Institutional Teaching Culture Perception Survey

All academic staff who are teaching at least one course, a randomized sample of 5,000 undergraduate students, all graduate students, and non-academic staff identified as contributing to teaching and learning will be invited by email to participate in the teaching culture survey. To support the validation process, the survey is not open to participants outside these groups.

Check your email for an invitation to participate, which will include the link to the survey. This survey will be open from January 22 to February 28, 2018. If you require the link to be re-sent, please email the project team. 
 

If you volunteer to participate in this study, you will be asked to respond to a voluntary and confidential online survey, which will take approximately 20 minutes to complete.  The survey will ask about your perceptions of how teaching is valued at the University of Calgary. You will be asked about your perceptions of things such as teaching quality, learning spaces and technologies, and the evaluation and recognition of teaching.  You will be asked to rate most items on two aspects:  1) the extent you agree with the statement and 2) the importance of this item to teaching culture.  If you do not know an answer please choose ‘DK’ for I don’t know.  If you prefer not to answer, please choose ‘PNA’ for Prefer not to answer.

Participation in this research is completely voluntary. If you volunteer to participate in this study, you may withdraw at any time during the completion of the survey.  You may also refuse to answer any questions you don’t want to answer and still remain in the study. Once your survey is submitted, it is not possible to remove your data because completed surveys are not linked to any identifying information.

Any information you provide will be confidential. All data will be summarized and no individual will be identifiable from the summarized results. Furthermore, the website is programmed to collect responses alone and will not collect any information that could potentially identify you (such as your name, email address or machine identifiers). Completion and submission of the online survey indicates your consent to participate.

The survey data (with no personal identifiers) collected from this study will be maintained on a password-protected computer database in a restricted access area of the university. As well, the data will be electronically archived and maintained for as long as this project is active, but at least for a five-year period.

For non-academic staff members only: when you submit a completed survey, you will be directed to a new webpage inviting participation in a second phase of the research involving a 75-minute focus group to provide feedback on the effectiveness of the survey. Your views on the most relevant questions, irrelevant questions and missing questions will inform the development of this survey. We are also interested in your views on who should have the opportunity to complete the survey, and which results are likely to be most useful in enhancing teaching culture. You may decline immediately and exit the page.  If you indicate an interest in participating in such a focus group, you will be asked to provide your email so that you can receive further information.  Please note that your University e-mail address will only be used for contacting you about participating in the focus group.  Your e-mail will not be linked to your data on the survey in any way.

For undergraduate and graduate student participants only: there is an incentive available. After the survey is complete, student respondents will be connected to a new website, and offered an opportunity to participate in a random draw for one of two University of Calgary Bookstore gift certificates of $400.00. The personal information you provide for the purposes of this draw will be held separately from the survey data, and cannot be linked with your survey responses. Personal information collected for the purpose of the draw for the gift certificates will be deleted once the draw is completed. Students may accept or decline this offer. It is not possible to offer this kind of incentive to University of Calgary staff members.  

To support data analysis, the survey requests demographic information.

• For students, this includes including your primary faculty, year of study, whether you are full-time or part-time student, an undergraduate or graduate student, or an international student, your age and gender.
• For academic staff, demographic information includes your primary faculty, your primary role in the university, type of appointment, years of teaching experience, age and gender.
• For staff, demographic information includes your primary role in the university, type of appointment, your department, years of experience, age and gender.

In each case, you may choose not to provide answers to one or more demographic questions and still remain in the study.

The online survey is designed to collect responses alone and will not collect any information that could potentially identify you (such as your name, email or machine identifiers). All survey data obtained in connection with this study will remain confidential. All published results will be summarized and no individual will be identifiable from the summarized results.

Students will be asked to provide your name, student number and university e-mail address only if you wish to be entered in the draw for the gift certificates. Non-Academic staff will be asked to provide your name and University email address only of you wish to be contacted about a follow-up focus group. If you do provide your e-mail address for these purposes, your personal information will be housed in a separate database and will not be linked to your survey data in any way. Any identifying information will be destroyed after five years, with the exception of personal information collected for the purpose of the draw for the gift certificates, which will be deleted once the draw is completed.

Eligibility:

Students who submit a survey response can enter a random draw to win one of two University of Calgary Bookstore gift certificates valued at $400.00. Your odds of winning one of the prizes are based on the number of individuals who participate in the study. You may choose not to participate in the draw.

Eligibility for the draw opens on January 22nd at 8:30am and closes on February 28th, 2018 at 11:59pm.

To enter the draw, students will be asked to provide your name, student number and University of Calgary email address at the end of the survey. By entering the contest and voluntarily providing personal information including name, email and student ID, you are granting us permission to collect and use the information for the purpose of administering the contest and selecting the winner. Any contact information collected for the draw will remain confidential. It will be stored separately and deleted once the draw is complete.

Right to Disqualify: The University reserves the right to disqualify any entry not conforming to these Rules and Regulations at any time. The University assumes no responsibility for entry fraud committed by an entrant and reserves the right to demand return of the prize and all costs associated with remedying any prize awarded to an ineligible entry or entrant.

The University is not responsible for any incomplete, failed or delayed transmission of your submission due to the internet, including interruption or delays caused by equipment or software malfunction or other technical difficulties.

Winner Selection:

The winners of the $400 gift certificates will be selected in a random draw from eligible entries on March 12, 2018. The award winner will be contacted by the Research Assistant for this project within five business days of the draw by your University of Calgary email.

Should you have any questions about the study, please contact Dr. Lynn Taylor, former vice-provost (teaching and learning) by email or at 403-220-5314.

If you have any concerns about the way you’ve been treated as a participant, please contact the Research Ethics Analyst, Research Services Office, University of Calgary at (403) 220-6289/220-4283; email cfreb@ucalgary.ca..

A report of the results of this phase of the study will be available on the Centre for Teaching and Learning, University of Windsor website and the REB website at the University of Windsor. The approximate date when results will be available is December 2018.

Further information about the Institutional Teaching Culture project is also available at https://qualityteachingculture.wordpress.com/.