never mind the optics

About a year ago, I wrote a post about my thoughts on a survey of pupils’ views now that we had completed their courses.  I was asked to hand out another survey this week, having finished several NQ courses just in time to hand out a second prelim, sit the final NABs and run through any questions before they all go off on study leave.

Our surveys are simultaneously better and worse this year – at least that’s my opinion.  I said before that if we valued what pupils had to tell us we would construct a form that asked specifically about our subject rather than a generic set of questions.  Well this year we have a better form with more detailed questions.  The problem is that the whole school is using them.  So the same form (with different header & footer text) is being used in each department.  Pupils told me they had already completed the same form for maths, PE, chemistry & biology.  It was them who pointed out that the text at top and bottom of the sheet was the only difference.

Unlike <insert subject here>, I teach a practical subject.  There are regular experimental tasks activities involving group or individual work where an idea is investigated, discussed, misconceptions challenged, etc.  Nowhere in this feedback exercise do pupils have an option to comment on practical work; the lack of it (or otherwise), the organisation of it, relevance of it to the course or the extent to which it helps them to learn.

The same can’t be said for ICT.  There are several prompts for students to indicate their thoughts on ICT:

• How frequently does your teacher use ICT during lessons?
• Do you think the ICT used in lessons is of a high quality?
• Does the ICT used in lessons help your learning?
• Do you prefer the use of ICT to teacher generated materials on a board or overhead projector?

Looking at the responses, I am left wondering what pupils’ concept of ICT might be.  I use ICT frequently and several pupils seem to agree but others claim they never see ICT in my room.  Is this because they think ICT is a PowerPoint presentation?  I rarely use those.  My definition of ICT would include all the web sites I display in class, use of animations and simulations, youtube and other video sites, using a blog and some podcasts on iTunes to distribute extra resources and homework exercises and screencasts of worked solutions to the homework tasks.  According to some in my staffroom, ICT is “anything with a plug on it”  - that’s pretty much every piece of apparatus in my room barring Bunsen burners and general glassware.

If we want pupils to provide feedback we need to write the questions in such a way that they know what we are asking.  If we want pupils to know that their opinion will be valued then we must convey that by building value into the survey itself.

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