SFU undergraduate survey helps shape academic planning

While many SFU undergraduate students want to return to in-person instruction this fall, a majority of those polled say they like the flexibility that comes with taking at least some courses online, according to a recent survey of undergraduate students.

The Learning Experiences Transition Survey, held Feb. 24- Mar. 10, 2021, gathered undergraduate views on transitioning to more in-person instruction, including what aspects of remote instruction best supported their learning and should be kept.

All 27,564 undergraduate students enrolled at SFU in the Fall 2020 or Spring 2021 term (or both) were invited to take part. More than 6,000 students responded to the survey.

“The student experience is a priority for us at SFU. Their voices support the planning activities we’ve been engaged with over the past year,” says Elizabeth Elle, vice-provost and associate vice-president, learning and teaching, noting that the survey is the second time SFU has reached out to undergraduates since the move to remote instruction.

“Our instructors have done so much to support student learning, and knowing what our students find useful, and how they imagine the future of learning, will help instructors as they transition back to more in-person teaching. The past year has been a challenging one for students’ mental health and many are craving more interaction with peers and instructors.”

SFU students living outside Canada expressed the greatest preference for continued remote learning, likely due to concerns about their ability to return to campus.

Alongside the desire for flexibility with some continued online learning, the survey found students are eager for experiential activities, including labs and tutorials. A majority also prefer a mix of synchronous and asynchronous activities, including video-recorded lectures to review on their own schedule.

“In the open-ended comments we heard from students who self-identified as having a disability, who said remote learning greatly improved their ability to learn, as recorded lectures and asynchronous activities allowed them to learn at their own pace,” says Elle.

“Even before the survey, our instructors were aware that there are things to retain from our current learning and teaching environment.  What’s great about the survey is that it gave these students a broader voice so all of us at SFU can learn from them moving forward.”

The survey will aid in the planning for SFU’s fall term and return to campus, Elle adds, noting the excellent work of Nathan Roberson and Alyssa Muzyk, two analysts in the Centre for Educational Excellence for analyzing the data so quickly.  

“I expect our amazing instructors will also find the information useful. I’m working with the Graduate Student Society on how we can include graduate student voices, and how we can support them with the transition back to our campuses. Grad students are often instructors as well as students, and are different in important additional ways from our undergraduates.”