Technology Use By Canadian Post-Secondary Students

• Overview
• The Institutional Studies
• The Survey Responses
• The Findings
  • Individual Studies Table Series
  • Comparisons Across Studies Table Series
• The Annotated Survey
• The Codebook
• Site Map

Overview

This site reports on a comparative research project on technology use by students at Canadian post-secondary institutions. Information on this multi-institutional study is provided from a variety of vantage points. There are series of tables that show all questions for each of the studies as well as series of tables that compare the same questions across various groups of studies. Each of the tables presented in all of these series is linked to all of the other tables with the same content and format. The intention is to allow the reader to make his or her own path through the information. Other links in these series are from each of the tables to an annotated version of the surveys as well as to a codebook with more detailed information. The annotated survey and codebook have links to all relevant tables.

The Institutional Studies

The student technology surveys have been conducted at six universities and one college. Pseudonyms for these institutions are being used throughout this web site and in other publications as part of this research.

The institutions that have been the site for these studies have ranged from the large (Loyalist and Williamson) to the small (Compton, Johnston, Silverstone, and Harrison). Two of these institutions have been studied longitudinally (Compton and Leonard). Paper surveys were used in the Leonard survey in 2000 and all of the studies conducted in 1998 and 1999. The Compton survey in 2000 was administered with fifty percent of the population receiving paper surveys and fifty percent receiving email invitations to a web survey. In 2001 all of the surveys were conducted using the web. For more information on each of these institutions please see the profiles page.

The Survey Responses

The Findings

The findings from the student surveys are organized in a variety of ways. There is a series of tables that report on the findings for each individual study and there is a series of tables that report comparisons for groups of studies.

Individual Studies Table Series

For each institutional study there is a series of tables that presents descriptive frequency data for each survey question. Each of the tables in these series has links to all of the other tables in other studies that use the same question, as well as links to the annotated survey and the codebook. An annotated example of the table format is provided here. Series of tables are available for each of the following studies.

• Silverstone University in 2001
• Loyalist University in 1998
• Williamson University in 1999
• Compton University student findings are available for 1998, 2000, and 2001
• Johnston University in 2001
• Harrison University in 2001
• Leonard College student findings are available for 1998 and 2000

Comparisons Across Studies Table Series

These series of tables take each question and compare it across a group of institutional studies. Each of the tables in these series has links to all other comparisons using the same question, as well as links to the annotated survey and the codebook. An annotated example of the table format is provided here. Both Compton and Leonard have been studied longitudinally so they each have their own set of comparison tables to facilitate the analysis of changes over time.

• Small universities in 2001
• Compton University 1998, 2000, and 2001
• Leonard College in 1998 and 2000
• All studies to 2001

The Master Question Index

The survey instrument has evolved over time and has varied slightly across institutions. There is a master index of all of the questions that have been asked. Since the questionnaire structure has also varied in some respects the organization of the latest version of the survey has been used for the structure of this index. The index has links to a detailed annotated questionnaire as well as to a more technical codebook.

The Survey Questionnaire

The annotated survey includes notes on each of the questions along with links to all relevant tables. It is organized into two columns. The question column presents the question wording and its scale. The notes column sometimes contains a brief note on the question as well as links to tables. Each annotated entry also has a link to its companion entry in the codebook where there is more detailed technical information.

• An illustration of the format for the annotated survey can be found here.
• The annotated survey is accessible from the master index as well as through links from the codebook and from each of the relevant tables.
• The standard version of the survey for 2001 is also available online

The Codebook

The codebook includes detailed technical information on each of the questions along with links to all relevant tables. The codebook is meant for the technical reader. Most readers will be content with the level of detail that is provided in the annotated survey. The codebook is accessible from the master index as well as through links from the annotated questionnaire and from each of the relevant tables. An explanation of the format for the codebook can be found here.