Student and Faculty Evaluation of IEI
The Instructional Computing Committee (ICC), chaired by Chemistry Professor Craig Merlic, has surveyed a sample of students and faculty on IEI and summarized the responses for the 1997-1998 academic year, the first year that IEI took effect.  The survey focused on the course web sites, the aspect of IEI that mitigates the administrative costs of taking a course.  To limit the cost of the survey, ICC distributed surveys to be conducted on a voluntary basis to courses known to be making use of the web.  The survey reached about 5% of enrolled UCLA students, but represented both small and large classes, and the four divisions of the College of Letters and Science, Humanities, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences.  Courses that made minimal use of the web were not selected for the survey.
 

Student Survey

The intent of the survey was to identify changes in the educational experience of students using the new instructional resources dictated by IEI.  Only courses with active web sites were selected for the survey, and the pedagogical effectiveness of web based instruction was deliberately not addressed.  Of the 60 to 70 courses selected for survey distribution,  40-50 were returned each quarter.  Note that this low response rate reflects the fact that administration of the survey was not compulsory.

The representation of students by year in school was even, but the percent of female (60%) dominated the percent of male (40%) respondents, and about one third of the students lived in the on-campus residence halls where high-speed ethernet access is provided.  Most students surveyed reported experience using the web prior to the surveyed course, the percentage rising from 87% in Fall 1997 to 97% in  Spring 1998.  About 80% of the students ranked their ability to use the web in either the intermediate or advanced category.  About 10% of the students reported unsatisfactory access to the course web sites.  All students are provided free local dialup access (Bruin Online), which is currently quite reliable, or may connect directly via ethernet in the residence halls.  About 60% of the students indicated that that they had used on-campus computer labs to access the materials.  Other contemporaneous surveys of students report that about 70% of them have their own computer.

More than 60% of the students said that the web sites had facilitated access to the instructor, and 40% indicated either moderate or significant enhancement of access to the instructor.  In addition, about  40% of students indicated that interaction with teaching assistants and other students was also enhanced by the technology.  Students indicated that, in order of importance, the following components of the web sites were useful:  Exams/Exam Keys, Lecture Notes, Assignments/Problems, Bulletin Boards, and Syllabi.  At least 84% of students in all quarters reported accessing the course web sites at least once, with students indicating in the more detailed Spring 1998 question that 86% of them had accessed the course web site at least once per week.

The ICC reports that, of the approximately 50% of students that decided to provide a written comment, about 60% were negative and 40% were positive.  They note that the negative comments diminished significantly as the year progressed, and that most were directed at the per unit fees charged for the classes.  Many students perceived that the funds were used only for the provision of the web sites and felt that the value that the sites added to the course didn't justify the cost.  They also expressed dissatisfaction that the IEI was imposed and fees were assessed without sufficient consultation with students.  There is a general perception that the web sites simply duplicate electronically what was previously available anyway through traditional means.
 

Faculty Survey

The Spring 1998 faculty survey, 8% of whom were instructors in the Department of Economics, indicates that all of the respondents delivered the syllabus over the web, followed by announcements (79%), links to other resources (79%), discussion board (63%), reading assignments (53%), and question and answer postings (47%).  The majority (55%) of responding instructors ranked themselves as having an intermediate level of web experience, followed by little or none (26%) and extensive (18%).  The instructors themselves found links to other resources most useful (42%), followed by announcements (26%), discussion boards (24%), and lecture notes (24%).  Asked their opinion of what two resources the students found the most useful, the instructors ranked lecture notes highest (29%), followed by the discussion board (21%) and sample problems or old exams (21%).  More than one third (37%) of the responding instructors claim to be maintaining their own web sites without technical support (compare to Winter 1998 survey where 62% were maintaining their own site).

The survey also contains individual instructor responses to the write-in question of what the net effect of using the web in teaching has had, and how it affects their teaching, interactions with students, and student learning.  Many of the instructors noted that because of the new tools, preparation time has increased significantly.  Many also noted that the tools have caused them, and their teaching assistants, to be better organized. Others viewed it as simply a high tech method of materials distribution.  Instructors also noted that the new web tools increased communication with students.

Many instructors, when asked for additional comments, did not hesitate to express skepticism of the usefulness of the IEI mandated tools, especially in light of the transfer of their time away from projects with a higher net return.  Some pointed out that the anonymous nature of the discussion boards "permit students to engage in gratuitous cruelty, most toward each other."  (It is now possible to authenticate the identity of students posting to the board.) Some wondered where the funds were going, since they found technical support to be inadequate.  Others felt that students were not getting enough value for their money.

Some Observations

Since the use of computer technology and the web in the classroom is still in its infancy, and since the IEI literally thrust itself upon the entire UCLA community, these reactions are not surprising.  There are some instructors, (e.g. Cameron), whether due to the nature of the subject matter of their discipline, or their own technological affinity, who have been using computer technologies extensively for a long time, and who will be able to take advantage of the additional support available due to funds collected from the IEI. To them, the web is a natural extension of the computer, which can ease the delivery of pedagogical computer applications to students which they would have provided without IEI.  Others, comfortable with the status quo, are, not surprisingly, resistant to the technology, and possibly affronted by the intrusion of the uninvited technology into the sanctity of the classroom.  Nevertheless, as time passes, we expect that the majority of instructors will embrace the new technologies for their ability to enhance, and not to simply act as a substitute for, the traditional classroom experience.