sparqs held a development day on the College Student Satisfaction and Engagement Survey on Wednesday 24th February 2016, aimed at students’ association staff/officers and college staff who work with data or surveys. Additionally we are offering five college students’ associations a tailored development package that we can come out and deliver.
With the SFC survey opening on 7th March 2016, the sparqs event and consultancy aimed to support college students’ associations with both publicising the survey itself, and importantly, how the data is used. Having secured a commitment for the data from the survey to be shared between colleges and their students’ associations, it is so important that students’ associations have the support and the expertise to be able to use the data for enhancement.
See the event booking page on the sparqs website for details of the event.
The College Student Satisfaction and Engagement Survey is in the second year of its pilot run. This is the first time there has been an attempt to survey all of Scotland’s college students with the same questions, at the same time.
With only ten questions in the survey, and with nine of them focusing explicitly on the extent to which students feel they are engaged and participating in their own learning, there is an opportunity for the sector in Scotland to sample a meaningful cross-section of student opinion.
Crucially, the survey is not designed primarily to assess perceptions of teaching quality, which can lead to league tables, but instead aim to show student perceptions of how they can play a part in the creation of their curriculum, and in the content and teaching style of their courses.
Drawn up by a working group headed by the Scottish Funding Council, with representation from the Scottish Government, sparqs, NUS Scotland and from the participating colleges themselves, this is a team effort. With each of the questions cognitively tested by IPSOS Mori, the polling agency, every effort has been made to ensure that the data the sector gets from this survey will be robust and representative.
When this data comes out, students’ associations need to develop their capacity to use it to compare, contrast and seek out best practice from other institutions. They should be able to look at trends and focus their limited resource on development that is guided by data. It can provide a vital action planning resource for new student officers, as well as a reference point for how projects have gone.
If you haven’t received it already, look out for information on the survey coming round from College Principals and the Scottish Funding Council.
For further information on sparqs’ consultancy offering of support, please get in touch with Phil McGuinness, Development Consultant - phil.mcguinness@sparqs.ac.uk
