Contentment among students – first the instructor, then the technology
Even more important than the technology are the instructors in digital teaching. They play a decisive role in student contentment. The interpersonal aspect, as well as the empathy and accessibility of the instructors in corona times, are of the highest importance for the students.
Improvement potential of the universities
The digitization of instruction has undoubtedly been driven forward by the Corona pandemic. Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement in some areas. Students would particularly appreciate a more student-friendly orientation and accessibility of instructors across departments.
Due to the lack of personal interaction, empathy on the part of the instructor is particularly required, as well as timely availability of documents and reliability of appointment notifications. Due to the absence of face-to-face teaching, students are dependent on digital communication channels being both created and maintained, thus enabling direct contact with the instructor.
Missing motivation on the part of the instructors are also an aspect that contributes to the discontent of the students.
evasys+ as a mainstay for increasing the contentment of digital education
Our add-on evasys+, as an extension of our survey software evasys, starts exactly at the point of communication. Instructors have the option of conducting short surveys during and after courses and to give students commented responses to their feedback. Instructors can thus enter into active dialog with their students and increase the interpersonal exchange that may be missing out in the current situation. Students see that their needs are taken seriously.
The current situation requires new solutions and a high level of adaptability. Instructors and students must be given the chance to communicate their changing needs and adapt the educational format accordingly. Requirements and needs can vary depending on the course of study, which makes it impossible to find a universal solution for the digital educational format. Instructors are therefore required to act specifically, adapted to the course. A one-to-one transfer of the educational format to the digital format also does not appear to make sense, since the communication and type of learning changes through a purely online format.
Insights obtained from the feedback process can be used to sustainably improve and further develop lecturing and the educational format.
Improving digital education can thus not only increase student contentment, it can also encourage more active participation in courses and higher motivation, which also improves the quality of educational formats.
