Faculty Survey 2005

Brief Report of Faculty Survey of Instructional Technology Use

Out of 1142 faculty at CU-Boulder, a sample of 475 (42%) were asked to complete a survey on instructional technology use. About 60% of the sample (and 62% of the actual respondents) were in Arts & Sciences, the largest college. Responses were received from 158 faculty members, or 33% of the sample. The response rate was notably higher for the Social Sciences cluster within Arts & Sciences (26 out of 58, or 45%), and it was quite low (and probably not representative) for Journalism (1 out of 8, 13%), Education (2 out of 14, 14%), Music (6 out of 27, 22%), and Law (3 out of 13, 23%). Response rates were similar across academic ranks. Thirty-five percent of the respondents were women. In a separate student survey, responses were also received from 439 undergraduates and 305 graduate students, including 119 graduate student instructors (TAs and GRAs).

Percentages of Teachers and Students Who Used Instructional Technology

Table 1 shows the percentages of faculty and grad instructors who ever used various instructional technologies, and the percentages of graduate students and undergrads who reported that at least one of their teachers used them. More teachers used web sites for syllabi, links to readings, images, and homework or problem sets than for other uses. Many of these technologies were used by relatively few teachers, but were likely used in large undergraduate classes, as most undergrads said they had been exposed to them.

Fifty percent of the faculty respondents and 33% of the grad instructors used a computer and projector regularly to show lecture notes, images, etc. during class. Of those who did not use them, more than half would like to. Regular use of a computer and projector for other pedagogical uses “beyond chalk” was less common, only 34% of faculty and 22% of grad instructors, but two thirds of those who never did would like to. Student feedback systems (e.g., clickers) were used regularly by only 15% of faculty and 8% of grad instructors.

Seventy-five percent of faculty respondents and 69% of grad instructors used some kind of web site for at least one of their courses. About 20% used both WebCT and non-WebCT course websites; 20% of faculty and 28% of grad instructors used neither. Seventeen percent of the undergraduates said that WebCT was used in most or all of their classes; 31% said most or all their classes have a non-WebCT website. Thirty-nine percent had at least one course that used a website in addition to WebCT, and 20% had a course that used another course management system.

Questions about the importance of course web sites and satisfaction with WebCT were answered by fewer than half of the faculty respondents. Most of those (about 70%) thought web sites are somewhat or very important. One-fourth were very satisfied with WebCT, while two-thirds were only somewhat satisfied or somewhat dissatisfied. Typical comments: “The WebCT tools have many annoying and lame characteristics, so it is frustrating to use.” “Too cumbersome and inflexible.” Most website components were used by more of the faculty who used only non-WebCT sites than by those who used only WebCT, with the exception of online grades (see Table 2).

We noted some differences in the use of course website components across schools and colleges. Engineering faculty made the greatest use of most elements, followed by A&S Natural Sciences (see Table 3).

Enablers/Obstacles

About half the faculty and grad instructors reported that training, more time to learn, or more time to do the work would enable them to make greater use of in-class technology and course web sites. Twenty to 30 percent said it would help to have other staff to do the work. The most frequent additional comment about obstacles to use of technology was the limited availability of classrooms with equipment that worked reliably. Other typical comments were that they didn’t know about the technology available, how to use it, or whether its benefits outweighed the work involved to learn it and use it. In summary, many teachers believe that using instructional technology requires too much time and effort, but at the same time, there is a demand for more technology-equipped classrooms. There is also an opportunity to increase technology use by better communication of what is available and how to use it.

Report prepared by Mark S. Turbin for the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic and Campus Technology