Project Eagle Research Capsules (PERC) #6
May 2002

Summaries of Two Recent E-Learning Surveys at St. Petersburg College

Smarthinking Online Tutoring Survey for St. Petersburg College

• 7 of 19 responding heard about it from an instructor.
  
  
• 12 were required to use it for the class they were taking.
  
  
• 15 submitted papers or questions, or had direct contact with a Smarthinking tutor.
  
  
• 15 pre-scheduled a live session with one of the tutors.
  
  
• 14 used the online writing lab, 3 the real-time writing help.
  
  
• 9 agreed that Smarthinking helped them in their class(es), 6 disagreed, and 1 was neutral.
  
  
• All said they had no trouble connecting with a tutor when needed.
  
  
• 6 felt it was easy to get customer support and 1 said it was not. 9 never needed support.
  
  
• 10 agreed that Smarthinking tutors were knowledgeable. 3 were neutral and 1 disagreed.
  
  
• 12 were able to use the Smarthinking tutor's comments to improve essays they had written. 2 were not, and 1 was neutral.
  
  
• Students felt online tutoring had some advantages:
  • Easier to work online (8)
  • Easier to understand because student can read what tutor is saying (7)
  • Easier to find a tutor online when needed (6)
  • Anonymous (5)
  
  
• Students preferred to access tutors at different times:
  • 8 am - Noon 2 students
  • Noon - 4 pm 2 students
  • 4 pm - 8 pm 6 students,
  • 8 pm - Midnight 9 students
  • Midnight - 4 am 1 student,
  • 4 am - 8 am 1 student
  
  
• 16 wanted continued access to Smarthinking tutors, 3 did not.
  
  
• 12 were willing to pay for continued access, 7 were not.
  
  
• The quality most students liked best about Smarthinking was the speed with which they received help.
  
  
• The quality most students liked least about Smarthinking was the cost.
  

Visitors to the eCampus Web Site*

A Comparison of eCampus Web Site Use: November 13, 2001 - January 15, 2002 (685 users) vs. January 16 - April 19, 2002 (455 users)
Prepared by Elsa Houtz
April 2002

I. Visitor Type

• 37% of the site's visitors from January to April 2002 were eCampus students, compared with 46% from November 2001 to April 2002.
  
• 15% were enrolled at SPC but not in eCampus classes, compared with 16% previously.
  
• 8% were enrolled at other colleges; previously, this category represented less than 5%.
  
• The percentage of high school students stayed constant at 2%.
  
• 22% (compared to 16% previously) were not attending high school or college.
  
• The 16% (188) who identified themselves as "Other" represented faculty and administrators at other institutions, training facilities and/or government entities; individuals who identified themselves as "military;" health and public safety professionals including police, firefighters, EMTs, nurses, veterinarians and vet techs; graduates of SPC and other institutions seeking career advancement or new career directions; retirees; and employers seeking training resources.

• 78% of visitors indicated Florida residency (down from 82% previously):
  • 48% selected "Florida."
  • 30% selected "Pinellas County."
  • Many visitors who classified themselves as "Other" then specified Florida locations including Pasco County (14); Hillsborough County (5); Manatee County (3); Jacksonville (1) and Gainesville (1). 41 states besides Florida were represented. Non-US locations throughout the entire period included Bolivia; Columbia; Alberta and Ontario, Canada; "Europe" (2); Germany (3); Ireland; Italy (2); Japan; Mexico; Puerto Rico; Sultanate of Oman; United Kingdom; and Venezuela.

• 66% of respondents (unchanged from previous period) said they reached the site by linking from the SPC main site.
• 12%--up from 9%--cited word of mouth ("Someone told me about it").
• 8% (up 1% from previous report) used a search engine;
• 5% (up 1%) found the site while "surfing the Net."
• Of the 15% (172) who listed "Other" as their referral source:
  • 50 cited SPC sources including College personnel, publications, mailings, schedule booklets, "registration" and SPC-TV.
  • 35 cited articles that appeared in January editions of Syllabus Online and the Chronicle of Higher Education.
  • Several were eCampus students using the home page as the starting point for their courses.
  • Others cited a wide variety of referral sources including:
    • Their employer
    • FACTS web site
    • Federal Emergency Management Agency training site
    • WebCT (2)
    • Florida Association of EMTs and Paramedics
    • American Veterinary Medical Association web site
    • DistanceLearn.org (Florida community colleges site distance learning site)
    • Alabama Veterinarian Magazine
    • Crime-scene-investigation.net.

www.spjc.edu/eagle/research/perc/perc6.htm
For a list of previous Project Eagle Research Capsules, go to www.spcollege.edu/eagle/research/perc/index.htm
For more information, contact the project manager: lechnerj@spcollege.edu

The contents of PERC were developed under a grant from the U. S. Department of Education (DOE). However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the DOE, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.