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 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 ten 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.

f 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
                        Information Resources

*****  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. Please describe the reservation process.
  How did you make your reservation?  
    [] Email   [] Phone  [] WWW Form   
    [] Don't Know/Someone else did it    [] Other

  Were we able to accommodate your first request (both room and time)?  
    [] Yes   [] No   [] N/A

  Please rate the overall ease of scheduling (1 to 5, with 1 the best and
5 the worst).  []
  
  Please rate the Lab Manager assigned to your class (1 to 5, with 1 the
best and 5 the worst).  []

  Do you have any additional comments regarding the reservation process?
  []

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. Please rate the physical room in the following areas.  (1 to 5, with 1
the best and 5 the worst) 

[] Cleanliness                  [] Lighting             
[] Overhead projector           [] Room layout  
[] Temperature                  [] Sound                        

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

5. Please rate the computers in the following areas.  (1 to 5, with 1 the
best and 5 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 1 the best and 5 the worst)

[] Knowledge                    [] Helpfulness
[] Courtesy                     [] Availability

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

7. Which platform do you prefer for your classes?
  [] Mac                
  [] PC
  [] Doesn't matter - will use either 

8. If you didn't teach in the same computer classroom last year, please
skip to #9.  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:
  [           ]  

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

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

Thank you for your time and input.


                        Tim Leamy
                        Information Resources
                        tcleamy@ucdavis.edu

Question 2. Reservation Process

Reservation Method
 

	Num	Percentage
Email	11	44.0%
Phone	7	28.0%
WWW Form	0	0%
Don't Know/Someone else did it	6	24.0%
Other	1	4.0%

Accommodated first request
 

	Num	Percentage
Yes	19	65.5%
No	6	20.7%
N/A	4	13.8%

Average rated overall ease of scheduling (1-5, with 1 the best): 1.7

Average rated Lab Manager assigned to class (1-5, with 1 the best): 1.8

Additional Comments

• I didn't check the email you sent for the class until the day of the class and discovered it was for the wrong day -  MY Fault for not   reading my email.  I was able to call and get the room - THANKS for saving me.
• Tim Leamy was great  promptly responding and resolving any problem. I did not have contact with any other person in the labs.
• Overall I had a positive experience (easy  prompt) with reservation process.
•  The reservation process was both efficient and flexible as they were able to adjust to changes durng the quarter.
• Never interacted with the Lab Manager

  Question 3. Preparedness of the room

Was the room cleared and ready?
 

	Num	Percentage
Yes	14	56.0%
No	8	32.0%

Did the CRC explain the class in session sign.
 

	Num	Percentage
Yes	7	28.0%
No	14	56.0%

Additional Comments

• no  except to reiterate that it was very well prepared.
• The class was filled with students  but this was understandable considering we fixed the reservation just hours before.  The students left when asked.  No problem
• I don't mind kicking people out myself.
• On two out of four occasions the room was not cleared of students ahead of the class
• Yes: the room was always ready  even at 8:00.
•  Sometimes the room was "cleared out" and sometimes not.  The practice seemed inconsistent.  The problem was rarely serious in the morning labs but often a hassle in the afternoon labs.
• Preparedness was uneven  some days lab consultant performed admirably  other  times I had to ask students to clear room

 

  Question 4. Physical Room

Ratings of the physical rooms (1-5, 1 the best)
 

Cleanliness	1.7
Lighting	2.0
Overhead projector	1.8
Room layout	1.9
Temperature	2.1
Sound	1.6

Additional Comments

• Lighting needed to be dimmed greatly to see the screen. At this stage it may be too expensive to do otherwise  but hopefully in the next few years the technology will be there and will be cheap enough to get atound this. It was still better than I anticipated. (27 Olson)
• Yes: sometimes the recylcing paper bin was left unemptied for several weeks. it  has been better later in thre quarter  but was a problem earlier. Site  attendants had to call several times to get them to come empty recycle bin. Also: the overhead projector was a bit unreliable  sometimes hard to get to  project. the image is not the greatest even with room dark. layout not optimal  for all stations to view it. I used it rarely  but it was not always smooth when  I did.(1131 Meyer)
• The overhead projector only became useful after I asked that it be fixed. It was not ready to use in the first week of term. (27 Olson)
• Olson 27 was nicely laid out... but perhaps there should have been information about how to make the appearance of the computer on the screen larger... some students had difficulty seeing. (27 Olson)
• It would benefit the students to have some lighting while the projector is  on  but the room has to be really dark to see the screen (301A SurgeIV)
• The air conditioner in too loud to talk over. (301A SurgeIV)

  Question 5. Computers

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

Speed	1.9
Reliability	2.1
Software	1.9
Usability	1.6
Appropriateness for needs	1.7

Additional Comments

• yes  sometime the SAS for Windows does strange things at individual work stations.  You can have 2 students sitting next to each other  putting in exactly the same commands for the same data and one will get the job to run and the other student's job will show that the job is running but it never completes.  This latter student then will have to go out of SAS  come back in the next time it runs.  I don't understand how this can happen but it does and it frustrates me and the students. (301A SurgeIV)
• The image scanning software on the Macs tended to crash. There was no documentation for the character recognition software on the Windows machines. The multiple-slide slide imaging hardware for the Nikon slide imager did not work. (1154 Meyer)
•  Good systems  a little slow to load software. Sometimes not up to date. Netscape is now up to 4.7 but older browsers are on computers. (This may be best until new systems are show to be stable  however.) (1 Olson, 21 Olson, 27 Olson, 1131 Meyer)
•  Yes: There was a frequent problem with keyboards freezing  corrected almost  always by unplugging and replugging the keyboard. this is annoying and if  possible should be diagnosed and fixed.  Also: It is disturbing to have someone run a long print job from a remote  location that prints in this lab. I have had 40 page papers with graphics tie  up the machine during lab hours. I can control printing for people in the room   but can't do anything about remotely instigated jobs. (1131 Meyer)
• The chairs need to be replaced  they are uncomfortable and some are falling apart. (1131 Meyer)
• Given my use of Front Page 2000 in both sets of labs  it really is essential to have IE 5.0  as well as Netscape 4.X  available as a browser. (27 Olson)
• One of the Macs was being temperamental (1154 Meyer)
• Some of my students could not open the pdf files I put on the web. I was contacted by the lab personnel in an effort to change the computer setting in the web or the way my pdf files were made. But nothing seemed to happen in the end and I do not know why the effort stopped. (27 Olson)
•  All software is the same version and universal with the other labs. Standard fonts. (1102 Hart)
• There are about three or four monitors that are dying  the color is very bad and at least two A drives that don't always work  I have told David about this for the last year. (301A SurgeIV)

  Question 6. Computer Room Consultants

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

Knowledge	1.7
Helpfulness	1.7
Courtesy	1.5
Availability	1.9

Additional Comments

• They are all extremely helpful  know their stuff pretty well  etc.
• Super!
• Consultant showed up late

Question 7.  Which platform do you prefer for your classes?

 

	Num	Percentage
Mac	5	20.0%
PC	19	76.0%
Either	1	4.0%

Question 8. Comparison of teaching environment of this quarter versus last time teaching in the room.

 

	Num	Percentage
Better	5	20.0%
Worse	1	4.0%
About the same	7	28.0%

Better

the projector was much  better (301A SurgeIV)

The computers have been upgraded since the last time I was in there (1131 Meyer)

Because you filled the room with brand new equipment -- and had it redecorated.  :-)  (27 Olson)

It seems that the lab management/personnel is more helpful (or more willing to help) this year compared to before.

better layout  more roomy (1 Olson)

Worse

unreliability of computers (1 Olson)

About the same

Still having some scheduling problems compared to two years ago when it went very smoothly.

the only real difference was the computer tech.

Question 9. What can Lab Management do to make your teaching experience better?

• nothing really  they did a great job
• It was great to use the facility
•  Just use Netscape Calendar for scheduling rooms or something so everyone knows exactly what is available. Also  there are some recurring classes that don't get put in the book. That happened last year  but not this year  I think.
• They are very good and very willing to help. a good crew. the comments above  about printer use from outside should be addressed. otherwise  great job and  thank you.
• Need to upgrade the computers  fix the laser printer  and prevent problems of the computers freezing on the students or situations when the files cannot be stored to the A drive.
• Throw away the mousepads you have in 27 Olson  now (cleaning them "regularly" isn't working)  get some new ones with more texture on the surface  AND replace them regularly.
• This is the only mixed platform room  which is what we need - so access may be limited.
• More labs  and a lab with multimedia (video and audio streaming functions) enabled  with earphones for student.
• No suggestions- you are doing a good job  accessability will become a problem
• Make sure the room is cleared at least 15 minutes prior so that instructors can set up or prep the room and or get assistance on how to utilize the equipment.
• improve system stability.  We had problems with printing and frequent crashes  especially using Excel.  The consultants tried to  help but were not particularly knowledgeable (1 Olson)
• make sure all the computer are reliable  I did not over enroll any classes this quarter but I don't think I should have to under enroll because I cannot always rely on the computers

Question 10. Do you have any other comments about the computer classrooms.

• Given the large student numbers in classes the more computers in the lab the better. Not all labs  but at least some with >25-30 computers
• as an old ISAG member: need more open access labs.
• Room is good  people alert and helpful.  Good place to give a class.  Too warm.  A bit more room would help move around and speak with individuals. Thank you for your time and input.
• We would LOVE to have a computer room adjacent to a conference or  small classroom -- for TRC programs as well as for some of our freshman seminar classes.
• Is Surge IV the only lab with SAS? I have had students for other classes that have become very mad with us when we have lab because it is the only lab on campus that they can use.

• Room Temperature

Over the past year we have experienced temperature problems in a number of classrooms.  We have made fans available as a temporary solution. For the long term we will work with Physical Plant to improve the Heating, Venting, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) capabilities in the computer rooms.  Lab Management is also planning on updating the problematic HVAC in 301A SurgeIV next summer.
• Computer Reliabilty

We experienced software difficulties with the new Apple iMacs.  We are continuing to investigate solutions but it appears those computer are just less stable then normal.

Question #3 shows we need to work on room preparednes. The rooms were cleared out only 56% of the time. The CRC explained the class in session signs only 28% of the time. It seems that room preparednes is inconsistent from day to day. This is most likely due to the different CRC on duty each day.

Question #7 was intended to show how flexible faculty are in regards to platform.  The results clearly show that most faculty prefer their platform. We had intended to determine if faculty would use a different platform than their preferred one, but the wording of the questions wasn't specific enough. We will need to ask a similar question in the future. But the low number of faculty who prefer either leads us to believe that most faculty are tied to their preferred platform.

Lab Management Responses
Lab Management identified several issues in this survey which we plan to address during the next year.

• Replace the chairs in 1131 Meyer. (Summer 2000)
• Renovate 301A SurgeIV, inlcuding replacing the HVAC. (Summer 2000)
• Investigate MacOS 9. We hope it will solve the iMacs reliability problems. (Winter - Spring 2000)
• Replace the projectors with brighter models. (Starting Winter 2000, and will replace others slowly over next few years)

• Lab Management Faculty Survey (Winter 1999)
• Lab Management Student Survey (Spring 1999)
• Lab Management Student Survey (Fall 1998)
• Lab Management Faculty Survey (Winter 1998)
• Lab Management Student Survey (Winter 1998)
• Lab Management Student Survey (Winter 1997)
• ASUCD Student Computer Survey (Winter 1997)

Comments: tcleamy@ucdavis.edu URL: http://lm.ucdavis.edu/pubs/survey/faculty_f99.html Last reviewed: Thu, 18-Jul-2002 Last updated: January 24, 2000