FEEDBACK FROM STUDENTS
An online student survey was conducted with students after the course was completed. A total of 208 responses to survey questions were received from students. For each question students were provided with a five-point scale with which to provide a numeric answer, with 1 being the lowest rating and 5 being highest rating. The questions, the student ratings, and averages for numeric ratings are provided in the tables below.
Overall student satisfaction based on response to questions with numeric responses was 87 percent, indicating strong satisfaction for the instructors, course content, resources, and delivery format.
The student survey asked two questions requiring YES, NO, CAN’T SAY responses. The questions and responses are detailed in the table below. 71 percent of students indicated they would have taken the M4D course even without certification. 97 percent stated they would recommend the M4D course to others.
In addition to questions requesting numeric ratings and Yes/No responses, students were provided four open-ended questions that requested a text-based response. The text-based responses from 208 students were coded and clustered as themes by the reviewer, using qualitative analysis software. The questions and the emergent themes from student text-based responses are detailed in the tables that follow.
The top five emergent themes from the coded and clustered responses are listed for three of the questions. For the fourth question, asking for interest in other course topics, an expanded list of themes is provided.
Student Survey Responses to Questions Requiring a Text-based Response
| Question | Emergent themes from responses |
| What did you particularly like about this short course? |
· Course content, and especially its practicality · Course format and especially its use of videos with scripts, slides, case studies and online quizzes · Relevance of the topics and case studies to the developing world, agriculture and banking · Professional knowledge of the instructors, their preparation, and the quality of explanations of the course topics · Convenience of the online course format and the flexibility of the design to accommodate students’ working lives |
| What suggestions do you have on how we can improve this short course; in its content, delivery or administration? |
· Video: Shorter and higher quality video and audio sequences of between 8-12 minutes. The ability to more easily download the video segments and case studies for offline viewing. More uniform audio quality throughout – some were of lower quality. · Practicality: More use of applied topics, mention and use of mobile applications, and practical examples and demonstrations were requested by some students who found the topics too technical for non-technical participants · Assessment: More quizzes, perhaps on a weekly basis at the end of topic segments. The ability to re-do quizzes to achieve mastery. More variety in the style of online quizzes · Discussion summaries and topic summaries provided on a weekly basis · Hands-on, live or practice exercises that required students to practice their learning
|
| What did you NOT like about this course? |
· Length of videos presented access problems for live viewing in areas with Internet connectivity issues. Consider download or pre-packaged videos on CDs or DVDs as alternative formats · Too technology focused, with a need for more practical examples and case studies · Intensity of the course and heavy video content load made it difficult for late starters to catch up, or working students to catch up if they fell behind · Quizzes had too many technical questions for non-technical participants |
| What other short courses would you be interested in for the future? |
· Educational topics: instructional design, applications of mobile technologies for teaching and for use in libraries · Agricultural topics: GPS, GIS, meteorology, fuzzy logic, mobile use in agriculture with expanded cases studies from other areas of the world · Wireless and network topics: mobile application development especially for Android devices, cloud computing, web analytics · Security: cyber-security, ethical hacking · Management: knowledge management, management skills, technology transfer · Research: research methods, research methods employing mobile technologies · Digital media: web development, media production, HTML5, media storage preservation · Entrepreneurship: small business development, small business development in rural settings · Health: applications of mobile technology for health and safety applications · Finance: banking, alternative banking systems, micro-finance, organization and management of cooperatives · Gender: gender equity, gender issues |
The open-ended responses indicated strong support for the M4D course. The responses also provided an opportunity for students to highlight areas for improvement in subsequent iterations of the course. The feedback was both positive and constructive, and should be incorporated into future course designs.
