Draft Report
Duo Evaluation Survey
Staff – May 2006
What staff think of duo
The big picture
The majority of staff who responded to the survey stated that duo helped them
improve certain aspects of their teaching (72.1%) with a further 10.8% reporting
either that their basic approach to teaching was changing, or that their teaching
practice has changed considerably.
Members of staff who responded to the survey reported less regular use of duo
than the students. Whilst 27.1% of respondents consider duo an essential part of
their teaching, and the same number log in regularly, 23.9% do not currently use
duo.
Members who responded to the survey see duo as primarily for the students, or
driven by student demand. 109 use duo to communicate with students, 106 use
it to provide students with learning resources, and 66 use it because their
students want it. Categories which would suggest staff motivation such as To
change the way I teach, To communicate with colleagues and To save time
scored less highly at 23, 27 and 55 respectively.
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Similarly, respondents who felt their teaching had changed whilst using duo,
stated that duo helped them to improve communication with students (70),
provide learning resources in a better way or provide resources the students
wouldn’t otherwise have access to (110).
The majority of staff either develop their own learning materials (110) or develop
them in collaboration with colleagues (50). Staff do not generally reuse material,
with 68 reporting that they never or rarely reuse material in different duo courses
What features do staff value?
Staff consider the ability to add course documents to be the most useful feature
in supporting their teaching, with 59.9% of respondents rating this as Very useful,
and a further 24.8% rating it as Useful. This is supported by the Student
Evaluation, where 82.3% of respondents consider the presence of lecture notes or
summaries on duo to be highly valuable for their learning, and 13.7% consider this of
some value
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Email and course information are also considered of use.
What features are used less?
A large number of features on duo including surveys, quizzes, module
evaluations, bibliographies, links to the library, discussion board, virtual
classroom, group pages and tasks are not used by the majority of staff who
responded to this survey.
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System stability versus new features
66% of staff would prefer a fairly stable system with occasional updates and new
features that are rapidly tested. 26.7% favour a very stable system, resulting in
long delays before the latest Blackboard features are released, and only 7.6%
would like a very up to date but potentially less stable system.
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Some positive comments:
Excellent support for teaching and learning
This is my first teaching position and I have found DUO to be useful.
A great easy system for communicating with students, in particular, and providing
learning sources throughout the academic year
In my job it is a most useful medium for contact with staff and particularly
students in individual modules, displaying and accessing information
I can use DUO whilst working from home
my students tell me that it is good to have the notes so they can listen to me
more effectively
I am told that it is very useful for dyslexic students to see the handouts etc.
before the lecture.
I can place addition info for weaker students and other info from stronger
students
Clear split in class between those using DUO and those not
Students concentrate better in lectures and classes knowing that material used
will be available on DUO whenever they need it; availability of seminar material
on DUO and module programmes means that students can prepare for next
class wherever they are (and participate more in classes as a result).
[Students] seem to like it for a number of reasons, especially as it builds
confidence and can be used independently
[Students] love [using duo] esp. the Heroic Age and Classical / Biblical
Background resources.
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Some constructive criticism:
Not a teaching tool:
I do not believe my teaching has changed but it is a very helpful tool for
communication
duo isn't a replacement for other things, however much the geeks like to think it
is. It's an electronic noticeboard and means of communication - the rest is just
glitz. Anything beyond that has got to be done face to face.
Students request lecture presentations (PowerPoint) to be provided on DUO but
then fail to attend lectures in person. Overall learning suffers as students cannot
gain complete understanding from the PowerPoint presentations and are unable
to ask questions. In some ways DUO is a block to learning because students are
less active in trying to solve problems if the answers are not available on DUO.
Use of DUO can easily extend the "I should be spoon-fed" mentality derived from
schools and does not appear to encourage active research by the students.
Students don’t use it:
A few interested students use discussion boards although very few are actually
prepared to contribute.
I have been surprised by how little many students use the facilities provided.
Time consuming:
Using duo often leaves less time for research
Time constrains to develop or find teaching material compatible with DUO (e.g.
typeset mathematical content, simulations, animations).
Do not fully understand full range of services because I do not have enough time
to study the system.
The interface is simply to learn, but simply adding a single item is a several
minute process, if you have set up your web space properly it is at *least* ten
times faster to make material available there.
Reliability/Technical limitations:
I would use DUO much more if it were more reliable. It is too frequently down just
at the moment I want to use it. I find I can't rely on it so it just doubles the amount
of work I have to do as I always have to prepare backups
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I particularly find the announcement facility frustrating - announcements seem to
simply disappear on occasions.
Each year I revisit duo to see if the new version will support the online services I
require supporting my teaching. I really wanted to use duo this year but ended up
developing my own web pages to support my teaching. I look forward to
September to try again. Third time lucky perhaps?
Training needs:
Feel ignorant and not very creative - need help
Students now demand PowerPoint’s on Duo. But I don't use PowerPoint and
have been criticized in the questionnaires. Unfortunately I regard this as a
negative outcome of Duo.
General comments:
The thing I would most value is continuing insights into how other people are
using it and examples of learning activities etc
Please make it possible for College Librarians to access module reading lists.
We can't do this at the moment, as we are not registered for the courses.
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Campus
Queen’s campus respondents use duo more than Durham campus respondents.
13 out of the 20 from Queen’s either consider duo an essential part of their
teaching, or log into duo regularly, compared to 87 out of 164 respondents from
Durham campus. Only 2 respondents from Queen’s don’t currently use duo,
compared to 42 Durham respondents.
Department
Most of the departments appear to be fairly regular users of duo, however this is
of course limited to the members of staff who responded to the survey.
Computer Science, Mathematical Sciences and Physics are statistically low
users of duo.
50% Computer Science lecturers do not use duo at present
40% Mathematical Sciences lecturers do not use duo at present
38.4% Physics lecturers do not use duo at present
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Several departments stated that whilst they do not currently use interactive
whiteboards, they would like to.
Business School - 8 out of 10
Classics & Ancient History – 3 out of 4
Foundation Programme – 3 out of 3
Geography – 4 out of 6
Mathematical Sciences – 4 out of 5
House of Sport – 1 out of 1
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Age
Results are fairly representative of the survey as a whole.
Ethnicity
Insufficient data for evaluation.
Disability
Insufficient data for evaluation.
HEA membership or other teaching qualification
Insufficient data for evaluation.
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