Draft of survey

Here is a draft of the survey I am working on to give to faculty at the three colleges I've chosen to focus on. Who knew that it is so freakin' difficult to design a survey!?!? I, for one, had NO idea. Until now. So, if you've never actually designed a survey, please refrain from casting stones (or, for that matter, please refrain regardless of your survey-making status), but I am open to suggestions. If you could ask a question to faculty regarding their CMS use, what would you ask???

SURVEY FOR FACULTY

The following survey is designed to gather information about the extent to which instructors and students are informed about the course management software (CMS) available to them as a technological aid in their courses. In gathering feedback from instructors and students regarding their knowledge about these programs and their awareness of possible alternatives, I hope to better understand the kinds of decision making processes that are involved in attaining these programs for use in higher education and in writing classes in particular.

Participation is entirely voluntary, and you may choose to leave the study at any time without consequence. All information obtained from this study is strictly confidential.

The survey is brief and should take only five to ten minutes of your time. Thank you for your participation!


Please circle the appropriate answer. If you choose other, please specify.

You are teaching at a:
a. Four year state university
b. Small, private four year liberal arts college
c. County community college (part of the state system)

What course(s) do you primarily teach?
a. First year writing
b. Other (than first year) writing courses
c. Literature courses
d. Other________________

What is your employment status?
a. Full-time tenured faculty
b. Full-time contract faculty
c. Part-time/adjunct faculty
d. TA/GA

Describe your relationship to technology:
a. Innovator
b. Early-adopter
c. Tend to adopt technology when it becomes the norm and have a good grasp of how to make it work for you
d. Tend to adopt technology when it becomes the norm, but skeptical of it
e. Tend to adopt technology when it becomes the norm, but unsure of how best to use it
f. Feel a lack of knowledge about technology and therefore tend not to use it
g. Do not see its role in the classroom

What Course Management Software (CMS) do you use?
a. BlackBoard
b. WebCT
c. Angel
d. Moodle
e. Sakai
f. A program you’ve designed
g. Your own website
h. A class blog
i. A software program designed and built by your institution
j. None
k. Other_________________

If you chose none, please describe your reasons for not utilizing a CMS: _______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

If you are not using a CMS, the survey is completed. Thank you for your participation. Those of you using a CMS, please move on to the following questions:

Which of the following most closely describes your reason for choosing this particular program?
a. I wasn’t aware of other options
b. This is the standard at my institution
c. My institution requires I use this program
d. My institution strongly encourages me to use this program
e. I prefer this program to others
f. Ease of use
g. Other_____________________________________________________________

If you choose to use a CMS that is not the institution’s standard version, are you given technological support if and when needed?
a. Yes
b. No

Which functions do you use most often? (number in order of use with one being the feature most frequently used; please put zero if you don’t utilize the function at all)
a. Gradebook ___
b. Online text/quiz ___
c. Discussion/chat ___
d. E-mail ___
e. Posting lecture notes ___
f. Announcements ___
g. Course documents ___
h. Journal/Blog ___
i. Collaboration/Wiki ___
j. Other ___________________ ___

Overall, do you find your pedagogical practices to be well supported by the CMS features available to you? Please rate on a scale from one to five with one indicating that the program does not enable you to enact your pedagogical practices and five indicating that the tool actually makes your pedagogy more effective:

1 2 3 4 5

If you answered with a one or a two, please describe what features or options would better enable you to enact your pedagogy:


Regardless of whether you use your institution’s standard CMS, please answer the following questions to the best of your ability:

Were you involved in deciding whether or not the school should purchase this particular software?
a. Yes, I sat on a committee
b. Yes, I was asked to vote or give input to the committee
c. No, the software was already in place when I came here
d. No

Are you aware of who ultimately made the decision on your institution’s standard CMS?
a. Yes, administration decided
b. Yes, it was the vote of a committee
c. Yes, information technology or educational technology services decided
d. No, I’m not sure

Your institution’s CMS costs approximately how much per year?
a. $3,000 – 10,000
b. $10,000 – 20,000
c. $20,000 – 40,000
d. $40,000 - $60,000
e. $60,000 – 75,000
f. more than $75,000

To what extent are you familiar with open source e-learning or CMS platforms (such as Moodle or Sakai)? Please rate your familiarity on a scale of one to five with one being not familiar at all to five constituting a solid understanding of open source models:

1 2 3 4 5


Do you use your CMS in any way as a tool to aid in student writing? If so, describe how you use this product.


Please elaborate on any questions above that you felt were limiting: