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El Camino College Summary Report for the CCC Fall 2012 Distance Education Student Satisfaction Survey

A.Grigsby,I.Graff,R.Young ElCaminoCollege 8/19/2013

Report cover design by CCCCO

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California Community Colleges Distance Education Student Satisfaction Survey El Camino College Results, 2013
TheChancellorsOfficereportedthat27%ofallCCCstudentstakeatleastonedistance educationcourseeachyear,withmorethan10%ofSystemwideFTESgeneratedfromthese courseenrollments.Toseekfeedbackfromthisgrowingsegmentofthestudentbody,the CaliforniaCommunityColleges(CCC)ChancellorsOfficeconductedasatisfactionsurveyin spring2013forstudentswhowereenrolledindistanceeducation(DE)classesinfall2012at participatingcolleges.ElCaminoCollege(ECC)participatedalongwith43othercommunity colleges;ComptonCenterdidnotparticipateinthisround. Theonlinesurveyyielded209responsesfromECC,a13%responserate(6.22%). ComparedtoallonlinestudentsatECC,surveyrespondentsweremorelikelytobefulltime (46%,vs.37%inthepopulation)andfemale(78%,vs.68%),andlesslikelytobeunderage 25(47%,vs.57%).Thesedifferencesindicatethataverageresponsesonthissurveywillbe somewhatskewedtowardwomen,fulltimers,andolderstudentsacommonoccurrence instudentsurveys.Ethnicdiversitywasfairlywellrepresentedinrespondents. ThisreportistheECCsupplementtothestatewidereportandprovidesabriefsummaryof themainfindingsalongwithchartssummarizingECCresponses.Valuableinformationcan begleanedfromtheseresultstohelptheDistanceEducationInstructionalMedia CoordinatorandtheInstructionalTechnologySpecialisthighlightareasofpotential enhancementintheircontactswithDistanceEducationfaculty.Italsowillbediscussed duringafallDistanceEducationAdvisoryCommitteemeeting.Theresultswillbemade availabletotheCollegecommunitythroughlinksontheDistanceEducationandInstitutional Research&Planningwebpages.

Summary of Findings
Thissurveysoughtopinionsandexperienceswithdistanceeducationthroughanumberof topicsincludingDEfocusedorientation,instructionalmethods,facultyandstudent presenceandresponsivenessinDEcourses,technicalcompetence/comfortwith computers,andoverallsatisfaction. Lessthanhalfparticipatedinanorientationtoonlinelearning Thesurveytouchedontheorientationexperienceofstudents.Over41%ofrespondents weretakingaDEcourseforthefirsttimeatECCinfall2012.Evenso,morethanhalfhave
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nevertakenaDEfocusedorientationorworkshopatECC.Ofthosewhodidparticipatein anorientationprogramofsomekind,over75%weresatisfiedwiththeexperience. Instructionalmethodsfacilitatelearning Studentswerequeriedaboutvariousinstructionalmethodsandtoolsusedtopromote engagementandlearninginadistanceeducationcourse(Q.1729).Nearlyallcourses includedadiscussionboard(95%),inwhichtheinstructoractivelyparticipated.Discussion boardsprovidedopportunitiesforproblemsolvingfor88%ofrespondents.Alargemajority ofstudentsagreedthatthevariouscomponentsofthecoursefacilitatedlearning.The highestratedcomponentsincludedassignments/projects(90%),readingmaterials(89%), andcourselectures/notes(89%).Thelowestratedcomponentsincludedcourseactivities (74%),materialinside&outsideofclass(73%),andbreadthofcoverage(76%).Onlyabout 63%feltthattheirDEcourseimprovedtheirwrittencommunicationskills. Facultyarepresentandresponsivetostudentsbuttheresroomforimprovement Regularandeffectivecontactonthepartoffacultyisacriticalcomponentofadistance educationcourse(Q.3538).Studentsreportedonhowpresenttheirinstructorseemedto beinthecourse,with7981%feelingaclearhumanpresence.Seventythreepercentfelt theyreceivedindividualattention,with84%agreeingthattheinstructorfacilitatedthe coursebycontinuouslyencouragingcommunication. Studentsareresponsiveandsupportiveofeachother,butimprovementisneeded Regardingtheinvolvementandresponsivenessoffellowstudentsintheclass,respondents feltthattheycouldturntoaclassmateforhelp(75%)andreceivedtimelyfeedbackfrom them(64%).Whiletheclassencouragedstudentstodialogwithothers(82%),only67%felt thattheclasscreatedasenseofcommunityamongthestudents. Computers/technicalexpertiseisnotanissueforthevastmajority Severalquestionsaskedaboutcomfortandskillswithcomputers(Q.4351),withall responsesratingwellover80%inagreement. OverallsatisfactionwithECCsonlinecoursesisveryhigh Severalquestionsaddressedoverallsatisfactionwiththeirdistanceeducationexperiencein fall2012(Q.5260).Nearly89%weresatisfiedtosomedegreewiththeirDEcourseandfelt thatthecoursemettheirlearningneeds(91%),wasappropriatelydifficult(84%),and deepenedcontentunderstanding(88%).Morethan66%indicatedthattheywouldliketo

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takeanotherdistanceeducationcourse.Conclusively,76%agreedthatdistanceeducation coursesareaseffectiveasfacetofacecourses. Comparedwithallcolleges,studentsrankECCsprogramhigher Onnearlyeverymeasureofonlinestudentengagement,effectivecontactandacademic support,ECCstudentsratedtheircoursesequaltoorhigherthanallparticipatingcolleges, onaverage.Thepercentageofstudentsratingtheironlineexperiencepositivelywasthree totenpointshigherthanaverageonmostmeasures. Conclusion Responsesregardingthevaluereceivedfromsupportingactivities(Q.2032)reflectareas thatneedenhancementincludingmoreuniversalagreementonfacultypresenceandthe degreetowhichcoursecomponentsfacilitatelearning. Onmostofthequestions,morethan50%ofthestudentratedtheirclassesinapositive manner.Someofthequestionsaddressedtopicsthatarepertinenttocurrentfederal regulationsandACCJCstandards.Thissurveyalsoprovidesvaluableinformationforcampus planningandprogramdevelopment.

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