

Improved classroom environment and Other reasons:

  • At one point I used to use the networked class folder, but it was slower than accessing the Internet so I stopped using it. Perhaps it's fixed now. This was a year ago.
  • My class was small so I generally opened it up for public access and let the consultant know. This seemed to work well for all parties concerned.
  • The only suggestion I have is to provide more dry erase markers that work. Most of the markers throughout the quarter were dried up and thus I was not able to use them.
  • It seems that when the remote desk was activated, the button that allowed to send messages to specific students did not work. This is quite useful indeed when you want to communicate about sensitive matters during an exam and you don't want the rest of the class to listen.
  • RE: Equipment reliability - We had occasional troubles with SmartSite forums. That is, students were working in a forum and hadn't saved their work; when they hit "submit," they lost their work. This tended to happen at the same workstation, but I never determined if the problem was with the user, with the computer, or with SmartSite. Regardless, I think it offers a "teaching opportunity," as students should be in the habit of backing up their work!
  • Great Lab!
  • The layout in 247 Olson is the ideal layout for a computer classroom. In the other classrooms, it can be difficult to hear or see students in areas furtherest away from the teacher's monitors-- this can interrupt the student-student and teacher-student interactions.
  • Great instructional classroom with great service!
  • The lab was excellent; my only complaint was that outside students came into the room frequently despite the sign on the door. I would estimate that every five to ten minutes of the two-hour period I reserved the room an outside student walked in. Also, some students who were in the room before my reservation were very slow in leaving. I was administering an exam for my students, so these interruptions were troubling distractions. (2060 SciLab)
  • Overall experience was positive.

Question 3. How would you rate your overall experience teaching in CLM Computer Classrooms this quarter compared with previous quarters?

Better 1
Same 13
Worse 0
N/A 6

"Better" Reasons given:

  • Olson 247 is my favorite of the computer rooms because the combination of a smaller room and laptops (instead of large screens) means there can be a lot more discussion among students.

"Same" Reasons given:

  • My experience always has been extremely positive, and it continues to be so.
  • "Same" means excellent
  • The CLM assistants in my experience have been courteous and helpful
  • I've always had prompt reply to my query for a classroom and the computer lab has always met my needs
  • Always excellent!

"Worse" Reasons given:

"N/A" Reasons given:

  • One reason I accepted the job at UC Davis is that I knew I could be more effective teaching in a computer lab than in a regular classroom. This proved to be the case, so I am very grateful to have had access to this resource.

Question 4. What pedagogical issues, if any, have you faced while teaching in a computer classroom?

  • I don't like not being able to see my students' faces because they mostly look at the computer. (241 Olson)
  • None (2 responses)
  • I detest whiteboards and greatly prefer the tactile feel of chalk on a good chalkboard. However, I understand that chalk generates other problems not consonant with a lot of hardware lying around.
  • The Olson Labs are great. I really enjoy teaching in them. They are well equipped. The only software that I'd really like to have access to that is not available is a PDF maker.
  • See other (It seems that when the remote desk was activated, the button that allowed to send messages to specific students did not work. This is quite useful indeed when you want to communicate about sensitive matters during an exam and you don't want the rest of the class to listen.)
  • The main issue in any computer classroom is the fact that seating is in a fixed arrangement where some students have their backs to others; this makes group discussions somewhat difficult. In rooms with large screens, group discussions become even harder because students can't see each other. (247 Olson)
  • I will answer this for Olson 247 separately, as the smaller class size makes group work physically more challenging, but this was not a problem in Olson 21.
  • As I stated in review for Olson 21, going paperless proved to be time-consuming and not entirely efficient. This is not a function of teaching in a computer classroom so much as it is a function of relying on computer-assisted technologies to teach. It was often challenging to have students working in groups in Olson 21, although we were able to be creative about doing this. Since "necessity is the mother of invention", I'm not sure if I'd call this challenge an "issue". But room size and layout did create some constraints.
  • I'd like space to talk with the students away from the computers but realize this may not be practical. (1 Olson)
  • See above (The layout in 247 Olson is the ideal layout for a computer classroom. In the other classrooms, it can be difficult to hear or see students in areas furtherest away from the teacher's monitors-- this can interrupt the student-student and teacher-student interactions.)
  • Some issues on how to explain to the students how to use a Mac instead of a PC, but the students caught on quick.
  • sometimes hard to clean off the whiteboard in Hutch 73
  • You are already aware of the issues; nothing new. IET does a great job!!!

Question 5. What technological issues, if any, have you faced while teaching in a computer classroom?

  • None (5 responses)
  • NA.
  • See "other" (It seems that when the remote desk was activated, the button that allowed to send messages to specific students did not work. This is quite useful indeed when you want to communicate about sensitive matters during an exam and you don't want the rest of the class to listen.)
  • None. Our technology is great, and our support system is the best I have ever encountered at any university.
  • It can be labor intensive to access student work that is submitted online. I tried several different methods of grading and returning work electronically and found nothing that was quicker/more efficient than simply asking students to submit hard copies of their work.
  • 1. Some students lost work while working in SmartSite's forums. I don't know why.
    2. I am not a Mac user, so figuring out how to use the interface on the fly was sometimes challenging.
    3. My students and I use different versions of Word (than each other and than the lab does), and formatting problems can and did routinely occur. This was probably the most complex and unresolved question I had.
    3A. Since I prefer using Word's Track Changes to a PDF markup tool when grading papers, file format questions will continue to be on my mind.
    3B. I will also need to make some decisions about which file formats to use when making online resources available to students.
  • Instructions on working the projector, but other than that, there were none.

Question 6. How was your overall teaching experience in the computer classroom?

  • Okay; I'm getting used to it.
  • No problems
  • None
  • Positive. (2 responses)
  • Excellent. (3 reposonses)
  • Excellent. And staff was very supportive.
  • Excellent. Even with the issues caused by fixed seating, the benefits far outweigh the problems.
  • It was outstanding. I was much more able to engage all students than I would have been without this resource. I was also to do a better job of providing interactive visual aids to supplement lectures.
  • Fantastic. I was able to do so much more with students than I could have done without help from computers. Many students loved the class (as evidenced by weekly thank you notes I received) and were very engaged. I think that had a lot to do with the computer resource, which we made very good use of.
    Note: I appreciated the monitor arm in Olson 247, as when I arrived to teach the workstation was generally adapted for a very short person. It was easy to adjust the monitor and chair to work for me.
  • Good (2 responses)
  • It was great working in the computer classroom, if only the space provided could have been bigger to accommodate the size of the group in one room. It was an overall great working environment.

Question 7. Do you have any other comments or suggestions regarding the computer classrooms.

  • I also taught in 241 Olson and the layout of that room seems problematic because my station is located closer to one end of the room so I feel very far away from the students at the other end. The teacher's station should be centered.
  • Nope.
  • No. Great job maintaining the labs!
    Having a computer classroom assistant is really helpful. Please keep this great service going.
  • When I tried to reserve the class for different days, there was no availability. It seems that more rooms are needed.
  • For my purposes, more rooms with laptops would be nice, but I realize other classes need the large screens.
    On a wholly positive note, I want to say once again how impressed I am by the CRC staff and the way our labs are set up and run. The equipment always works, the labs are always clean, and in the rare case of a glitch with a student's access the CRC workers are there to help in less than a minute. Thank you.
  • I'm a big fan of ergonomics, so if it is feasible to keep monitors (for all) at eye level that would (one day) be fantastic. I appreciated the help I received in making the instructor's station more ergonomic, as it was originally designed for someone who is much shorter than I am, but we were able to make it work.... and I could see what I was doing.
  • Thank you. Let me know if I can help in continuing to make this invaluable resource available. (I can write thank you notes or, in theory, help with grant proposals, for example.)
    Also, if anybody wants to brainstorm about how to increase usability of the already wonderful classroom software, I'm always game to do that.
  • Thanks!!
  • no
  • I can't wait to see the new spaces!

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