The results of a national survey of 30 third-level institutions has revealed that Trinity scores lower than the national average in the areas of student engagement and satisfaction, with only 38 per cent of Trinity respondents claiming to have had a positive interaction with administrative and office staff.
Over 48 per cent of Trinity respondents to the Irish Survey of Student Engagement (ISSE) thought their course was taught in an organised way, with 48.1 per cent of respondents stating they had never spoken about course topics with staff outside of class.
Twenty-nine thousand student responses were received from Irish institutions, with 22.8 per cent of Trinity students taking part, a slight drop from the 23.2 per cent who participated in 2015. The response rate from undergraduate students rose from last year, with the number of postgraduate respondents falling.
The results of the report were circulated at University Council on October 26th alongside a report from the Quality Office on behalf of the Dean of Students, Prof Kevin O’Kelly. Compared nationally to other universities, Trinity scored below average on six of the nine indices covered by the ISSE, such as student faculty interaction, effective teaching practices and supportive environment.
Trinity scored above average on reflective and integrative learning and quantitative reasoning. They met the sectoral average for higher order learning.
At University Council, O’Kelly commented on the concerns raised by the report’s findings, stating that the low level of interaction between staff and students could challenge the notion that Trinity is committed to research-led teaching and that the issue of disengagement could worsen with the Trinity Education Project’s increased focus on formative assessment methods.
Speaking to The University Times, O’Kelly stated that Trinity was below average by “fractional numbers”, which are “not dramatically off-base” compared to other Irish institutions.
O’Kelly is coordinating the provision of school-based reports, which will further clarify the different practices of various faculties. Speaking to The University Times, Dale Whelehan, Education Officer of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU), recognised the advantages of breaking the report down by school, which is a new endeavour this year: “Each school is going to be sent their individual results, which allows the schools to see what they’re doing well or not doing well.” This would produce more “meaningful change”.
O’Kelly argued that while the results of the report are illuminating, they are composites of many questions that do not necessarily illustrate the full story, adding that “it is a tool to respond to and to react appropriately to”. O’Kelly described the results as a “tool” that would let College “probe” its activities. “Whenever you see surveys, it’s really important that I don’t let it be used as a stick to beat people up with or to self congregate us or to be overly critical. It is a tool to respond to and to react appropriately to”, he added.
Last year, the ISSE demonstrated that Trinity was strong in measures of “academic challenge” and “higher order thinking”, but poor at creating a “supportive learning environment” compared to other universities. Speaking about the release of the 2015 report, O’Kelly stated that Trinity would attempt to increase participation in the report and address a perceived lack of support to socialise.
O’Kelly urged the importance of student participation in the survey, stating that it was a way for students to indicate to College that they should “improve that or address that” and that, if only a handful of students in a school answer the survey, it can be difficult to use this as the basis of change. Whelehan described the report as “the most powerful national survey for quality enhancement we have”.
The results of the survey, now in its fourth year, were formally announced on December 16th. The report was produced by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and is the result of a revision process, which saw the number of questions in the report reduced from 120 to 65.
