PC Training & BUSINESS COLLEGE ONLINE LEARNER SURVEY: APR 2015 11
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY One of the Institutions key focus areas is to improve on customer services and to enhance the HOLISTIC learner experience at PC Training & Business College. To give this area impetus, we have decided to rename our existing Learner Concerns Framework (LCF) to the Learner Relationship Management Framework (LRM). Relationship Management is a strategy employed by any organization in which a continuous level of engagement is maintained between the organisation and the customer. At PCT &BC, this process starts the moment the learner registers with us until successful completion, graduation & alumni. Within the framework three focused surveys are conducted annually as follows: April June Oct The Institution conducted the April 2015 online learner survey using Survey Monkey. The Survey was conducted in terms of the guidelines of the Learner Concerns Framework and was administered at all HET & FET Campuses from the 17 th April 2015 to the 30 th April 2015. In comparison to the ratings of the Learner Survey conducted in April 2014, the current Learner Survey shows a decrease in the ratings by our learners. INTRODUCTION PC Training and Business College is committed to providing high quality learning experiences through a supportive environment and responding to learner concerns whenever they are raised. Successfully dealing with learner concerns prevents issues from escalating and becoming difficult to resolve and bringing the Institute into disrepute. The survey was developed by the Corporate Marketing & Community Engagement Department in order to determine the impact of PC Training & Business College s service delivery, to create a socioeconomic profile of our learners and to investigate the impact of our marketing initiatives. OBJECTIVES The main objectives of the Survey were as follows: To determine the impact of the Institution s marketing initiatives. To determine the socio-economic profile of learners. To discover learners views on service delivery. To glean issues that learners wanted to bring to the attention of Management. RESEARCH METHOD AND SAMPLING Primary research was conducted in this initiative and involved the administering of an online questionnaire. POPULATION OF INTEREST The population of interest was all HET and FET Learners at each campus of PC Training and Business College. SAMPLING METHOD The participants drawn for this study involved all HET & FET Learners that attended lectures at each campus
on the days on which the survey was administered. Although about 5% of Skills Learners participated in the Survey, a separate Learner Survey for Skills Learners will take place on a monthly basis. In comparison to the April 2014 Learner Survey, the current April 2015 Learner Survey indicates a lower overall participation of 50% of learners from HET & FET Faculties. PARTICIPANTS POPULATION TOTAL PARTICIPATION 5045 9999 50% The following is the percentage breakdown of respondents per Faculty and Year of Study: QUESTION 1 The majority of the respondents, being 48% form part of the Faculty of Media, Information and Communications Technology, whilst 44% of the respondents form part of the Faculty of Business, Economics & Management Sciences. QUESTION 2 The first year learners were in the majority (81%) of the respondents due to the first year HET learners attending classes more frequently for guidelines and assistance in completing their assignments and FET
learners attending classes for preparation of the formative assessments. 3. SURVEY ADMINISTRATION The survey was administered online on the following basis: A Survey Link was made available on www.pctbc.co.za under a tab called Surveys. Learners were to click on the tab and then click on the link. The survey was conducted online using the Tablet PC or networked lab. The student was directed to this link through their Tablet PC (via Wi-Fi) or PC Lab. Campus Managers were advised to ensure that the Survey takes place in one of the morning or afternoon sessions. The Campus Manager and/or respective staff member were present during the Survey to assist learners experiencing any difficulties. Once the learner had answered all the questions, the learner then clicked on the SUBMIT button at the end of the survey. 4. RESULTS The results of the survey are as follows: SECTION A: PERSONAL INFORMATION QUESTION 3 Gender Male 42% Female 58% 42% of the learners were male and 58% female which is similar to the normal registration trend at the Institution.
QUESTION 4 Country of Origin South Africa 96% Zimbabwe 1% Mozambique 0% Botswana 0% Swaziland 0% Other (please specify) 2% Majority (96%) of the Institution s Learners are South African with 3% of the Learners coming from other countries such as: Zimbabwe Mozambique Botswana Swaziland QUESTION 5 Which area are you from? Rural 34% Urban 44% Sub-urban 17% CBD 5%
Only 5% of the learners are from the CBD whilst majority of the learners come from rural and urban areas. QUESTION 6 Please specify your race group. This information is requested for statistical purposes and required for equity reporting to the Department of Education. Black 96% Indian 2% Coloured 2% White 0% 96% of the Learners are Black. QUESTION 7 Household income per Month Less than R 999 17% R 1 000 - R 4 999 33% R 5 000 - R 6 999 20% R 7 000 - R 9 999 14% R 10 000 and above 16%
50% of the Learners belong to a household where the monthly income is below R4 999. 34% of the Learners belong to a household where the monthly income is above R5 000. 16% of the Learners belong to a household where the monthly income is above R10 000. QUESTION 8 Who is responsible for paying your fees? Parent 74% Brother/Sister 8% Relative 2% Guardian 7% Self 5% Other (please specify) 4% 74% of the learners have their fees paid by their parents. The 4% of learners who selected Other as an option, have their fees paid by their partners, employers, trust funds, bursaries from the Institution and external companies or sponsors.
QUESTION 9 Where did you first see / hear about PC Training & Business College? TV 56% Radio 4% Newspaper 11% School Visit 17% Signage 1% MXIT 1% Billboards 6% Other (please specify) 5% Television has once again proven to be the most effective mode of communication providing a 56% response. School Visits followed at 17% and Newspaper Adverts at 11%. QUESTION 10 In your opinion, to what extent does PC Training & Business College s pricing offer good value for money? Very Poor 4% Poor 7% Average 47% Good 37% Excellent 5%
84% of the learners described the Institution s pricing in terms of offering good value for money as average to good. QUESTION 11 How would you prefer receiving the monthly debtor s/fee statements? *If email is selected, please enter your email address in the box provided. your email address in the box provided. Post 19% In class 17% SMS 53% Email (please supply email address) 11% Majority (53%) prefer the monthly debtors/ fee statement to be sms d to them while 11% prefer email. QUESTION 12 How would you rate your campus in terms of public transport and accessibility? Very difficult 9% Difficult 18% Reasonable 54% Easily Accessible 19%
54% of the learners rated the campus in terms of public transport and accessibility as reasonable and 19% as easily accessible. QUESTION 13 How would you rate PC Training & Business College in terms of visibility i.e. signage, posters and billboards? billboards? Very Poor 3% Poor 6% Average 35% Good 46% Excellent 10% 56% of the learners rated the Institutions signage and visibility as good to excellent. QUESTION 14 Which is your favourite TV channel? SABC 1 38% SABC 2 12% SABC 3 12%
DSTV 51% TOP TV 1% etv 17% MNet 4% Soweto TV 2% 51% of the learners favourite TC Channel is DSTV whilst 38% of learners favourite channel is SABC 1. QUESTION 15 Which form of social media do you use most often? MXIT 1% BBM 12% Whatsapp 76% Facebook 46% Twitter 11% Blog 1% None 4% The most popular platform of social media amongst the learners is Whatsapp (76%) followed by Facebook (46%) and BBM (12%).
QUESTION 16 How easy is it to register for a course at PC Training & Business College? Extremely easy 23% Very easy 50% Moderately easy 21% Slightly easy 5% Not at all easy 1% 94% of learners indicate that it is extremely easy to moderately easy to register for a course at PC Training. QUESTION 17 How helpful is your Career Councilor? Extremely helpful 14% Very helpful 46% Moderately helpful 24% Slightly helpful 10% Not at all helpful 7%
84% of the learners rated their Career Councilor as moderately helpful to extremely helpful but there is room for improvement. QUESTION 18 How would you rate your orientation programme at your campus? Very poor 5% Poor 8% Average 36% Good 42% Excellent 9% 87% of the learners rated their orientation programme at their campus as average to excellent. QUESTION 19 What was your main motivation/reason for registering at PC Training & Business College? Strongly Strongly Agree Unsure Agree Disagree Disagree The Tablet PC 23% 45% 9% 8% 14% The Campus Reputation 16% 55% 21% 3% 5% The Campus 10% 49% 27% 6% 8% Infrastructure Computer Labs & Libraries 18% 51% 19% 6% 7% Friendliness of Staff 16% 49% 21% 6% 8% Referral by family member Referral by school teacher 15% 44% 13% 8% 20% 7% 31% 14% 13% 34% 68% of the learners agreed that their main reason for registering at PCT&BC was the Tablet PC. 71% of the learners agreed that their main reason for registering at PCT&BC was the Campus Reputation. 59% of the learners agreed that their main reason for registering at PCT&BC was the Campus Infrastructure. 69% of the learners agreed that their main reason for registering at PCT&BC was the Computer Labs &
Libraries. 65% of the learners agreed that their main reason for registering at PCT&BC was the friendliness of staff. 59% of the learners agreed that their main reason for registering at PCT&BC was the referral by family member. 38% of the learners agreed that their main reason for registering at PCT&BC was the referral by school teacher. QUESTION 20 Are you aware of your Free PCT email address? Yes 36% No 65% 36% of learners acknowledge that they are aware of their Free PCT email address. QUESTION 21 How would you describe your Career Councilor? Arrogant 2% Kind 42% Gentle 27% Knowledgeable 26% Rude 3%
Majority of the learners (95%) rated their Career Councilors as kind to knowledgeable, while 5% of learners rated their Career Councilors as rude and arrogant. QUESTION 22 Which one of the facilities you use most frequently to access elearning? Tablet PC 68% Library at campus 19% Computer Lab at campus 26% Internet at home 12% Majority (68%) of the learners access e-learning using the Tablet PC clearly indicating the significant role technology is playing in improving the quality of Teaching & Learning. QUESTION 23 How often do you access elearning resources? I nearly always use my home connection 7% I use my home connection about 75% of the time and College facilities about 25% 11% I use my home connection about 50% of the time and College facilities about 50% 15% I use my home connection about 25% of the time and College facilities about 75% 16% I do have a home internet connection but nearly always use the College facilities 11%
I do not have a home internet connection and nearly always use the College 40% facilities 40% of the learners do not have home internet connection and nearly always use the College facilities thus emphasizing the importance of free internet and connectivity. QUESTION 24 Would you like to access your study material online? Yes 63% No 37% 63% of the learners would prefer to access their study material online. QUESTION 25 Would you prefer to do your assignments online? Yes 43% No 57%
43% of the learners would prefer to do their assignments online. QUESTION 26 How would you rate PCT&BC in your progression of your studies thus far? Very Poor 2% Poor 5% Average 39% Good 46% Excellent 8% 93% of learners have rated PCT&BC as average to excellent in the progression of their studies thus far. 18
QUESTION 27 Rate your lecturers in terms of: Answer O ptions Very poor P oor Average Good Exc ellent Punctuality Knowledge and Understanding of Subject 5% 7% 32% 41% 15% 3% 5% 28% 44% 19% 88% of learners have rated the punctuality of their lecturers as average to excellent. 91% of learners have rated the knowledge and understanding of subject of their lecturers as average to excellent. QUESTION 28 How well do the classrooms/infrastructure at PCT&BC meet your learning needs? Extremely well 9% Very well 42% Moderately well 31% Slightly well 13% Not at all well 4% 82% of learners have rated the classrooms/infrastructure at PCT&BC as moderately well to extremely well in meeting their learning needs. 19
QUESTION 29 How would you rate your induction to the Tablet PC? Very Poor 5% Poor 7% Average 32% Good 44% Excellent 12% 88% of learners have rated their induction to the Tablet PC as average to excellent. QUESTION 30 12% of learners have experienced hardware issues with their Tablet PC. 16% of learners have experienced software issues with their Tablet PC. 52% of learners have experienced connectivity issues with their Tablet PC. 19% of learners have experienced technical issues with their Tablet PC. 32% of learners have not experienced issues with their Tablet PC. QUESTION 31 20
How would you rate your initial learning experience at PCT&BC to your friends and family? Very Poor 2% Poor 4% Average 33% Good 51% Excellent 10% 94% of learners have rated their initial learning experience at PCT&BC to their friends and family as average to excellent. QUESTION 32 86% of learners agreed that the Tablet PC is a stimulating mobile device that facilitates finding information easily. 86% of learners agreed that they are not bogged down by carrying many text books. 33% of learners agreed that they find it distracting as they are more interested in playing games. 25% of learners agreed that they surf the net instead of following the lecturer. 34% of learners agreed that they get bored because the lecturer only refers to the Tablet PC or lecture notes. 21
37% of learners agreed that very little interaction takes place in the classroom. 65% of learners agreed that they can learn more on their own using the Tablet PC. 70% of learners agreed that they can find and use information for their assignments easily. 65% of learners agreed that they understand the web based learning easily. 57% of learners agreed that the Tablet PC has helped them to form new social relationships. 22
QUESTION 33 Comments/Suggestions from Learners Some of the positive comments made by learners are listed below: The learners find using the Tablet PC beneficial to their studies. Learners feel that PC Training is a good Institution and has a high standard of learning. Suggestions from Learners are listed below: 33.1 IT Matters Wi-Fi access & connectivity at some campuses should be increased. Learners would prefer a Tablet PC that has a USB and sim slot to access the internet at home. 33.2 Academic Matters Learners feel that the lecturers should be more punctual to class and attend frequently. Learners want more lecturer student consultations. Learners want lecturers to be more interactive and not read from the Tablet PC. Learners want lecturers to be more experienced and knowledgable. Learners would like more practicals included in their modules. Learners would like to access their results online. 33.3 Maintenance Matters Attention should be given to repairing the lifts and air-cons at some campuses. Learners would like to have a canteen on campus. 33.4 Library Matters Learners would like for the Library to be open for longer hours during weekdays and on weekends. Lending period of Library Books should be extended longer than a day. PC s in the Library at some campuses should be upgraded. Books in the Library should be increased. 33.5 Finance Matters There should be a better system in place to issue access cards to learners to avoid them standing in long ques. Learners would like to receive their student cards timeously. 33.6 Extra-curricular Matters Learners would like for there to be extra-curricular activities at campus. 34. RECOMMENDATIONS An urgent review of connectivity & Tablet related issues with a plan of action to be put in place. Maintenance and related matters regarding air-con and lift repairs, Management to investigate and provide feedback to Cluster Directors on the process of having all air-cons and lifts serviced. The inclusion of vending machines within campuses are to be investigated in detail. Library related matters where the request is for the library to be open for longer hours to be made flexi-time.
Academic Department to have a short Survey by Programme/Module on Moodle regularly over and above the three Surveys specified in the Learner Relationship Management Framework. Academic related issues of lecturer attendance, lecturer punctuality, etc, to also be included in the monthly surveys. Finance related issues, Management to consider allowing learners to write exams & withhold results until fees are paid. Extra-curricular activities are to be encouraged & planned by the learner in conjunction with Management & the SRC Constitution. 35. CONCLUDING REMARKS The Online Survey Results clearly identifies the socio-economic profile of PC Training & Business College s learners. It also shows that the marketing initiatives are well recognised by learners and continue to play an important role in securing enrolments of learners. The Institution s service delivery needs to improve as there is always scope for enhancing the overall learner experience and the results of this survey will help the Institution to prioritise and strengthen its areas of weaknesses. 36. SECTION B QUALITY ASSURANCE OF SURVEY The following are to be considered for the next survey to be held as per the Academic Calendar: Shorter survey focusing on overall experience. Separate Survey for Skills Learners to be developed. Monthly Surveys on Moodle by Programme to be institutionalised. 37. SECTION C FEEDBACK TO LEARNERS In terms of the Learner Relationship Management Framework, learner feedback to be communicated to learners as follows: Notice Boards Email Newsletter Website 38. IMPACT OF SURVEY The relevant Campus Managers & Academic Directors to include the above in their respective improvement plans and report progress on a monthly basis to the Board of Directors. M Ramnundlall Chief Corporate Marketing Officer 15 th May 2015