National Student Survey and the Information School

The National Student Survey 2013 runs from Monday 4th February to Tuesday 30th April. It is open to all final year undergraduate students.

The National Student Survey (NSS) has been running since 2005 and asks students to give feedback on various aspects of their course. The information provided by students is extremely important to both the School and the University in that it allows us to respond to issues that students may have and to build on our strengths as a School.

Thank you in advance for completing the questionnaire - we very much appreciate your input, especially at a time of year when, as we know, you may be experiencing a certain amount of survey fatigue.

Completing the survey

The survey breaks down in to a number of areas:

• teaching quality
• assessment and feedback
• academic support
• organisation and management of the course
• learning resources, and overall personal development

Make use of the full numerical scale in your responses

Many people tend to avoid using the `5´s and `1´s when completing surveys, usually sticking to `2´s, `3´s and `4´s. Using a `5´ (Definitely Agree) does not imply 100% agreement, similarly it does not mean 100% perfect.

If you think that overall the course was very good, even if there were one or two bad experiences, you should not feel shy about using `5´s (or `1´s for that matter). Similarly if a question is not relevant simply mark it NA rather than giving it a `3´.

What do the questions mean?

The information below is designed to encourage you to think carefully about the responses you make on the NSS and to attempt to clarify any ambiguity in the questions. It is not intended to encourage you to respond in a particular way.

Questions on Teaching

Rather than focusing on specific lecturers or modules, these questions are intended for you to reflect on teaching on the course as a whole.

Questions on Assessment / Feedback

Try to think about all the different types of feedback you have received across the course. This might include informal chats with tutors, feedback in workshops and seminars, and e-mail contact, as well as the obvious written feedback on coursework.

Questions on Academic Support

These questions relate to the overall level of academic support you have experienced throughout the course: the advice and support from staff received while conducting your studies, the quality of support and advice provided, and how easy it has been to make contact with staff.

Questions on Organisation and Management

These questions ask you to reflect on how well the course was structured and managed. Was the structure of the course and its timetabling clear and coherent? Did the course run smoothly in terms of how it was organised, etc.?

Questions on Learning Resources

Learning resources relates not only to access to library facilities (books, journals, web resources and databases etc.), but also includes technical equipment, software and computing facilities, where relevant.

Questions on Personal Development

This final set of questions is intended to encourage you to reflect on how you have developed more broadly as an individual during the course. For example: how has your self-confidence grown over the past three years, how have your communication and interpersonal skill developed, and so on.