8 April 2009

Instant student consultation system an immediate hit at Dundee

Students at the University of Dundee can now instantly log their views on aspects of campus life thanks to an innovative piece of new technology.

The Library and Learning Centre at the University has created an innovative way of capturing quick student feedback through a touchscreen kiosk.

The kiosk is being used to ask students about an aspect of the University or University life. The feedback provided by students is available to view real time by those posing the question, providing an instant consultation process. The question being asked will change frequently to reflect the current issues that students most want to be consulted about.

The kiosk has been promoted in partnership with Dundee University Students’ Association and has proved instantly popular.

Its first use has been to gather feedback on why students choose to enter Higher Education. DUSA wanted to be clear what more could be done to allay fears and support students as they enter University. Almost 1000 responses were gathered in the first few days of the kiosk being available for use.

“We play an important role in representing student opinion within the University”, says David McLeod, DUSA President. “The use of this technology provides students with an easy opportunity to tell us how they feel about a particular issue, and provides us with an easy way to make sense of the data.”

The kiosk system integrates with the University of Dundee’s Blackboard virtual learning environment, allowing questions to be added and changed remotely, irrespective of where the kiosk is located on campus. The results are available instantaneously within Blackboard for staff and student representatives to view.

“This new system allows us to be responsive to student opinion”, says Hannah Whaley, who coordinated the project within the LLC. “It is opening up the consultation process to all students, and providing staff with quick and effective ways to make the most of their valuable feedback.”

The kiosk is initially positioned on Level 2 of DUSA, but will be moving to the main Library and Learning Centre building shortly. It will also be used in additional LLC sites, and is available for use elsewhere on campus.

Video of students using the kiosk

For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk