Student Survey Report

Major findings

• Students rated their own personal laptop as the most important technology equipment in the classroom (Q7).
• Students reported that MS Office is by far the most important software package (Q18).
• When asked whether there are things they wish they could do in their courses that would enhance their learning experience but cannot due to a lack of technology (Q20), students pointed to the need for professors being educated to properly use available technologies.
• Students picked Google Apps and Youtube as the most important web-based tools (Q34).
• Students reported the need for stronger wifi (Q21).
• Unlike faculty who picked SPSS and R as the most important statistical software, students rated Python as number one (Q35). However, this is based on a small sample. .

What questions attracted the most responses?

A total of 128 students took the survey. Not all survey participants answered all the questions in the survey. Some questions received more responses than others did. Thus, the number of responses may be indicative of how important the question is to survey participants.

The survey was composed of two types of questions: 1) qualitative questions and 2) numeric questions. The qualitative questions are open-ended questions where survey participants were asked to type their own answers. The numeric questions are ones where participants were asked to rate the level of importance of given technologies in a range of 0 - 5. These questions were numbered in the form of “X_x”. These numeric questions also have a couple of open-ended qualitative questions within them (i.e., Q7_38_TEXT).

The number of responses may indicate the following:

• Outside of Q12 (simple yes-or-no questions), very few answered the qualitative questions. This is likely because it takes more time to answer open-ended questions. The small sample size doesn’t result in useful results.
• Among the numeric questions, Q7 (Please indicate how important the following equipment is to you…) seems more important to the survey participants: seven Q7 questions are ranked in the top 10. On the other hand, Q35 (Please indicate how important the following Statistical Software packages are to you…) may be least important: five Q35 questions are ranked in the bottom 10.

Q7 Below you will find a list of the most common technology equipment installed in PSU classrooms. Please indicate how important the following equipment is to you when learning in the classroom. If you don’t use the technology, or are unfamiliar with it, leave the slider at 0.

Students’ own personal laptop topped the list. This may have important implications regarding the IT support strategy planning on the campus.

## [1] "A poster about how to get on the wifi in each classroom "
## [2] "microsoft suite apps"                                    
## [3] "Printers that work PROPERLY"

##  [1] "WiFi"                                                                          
##  [2] "Ability to see multiple screens at once"                                       
##  [3] "outlets for laptops and phones in chairs/desk for classroom use"               
##  [4] "white board"                                                                   
##  [5] "More outlets near student work stations so students can charge their laptops. "
##  [6] "Sound System"                                                                  
##  [7] "Software Access: Adobe PDF, Office"                                            
##  [8] "dogs"                                                                          
##  [9] "Printers that work PROPERLY"                                                   
## [10] "Classroom Speakers "                                                           
## [11] "App for Moodle"

Q9: Name of survey participants

Q10: Email of survey participants

Q11: Is there anything else you would like to share with us in regard learning with technology at PSU and the impact it has on your education?

23 of 128 survey survey participants answered this question. See below for all 23 responses. The most frequent words mentioned in the responses are laptops, classroom, and training.

##  [1] " "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
##  [2] "I did not know we had some of the technology that we do. If I had known I had access to adobe illustrator I would use it often for my art. There should be a list on myPlymouth of these programs and we should be able to download them onto our computers for as long as we are students. I can remember being in an animation class but I couldnâ\200\231t use the animation program on my laptop so I had to go back to the lab whenever I had homework. This was very inconvenient. If we can have Microsoft programs on our personal computers then we should have access to all of these programs for our personal computers until we graduate. "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
##  [3] "I feel like I'm getting a really good education. You guys are doing a great job!"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
##  [4] "Recently, the internet has been off kilter and impacted a lot of students at bad times. Itâ\200\231s hard to learn with technology that relies on Wi-Fi when there is none."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
##  [5] "THE CAMPUS NEEDS BETTER WIFI. Some days it is so bad that I have driven off-campus to complete online school work."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
##  [6] "n/a"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
##  [7] "More understanding for what labs are available for students"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
##  [8] "I donâ\200\231t believe I learned much more about technology than I did in high school. "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
##  [9] "Really need internet that is high speed all the time"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
## [10] "Not every teacher uses moodle to the same extent. It would be a lot better for me of every teacher put assignments and the due dates into moodle so I can see them on the calender."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
## [11] "I feel like having open workshops and being able to learn things has helped me a lot. "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
## [12] "The open lab being built in the Draper and Maynard Building is a huge waste of money and time. The students and professors who used the space beforehand as the Karl Drupe Art Gallery was such an incredible read world experience for students who are studying and wanting to go into the art field in the future. At least once a week my classes would be held in the gallery and we would have discussions and assignments based on the real artwork shown whether it was by well known artists, faculty, or students. It was such a huge and great part of my education and was a huge reason why I loved PSU and didn't transfer my freshman year. I am a junior Graphic Design major and I feel like i'm not getting the same education and experience I  was my first two years here with the gallery being in D&M the museum of the white mountains does not replace the gallery well enough to be equal spaces. In my opinion this was a huge blow to the art students who frequently spent time in the gallery during class and outside of classes to hang out do homework and be in an inspiring and motivating environment. We do not need more technology or another open lab with computers and equipment. We need REAL ART and a space that brings us a real world experience for the future. I am devastated by this decision because it wasn't bringing in enough money and that is BS!!!!!! It's not supposed to, it was an incredible and useful space for ALL students. PSU this is very very disappointing  and I would not recommend this school to anyone I  know and I hope you realize all the mistakes you're making because so many students are disappointed and transferring. In my three years here so far PSU has been continuously making decisions to get more money for the school and not to benefit the students. "
## [13] "The wifi has been either not working or is very slow this semester and that has gotten in the way of many classes both in person and online."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
## [14] "I think more professors need to use technology. I have yet to have a professor actually use a smartboard for any of its features. "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
## [15] "No"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
## [16] "Technology has its place in learning, especially with the myriad of applications and resources available to us on the internet. "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
## [17] "microsoft office offered thru PSU is a great addition to my learning "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
## [18] "Technology is necessary, but often used in too much"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
## [19] "The M:Drive is way too small. It's 2019. No computer based workflow can operate off of only a gigabyte of storage"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
## [20] "Having access to free Microsoft Office really helps! Thank you!"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
## [21] "Its not half bad when the wifi actually works"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
## [22] "the wifi needs to be stronger\nless outages "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
## [23] "The equipment in 031 has broken down or has otherwise been difficult to use throughout the entire year."

One of the most frequent words is “wifi”. It was mentioned four times in three responses. See below for responses that contain “wifi”. They all spoke to the need for stronger wifi.

Other frequent words came from a fewer responses. For example, gallery was mentioend five times but from only one student.

## [1] "The wifi has been either not working or is very slow this semester and that has gotten in the way of many classes both in person and online."
## [2] "Its not half bad when the wifi actually works"                                                                                               
## [3] "the wifi needs to be stronger\nless outages "

Q12 Are you willing to be contacted to further discuss your experiences with technology in the classroom? If you would prefer your answers to remain anonymous, please select No.

Q18 Please indicate how important the following software packages are to you in your learning experiences and ultimately your success as a student. If there are any you don’t use, or are unfamiliar with them, leave the slider at 0.

Students reported that MS Office is by far the most important software package for them.

## [1] "googledocs"   "Word to PDF"  "kindle "      "Adobe Suite "
## [5] "Moodle APP"

## character(0)

Q20 Are there things you wish you could do in your courses that would enhance your learning experience but cannot due to a lack of technology (hardware or software)? If so, please describe.

24 of 128 survey participants answered this question.

##  [1] "Having working internet 24/7"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
##  [2] "No"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
##  [3] "There is not a lack of technology available in the classroom. Instead, the problem is that the professor are uneducated, and therefore uncomfortable, with the use of technology. The technology that could be used to improve the learning experience in the classroom is ignored by professors that are afraid of technology. Perhaps some professors could benefit from technology training."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
##  [4] "n/a"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
##  [5] "No"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
##  [6] "Having a great knowledge for word press and other WS offices "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
##  [7] "Not that I know of. "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
##  [8] "I think I would have been more interested as an undergrad in skipping SPSS and just going to software we will be using later, like JASP and R, or whatever is the most used in grad school (for psychology), and having a separate class on just that with a workbook. It's really hard to learn a program and remember it when it is just 5 classes or so crammed into a stats class, and then the program is changed to something else. And, in research design we only had a 1 day tutorial to learn JASP. I think that really sitting down and learning everything about the program would be much more memorable and help later. I feel like I am graduating and knowing nothing about the program I might be using in grad school and maybe I should find a class just on that somewhere to get prepared. I think that might contribute to the weakness people have with research analysis-not knowing how the programs work or what they can do.  The other thing is that there is just no where to plug things in usually. I didn't know we had access to music and video editing stuff, I would be interested in workshops that are quick-how to get started on these! "
##  [9] "how to write a decent cover letter and make sure I can leave the university with a career or at least some sort of job in my field."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
## [10] "I   think we have enough technology but the professors need to learn how to correctly use the equipment and technology to better teach their course "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
## [11] "The only thing I would suggest is upgrading the library's computers on the main floor. A handful of them are good but some of them can take up to 5-10 to start/log in."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
## [12] "N/A"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
## [13] "get some programs through the school on our personal computers so that we can work from home or in the comfort of our rooms such as photoshop "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
## [14] "A lot of the projectors do not work properly. \nAlso, I think the professors need to become more flexible with technology. Some of them are stuck in their old ways. "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
## [15] "If would be helpful if professors were more educated about how to use the specific technology. Also-not being limited to using formats such as microsoft word. It would be great to use more resources from Google such as Google drive and Google Groups. "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
## [16] "Sometimes I miss things when taking notes and if I could record and transcribe lectures I might be able to be more present in class without fear of missing anything"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
## [17] "Having whiteboards that are not placed behind the projector screens "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
## [18] "Free PDF applications are really limited in what they offer us. I've used Adobe PDF editor before and it is by far the most comprehensive in what it offers us but it's just too expensive to justify buying alone. We create and edit PDFs pretty regularly for our classes, so its always a struggle using 3 different PDF apps to do what I want to do when I know Adobe does it all in one. "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
## [19] "slow internet connection, lack of availability to upgrade speeds"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
## [20] "GRAPHIC DESIGN PRINTERS THAT WORK PROPERLY!!!! GRAPHIC DESIGN LAB IS A BIG FAT JOKE"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
## [21] "Sometimes the PowerPoints flicker, the cord connection for projecting a laptop to the smart board may need to be changed in Samuel Hall Read room 103. "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
## [22] "FIX THE DAMN WIFI"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
## [23] "I feel like having more in class assignments instead of lectures will help because it gives us a chance to get the teachers help without having to make an appointment every time."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
## [24] "Offer Moodle App for students and faculty."

The word, “professors”, was mentioned five times in four responses. See below. All four students urged professors to be educated about the available technologies.

## [1] "There is not a lack of technology available in the classroom. Instead, the problem is that the professor are uneducated, and therefore uncomfortable, with the use of technology. The technology that could be used to improve the learning experience in the classroom is ignored by professors that are afraid of technology. Perhaps some professors could benefit from technology training."
## [2] "I   think we have enough technology but the professors need to learn how to correctly use the equipment and technology to better teach their course "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
## [3] "A lot of the projectors do not work properly. \nAlso, I think the professors need to become more flexible with technology. Some of them are stuck in their old ways. "                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
## [4] "If would be helpful if professors were more educated about how to use the specific technology. Also-not being limited to using formats such as microsoft word. It would be great to use more resources from Google such as Google drive and Google Groups. "

Q21 Are there things you wish you could do in your courses that would enhance your learning experience but cannot due to a lack of technical support? If so, please describe.

17 of 128 survey participants answered this question.

##  [1] "None"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
##  [2] "No"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
##  [3] "The terrible WiFi connection on campus hinders my ability to do work online. If the WiFi was faster, or even worked on some days, it would certainly benefit my research learning."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
##  [4] "n/a."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
##  [5] "No"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
##  [6] "Access to more databases from the library, more immeditely than having to wait to hear back about it"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
##  [7] "I would like to learn more of the softwares available on computers and how they would help me. There is a lack of professors and people available to teach the softwares."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
##  [8] "None"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
##  [9] "the only thing I can think of is that the computer cluster on the 3rd floor of Hyde was where we learned SPSS, then after our class somehow psychology was booted because it's technically a math cluster. I am pretty sure psychology has nowhere to go right now for stats and r methods as a class to learn and work. "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
## [10] "N/A"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
## [11] "I just would like to be able to easily charge my laptop where ever I am sitting. I also often have difficulty getting on to the wifi. "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
## [12] "No"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
## [13] "Trying to video zoom through the projector or TVs, not sure how to set that up. "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
## [14] "nope"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
## [15] "I think that, in general, faculty are not aware of the many ways that they can use technology. I have seen seasoned professors still struggle with using SmartBoards, especially in terms of using their features to enhance PowerPoints that accompany lectures. It may be helpful to offer opportunities (like workshops or drop in time) for faculty to learn more about how they could utilize this technology in their lessons. I think it would also be helpful to provide like a binder in each classroom with basic troubleshooting tips. You might already do both of these things, but this is just what came to mind."
## [16] "N/A. "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
## [17] "how to use excel "

The word, “wifi”, was mentioned three times in two responses. See below. Two students spoke to the need for stronger wifi.

## [1] "The terrible WiFi connection on campus hinders my ability to do work online. If the WiFi was faster, or even worked on some days, it would certainly benefit my research learning."
## [2] "I just would like to be able to easily charge my laptop where ever I am sitting. I also often have difficulty getting on to the wifi. "

Q34 Please indicate how important the following web-based tools are to you in your learning experience and ultimately your success. If you don’t use the tool, or are unfamiliar with it, leave the slider at 0.

Students picked Google Apps and Youtube as the most important web-based tools.

## [1] "Other apps like padlet"

## [1] "Stack overflow "            "Moodle"                    
## [3] "Back channels"              "Microsoft apps"            
## [5] "Adobe and Office "          "online textbook resources "
## [7] "Moodle App"

Q35 Please indicate how important the following Statistical Software packages are to you in your learning experiences and ultimately your success as a student. If there are any you don’t use, or are unfamiliar with them, leave the slider at 0.

Unlike faculty who picked SPSS and R as the most important statistical software, students rated Python as number one. However, this is based on a small sample. Q35 is the least answered question by students.

## [1] "JASP"

## character(0)