All Ireland Society for Higher Education
| Name: | Nicola Poole |
|---|---|
| Email: | njpoole@uwic.ac.uk |
| Institution: | University of Wales Institute Cardiff |
Clark, Adrian, aclark@uwic.ac.uk
The issues of retention and attendance within HE are linked directly to the areas of student engagement and the perceptions that students have of what the HE experience is going to want from them. There are many mechanisms in place at present to investigate the issue of the student learning experience. We are however, in danger of survey fatigue becoming a major problem within student based research. Between institutional surveys and the introduction of the National Student Survey (NSS) there is a plethora of research information but its validity is questionable and response rates are likely to wane.
The other issue linked to this area is how to present the results and information gained in a new but informing way, so as to be able to be confident in its use for assisting decision makers in developing policy and creating change. It needs to be presented in a format that will also engage the decision makers and yet still maintain validity and depth of information.
The diary room concept was introduced in order to combat survey fatigue, try and encourage more open and detailed responses in a qualitative form from students who wouldn't respond to a traditional survey method. The visual side of the results also allows for a high impact method of presenting the results to allow the key findings to stand out from the dearth of research findings across the institution and nationally. This allows more specific action plans to be created and the complete buy in by all staff to the issues at hand.
The methodology will be discussed including the technical interface used, how students were encouraged to enter the diary room and the impact of the findings on the information cycle. Clips from the project will also be shown.