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 eight 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
                        Information Resources

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

1.  Over the last quarter in which computer classrooms have you taught?
(Please check only one.  If you taught in multiple classroom, please
reply separately for each classroom.)

[] 21 Olson             [] 27 Olson             [] 241 Olson
[] 247 Olson            [] 301A SurgeIV         [] 307 SurgeIV
[] 1131 Meyer           [] 1154 Meyer           [] 163 Shields 
[] 1101 Hart            [] 1102 Hart            

2. Please describe the reservation process.
  How did you make your reservation?  [] Email   [] Phone   
    [] 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 Site Attendant 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 site attendants 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 site attendants?
[]


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

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

There were 27 responses.

Question 2. Reservation Process

Reservation Method

	Num	Percentage
Email	7	25.9%
Phone	8	29.6%
Don't Know/Someone else did it	11	40.7%
Other	1	3.7%

Accommodated first request

	Num	Percentage
Yes	20	74.1%
No	3	11.1%
N/A	4	14.8%

Average rated overall ease of scheduling (1-5, with 1 the best): 1.6

Average rated Lab Manager assigned to class (1-5, with 1 the best): 1.7

Additional Comments

• Lab reservations are always an easy process. Tracy in particular is responsive and courteous. I appreciate your office's help and consideration.
• Both the email and phone worked fine.
• ONLY THAT TIM LEAMY WAS IN EMAIL COMMUNICATION WITH ME VERY REGULARLY FOR THE WEEK WHEN WE WERE MAKING THE RESERVATIONS THAT HIS TONE AND APPROACH WERE WONDERFUL AND THAT HE SEEMED VERY EASY TO WORK WITH FROM THE STUDENTS POINT OF VIEW. I WAS IMPRESSED AT THE SERVICE.
• The system is extremely flexible even at the last minute.
• I have sometimes called and Tracy and others there have always been very positively accommodating and efficient.
• Only difficulty is having to wait longer for confirmation because we were only reserving the mac lab for a single time use and not all quarter long (since those classes get priority) Was fairly easy and staff were helpful - especially as we had to have software installed temporarily for our teaching session.
• the registration staff was friendly and cheerful thanks!
• I tried emailing to make the reservation but after a few days of no response I called. After making three or four calls I was finally able to contact the correct person and make the reservation.
• Very accommodating!
• I've found it to be extremely efficient and reliable.
• I HAVEN'T HAD A PROBLEM MAINLY BECAUSE I CHECK YOUR WEB PAGE BEFOREHAND AND MAKE SURE THERE'S ROOM FOR THE ONE-SHOT OR THE CLASS

  Question 3. Preparedness of the room

Was the room cleared and ready?

	Num	Percentage
Yes	19	70.4%
No	5	18.5%

Did the SA explain the class in session sign.

	Num	Percentage
Yes	12	44.4%
No	11	40.7%

Additional Comments

• I thought the room was great.
• no. all went well. You're not going to get much criticism from me...
• I already knew about the sign and so allowed others to stay in the room.
• IN Shields I think that if the printer were nearer to the door that would be better for those students who start a long print late.
• The room was fine and the overhead projector system easy to use.
• it was fine
• The overhead projector was terrible! The light was dim and the image was too small!
• Although I answered no to both prior items I didn't consider this a problem. I could figure out the sign on my own and generally was fine with non-class students using the lab as long as there were computers available for my students
• UNLESS IT'S MY IMAGINATION THINGS ARE RUNNING SMOOTHLY AT LEAST IN 241--FEW PROBLEMS WITH DRY MARKERS ETC THESE DAYS

 

  Question 4. Physical Room

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

Cleanliness	1.6
Lighting	2
Overhead projector	2.2
Room layout	2.1
Temperature	1.8
Sound	2

Additional Comments

• No sound card is installed in instructor's computer. It is better to add it. (27 Olson)
• This is not an optimal room with high temperature swings and a bit crowded but overall lab management is doing their best with it and managing quite well. (301A SurgeIV)
• It would be helpful to have small lights at each work station when the overhead lights are off when using the overhead projector. Our students needed to see paperwork as well as the overhead in order to practice their skills on the software. (21 Olson)
• it is great (21 Olson)
• I would have an LCD projector set-up hanging from the ceiling. The illumination would be better and clarity would improve. Because the overhead projector was in poor condition it delayed the workshop we were conducting by 30 minutes! (1131 Meyer)
• Sometimes the projector didn't light up the screen very well and students had a hard time seeing the computer demonstrations. In general the layout of the room in Meyer is far preferable to the labs in Surge IV because the students can actually see you and the wide aisles allow the TA to approach students. However when I wanted to work on problems rather than computer demonstrations the room layout really inhibits collaborative learning. (1131 Meyer)
• 1154 Meyer presents some challenges in terms of lay-out for a group as large as ours - 15 students. It does get a bit stuffy in there at times. I do wish there was a projection system for demos but overall I find it to be a tremendous and welcoming resource (1154 Meyer)
• HAD SOME LEAK PROBLEMS RECENTLY (241 Olson)

  Question 5. Computers

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

Speed	2.1
Reliability	2.2
Software	1.8
Usability	1.8
Appropriateness for needs	1.6

Additional Comments

• yes every week there were terminals where SAS didn't seem to be working - or at least was doing strange things. This is hard for me to understand when supposedly they are networked. Frequently I would have to tell students to go to another PC and then they were able to do the assignment. So every week there was the added frustration for students to be able to find the PC's that had SAS working (301A SurgeIV)
• I was impressed with the job of getting ACCESS available quite smoothly. sincere thanks since this is an "extra" for that lab setting. (301A SurgeIV)
• There was some problem with the printer in the room--jobs took a very long time and occasionally someone was printing gibberish (301A SurgeIV)
• This has been a very helpful learning process/situation for us. (21 Olson)
• I think they should have the same current software as it's counterpart computers in 1154 Meyer...Pagemaker 6.5 and Photoshop 4.0 (1131 Meyer)
• We never had any big problems with them. (1131 Meyer)
• No fault of yours. Macs are inherently 'buggy ' and given the wide use yours get subject to frequent crashing. We're heading into a wintel world. sigh. (1154 Meyer)

 

  Question 6. Site Attendants

Ratings of the Site Attendants(1-5, 1 the best)

Knowledge	1.8
Helpfulness	1.6
Courtesy	1.7
Availability	1.8

Additional Comments

• They were very helpful and accommodating. I did not expect them to know details of access and they didn't for the most part. no problem we did not expect it and had our own support.
• They are occasionally quite busy and on other occasions simply playing with their own machines.
• Site attendants were very good but because of our unique software needs cannot really hope if we experience any glitches. The lab manager was the knowledgeable person about our software and did do an advance test to be sure things would work right but was not present/available the day we actually held class in the lab. No major problems occurred - just some momentary confusions.
• a great improvement over last year
• They did the best they could regarding my situation however they did not make an effort to clear the classroom of students.
• I never really had contact with a site attendant.
• I've always found the attendants to be great. No 'attitude ' patient and willing to field our questions. (I also encourage my students to be initiative and helpful to each other so as not to overtax you all's resources...
• I'VE HAD SOME SKETCHY MOMENTS WITH SITE ATTENDANTS THIS QUARTER AND LAST AND THOUGH I'M ON GOOD TERMS GENERALLY WITH XXXX (WHO SEEMS TO BE THE MOST FREQUENT IN MY SLOT) I HAVE GOTTEN A LITTLE TICKED OFF WITH HIM WHEN HE HAS HAD A COLLEAGUE IN THERE TALKING ABOUT HIS LATEST WEB-PAGE STUFF. IT'S NOT A HUGE PROBLEM BUT THE "COURTESY" AREA IS ONE THAT COULD OCCASIONALLY USE MORE ATTENTION. I HAVE TO SAY ALSO THAT MOST OF THE TIME WHEN I AM STUMPED THEY ARE STUMPED. FOR TECH WRITING TEACHERS IT MIGHT BE HELPFUL TO HAVE SOME EXPERTISE ON WORD 6 GRAPHICS HANDLING AS I HAD SOME CLUELESS MOMENTS THERE. ARE THE MANUALS IN THE ROOMS NORMALLY?

  Question 7. What can Lab Management do to make your teaching experience better?

• somehow check-out SAS so it works well on all PC's
• happy with current level of service and availability as long as it remains the same
• KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK
• So far it is very good.
• Maybe upgrade to Turbo Pascal for Windows
• Keep up the good work.
• I taught only at maximum ten students so a smaller classroom would have been perfect; as it was I was able to relocate those using machines so that nobody had to leave.
• Current upgrades to software Optical drives again-print and media files are getting larger than 100mgs (zip disks). Would like to see the 230 opticals back. Standardize the fonts so all computers have the same postscript fonts and not true type. A list also showing what fonts are available and show the style.
• This has been a well-run service in my program's experience. No major problems or fixes to recommend or comment upon.
• printing is the only hang-up. having a printer in the lab would be great
• The key to teaching is being prepared. It would be valuable to have an opportunity to prepare the classroom and accustom oneself with the computers and other equipment before the students arrive. This classroom is typically packed with students waiting for computers. I was not even able to get to a computer to see what software was offered before the class started let alone prepare class material on the computer before the class started.
• Have a better teaching facility...better lighting and equipment. I like the computer classroom set-ups in the temporary buildings (i.e. for BANNER classes and also in Hutch.
• As I mentioned above the physical layout really prevents collaborative learning. I'm not sure how to get around the physical fact of the computers but some problem solving about alternative ways of arranging them (rather than simply in rows) might yield some other possibilities.
• see above comment about over-head. In an ideal world it would be great to have a class/meeting area near-by for related non-machine oriented discussion.

   

• Projection Systems
  Projection rated relatively low (2.2) and there were several comments about the quality of the overhead projectors. Lab Management recently installed NEC projections systems in 1102 Hart and 1131 Meyer during Winter Break 1998. We plan to upgrade the projection in 301A SurgeIV, 307 SurgeIV, and 163 Shields over Summer 1998. These changes should greatly improve the quality of projection in those rooms. After we make the changes this summer all of our computer classrooms will have updated, high quality projection system.
• Site Attendants
  Lab Management has implemented a training program for Site Attendants over the last year. From the comments it appears that there has been some improvement. However, there is still work to be done. Lab Management is adding a intensive training program during the Summer for all Site Attendants which we hope will address these issues.
• Software
  Some faculty wanted the most recent upgrades to various software packages. Lab Management attempts to stay current with all supported software packages. Sometimes we need to wait until a quarter break to install some packages to reduce the client impact of the change. However, we will continue to attempt to upgrade packages in a timely manner.

Other Surveys

• 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_w98/  Thu, 18-Jul-2002 BR> Last updated: May 1, 1998