30 Jul 2017

Student survey delayed by lack of responses

6:33 pm on 30 July 2017

Results from a $500,000 online survey that shows what students think of their courses are running late.

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It could be difficult to persuade graduates to respond to course surveys because most moved on mentally after they finished their studies, the NMIT director of learning, teaching and quality suggested. Photo: none

The Tertiary Education Commission launched the MyQ student survey in late December and said results would be available in February.

But by the end of July no course ratings had been published and the commission said it had not yet agreed with education providers how many responses it needed before it could start.

"As with any standard survey tool, MyQ depends on a minimum response rate to be able to publish robust data. We are working with TEOs [Tertiary Education Organisations] to define minimum response rates that strike the right balance between the size of a course and a response rate that is methodologically safe."

The commission said 5400 students had responded to the survey. Education Ministry figures show about 140,000 students complete qualifications each year, giving a response rate of about 4 percent.

However, the commission said it would start sharing information from MyQ on the Careers New Zealand website during the next financial quarter.

The commission said it spent $574,000, developing and launching the system and expected ongoing costs of up to $40,000 per year.

Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology was planning to replace its student survey with MyQ.

The institute's director of learning, teaching and quality, Liam Sloan, said students were more likely to provide honest responses to an independent survey run by a third party such as MyQ.

Mr Sloan said it could be difficult to persuade graduates to respond to course surveys because most moved on mentally after they finished their studies.

Universities New Zealand said it had provided advice to the commission about the minimum response rates required for publication of the survey's data, but did not respond to a request to provide that information to RNZ.

"It's critical that there is a sufficiently high response rate - for each course of study - to ensure results have any statistical credibility," the organisation said.

The commission said MyQ asked students how their qualification prepared them for work and contributed to career progress, and whether they were now in paid work.

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