CITSCAPES Project - Stage 1 Summary
Establishing Contacts with Universities and Colleges across the UK in order to investigate the state of development in student C&IT induction in Higher Education Institutions
Literacy and fluency in Communication and Information Technology (C&IT) is no longer the exclusive domain of subjects such as computing science. Widely available, and potentially very powerful developments in C&IT have opened up endless possibilities in the world of education and employment. In order to make effective use of tools such as email, internet, data handling and word processing applications, students and academic staff must receive appropriate training and education to acquire the essential skills required to communicate effectively in the modern world. Such skills improve their chances of employment and help them to address future professional challenges. The Dearing Report of July 1997 highlighted the need for a conceptualised incorporation of C&IT into the curricula of all UK universities and colleges. The need to implement the recommendations of this report in respect of C&IT has inspired many universities and colleges to continue their increasing effort to improve the quality of C&IT training for their staff and students with a wide range of methodological and pedagogical approaches currently in practice.
The CITSCAPES Project was commissioned by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) to investigate and survey the present situation concerning student C&IT training or induction at universities and colleges throughout the United Kingdom. As the project was funded before the inclusion of Further Education colleges in the Higher Education Funding Councils’ (HEFCs) funding, its primary focus is student C&IT training in the Higher Education sector, though it is hoped that Further Education will also benefit from the project results. The data for the analysis will be collected by the means of a general survey questionnaire and by case studies. A detailed account of the range of strategic approaches, pedagogic methods, experiences and potential possibilities in this area, increasingly regarded as an essential aspect of higher education in the United Kingdom, will be produced. The project will also review current student C&IT training trends and developments in higher education world-wide. In order to gain an overview of strategic management in relation to student C&IT induction, course provision and course practices, a three-part general survey questionnaire will be developed and sent to all colleges and universities that are directly funded by the HEFCs across the UK. Parallel to this, eight institutions will be identified for case studies.
It was recognised that a successful return rate of the CITSCAPES survey questionnaire would depend on establishing suitable contacts at each of the colleges and universities. It was hoped that these individuals would liase with the project and forward the survey questionnaire to the appropriate individuals within their institution, or complete the relevant parts by themselves.
In order to achieve this first goal, it was essential to acquire an official list of addresses for all universities and colleges that are directly funded by the Higher Education Funding Councils in the UK. This was provided by JISC.
A letter was sent to all Principals/Vice Chancellors requesting their assistance in identifying the contact person(s) who would have best knowledge or overall responsibility for course provision, method of training and/or other elements surrounding the nature of activities in student C&IT induction at that institution. It was realised that there could be more than one person in charge of such matters. Therefore the attached form allowed for up to three contacts with the first name on the form to be regarded as our primary contact at the institution. Initially, 176 Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) across the UK were contacted. A pack containing the covering letter, the contact form, a return envelope and a two-page information leaflet about the CITSCAPES project were sent out on 20 April 2000 requesting a reply by 12 May 2000. The deadline was set with the aim of obtaining an early and fairly high return rate of the contact questionnaire. This would allow swift progress to the next stage of our project to pilot the survey questionnaire. It was realised though that this could bear the disadvantage that once a deadline is passed, the person receiving the letter may regard our request as obsolete and perhaps no longer concern themselves with this matter any further. It was therefore decided, a short time after the set return date, to follow up the request with a reminder letter. It was anticipated that it could perhaps be quite difficult for some universities and colleges to identify a suitable contact and that the annual exam period at many institutions could lead to a considerable delay in the return of the contact form. It was expected though that a reminder would increase the return rate considerably. The first and final reminder letter including the contact form, a return envelope, and the project information leaflet was sent out to all institutions that had yet to respond. The reminder was posted on 14 June 2000 - eight weeks after our initial request. The return rate of replies is illustrated in the Graphic below.
At the time of our deadline, 12 May 2000, allowing one week leeway, over 40 percent of all HEIs had responded positively to our request, proving us with at least one contact name and contact details. By the time the second reminder was posted on 14 June, almost 60 percent had returned the contact form. By mid-July an incoming response rate of 77 percent was achieved. We ended the first milestone of our project at the end of August with a total of 147 positive replies out of 176 universities and colleges, bringing the final response rate to 84 %. Only one university declined the invitation to collaborate with our project citing ‘other administrative commitments’. The number of non-responders remains at 29 and concerns mostly smaller institutions.
Overall, the approach taken by the Project Team was successful, and already some interesting patterns were emerging. From the professional positions of the individuals, identified as the CITSCAPES liaison persons, it seems that many HEIs have already academic structures in place within which student C&IT training is delivered. This could be inferred from a swift return of the contact form and from the institutions’ ability to single out one or two individuals who are generally in charge of C&IT course administration and provision. Over 57 % of all institutions provided one single individual as the priority contact. 20 % provided two contacts and a similar percentage provided three. From the information gathered during the Stage 1 contact request alone we cannot infer how C&IT induction is organised at the particular institution. For example, we cannot deduce whether it is a devolved activity organised independently by faculties and departments, or whether a central unit or faculty is in charge of it. Nevertheless, a relatively small but significant number of HEIs (2 institutions) provided more than three contact names. Two further institutions offered a single contact name but indicated in their attached responses that C&IT induction is largely devolved at their institutions.
The largest group (41%) of contacts that were identified by the Principals/Vice Chancellors of the universities hold administrative positions at middle-management level, such as ‘Head’ or ‘Director’ (sometimes ‘Assistant Director’). The position IT/Information/Support Manger appears in 23 % of all contacts. In 6 % of all replies a Dean or Pro-Vice Chancellor was appointed to liase with our project. Other positions with responsibility in student C&IT induction included library staff, 3 %. A further 3 % of contacts did not supply us with their job title. From the remaining 24 % no pattern in occupation emerged. These results suggest that most HEIs that have replied do give student C&IT induction a fairly high level of institutional priority.
The name of the departments or units in which our contacts are placed show that the majority, 33 %, is based in departments such as ‘Computing & Information Services’; 23 % are based in departments such as ‘Learning & Teaching Development’ and 3 % are based in libraries. The remaining 37 % of contacts listed other departments and only 4 % left this field blank. The contact details can only tell us little about how the C&IT induction is organised at the particular institution, but at first glance it seems that the majority of all institutions that have replied rank student C&IT induction as important and locate its organisation in departments that deal directly with C&IT as an educational tool.
The date of return of the contact form indicates, to a degree, how quickly an institution is able to identify an individual in charge of C&IT induction. Graphic I shows that three weeks after the initial mailing, 43 % of UK HEIs had responded to our request. Clearly, many institutions dealt fairly quickly with our request as the response rate in weeks two and three indicate. Similar results are apparent with the reminder. Here again, the responses peaked in weeks two and three. Regional differences between the return rate in Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland is marginal and can probably be disregarded.
A final conclusion can of course only be drawn after the project survey questionnaire is returned and analysed. However, the first stage of the project has been successfully completed in that we identified the most appropriate individual at each HEI to liaise with the CITSCAPES Project at later stages.
One difficulty emerged in this stage of the project. The list of directly funded HEIs, provided to us by JISC differed slightly from the list currently on-line at the HEFCE, SHEFC and HEFCW web sites. The HEFC lists were to a small degree incomplete and in parts inaccurate. However, we acknowledge that Higher Education in the United Kingdom is a dynamic entity. This applies, regarding our project aims, to the independent status of smaller colleges, which have merged recently, or which are in the process of merging with larger universities, or which are/are not part of the direct funding scheme. Another issue that we identified, and which should be considered at the beginning of any similar project, is the time of year when aiming to succeed with contact requests. For example, at the end of the teaching terms and semesters some of the identified priority contacts may have moved on in their position and by the time a the survey questionnaire is ready to be launched are perhaps no longer responsible for student C&IT induction. It is hoped though that with the identification of one or two more contact person(s), we may be able to reach almost all HEIs in the UK and to obtain a similarly high return rate for our project survey questionnaire.
The first stage of the project was beneficial in several ways. The initial findings show some emerging patterns about the main functional areas within UK HEIs involved in Student C&IT training. A broad overview of the management level with responsibility for this area was also obtained. Further detailed study of this picture will emerge with the later stages of the project. Additional benefits are obtained through the establishment of the liaison person(s). Firstly by raising awareness of the project in its early stages within all UK HEIs, we hope to improve the return rate of the survey questionnaires. It is also anticipated that the identification of a liaison person within each institution will aid in establishing and conducting the case studies as well as in the dissemination of the project’s results. It is intended that the project output will assist the HEIs in the UK to reflect on their own situation with respect to student and staff C&IT induction and focus on strategic decisions and implementation issues. They will also help JISC and the funding bodies gauge the best strategic deployment of funding in this area.
Graphic - Liaison Contact Form Return
CITSCAPES Project - IT Education Unit - Glasgow G12 8QQ - Scotland, UK
Phone: +44-141-330 2537 - Fax: +44-141-330 2602
© CITSCAPES Project - 30 November 2000