Learning Environments

Faculty at peer institutions selected 1, 2 and 4 as the top three motivating factors.

About half of UBC faculty are satisfied with the variety and reliability of in-classroom equipment. Sixty-one percent are satisfied with ease of use of podium systems; faculty are less satisfied with computers and software available in the classroom. Fifty-six percent are satisfied overall with classroom based technology, and this is consistent with faculty at other institutions.

Learning Management System (LMS)

LE1As at other institutions, most faculty use the LMS to push out information and/or to promote interaction outside of the classroom. Forty-seven percent use it daily, compared to 56% at all institutions.

Most UBC faculty report that they use Blackboard (Connect). Other learning management systems reported in use at UBC are Moodle, Pearson e-College, Wiki, and a homegrown system.

Forty-four percent believe that the LMS is critical to their teaching, 52% believe it is a useful tool to enhance their teaching, and 48% believe it is useful to enhance student learning. Predictably, UBC faculty are unhappy with the operation and the functionality of UBC’s LMS, due in part to its unreliability in the Fall of 2013. This is particularly striking when compared to peer institutions. About half of all participating institutions use Blackboard Learn and 38% of DR institutions do so as well. A recent (May 2014) ECAR paper on the future of the LMS indicated that Blackboard’s Learn product holds 42% of current market share.

LE2

The results show that faculty discontent is most evident in the following three areas:

LE3

LE4

LE5 - ease of usejpg

Mobile Devices

More than half of UBC faculty neither discourage nor encourage students to use smartphones, iPads or laptops in class. Forty-six percent believe that the use of mobile devices in class can enhance learning, but 73% believe that in class use can also be distracting. Half of faculty say they would need additional training to incorporate mobile devices into their classes. With respect to the use of mobile devices, UBC results are similar to those at other institutions.

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