Top of the Class for George Brown
Just like in 2005, the last time it was completed, Continuing Education at George Brown made top grades in a number of categories in the Provincial Continuing Education Survey. A total of 59,452 students at 23 colleges in Ontario completed the survey last fall – which saw George Brown improve on its rankings amongst metro colleges.
The college took top honours in quality of instructors, quality of courses, overall ease of registration, and classroom or lab equipment – among many other top rankings. In addition, George Brown beat their own top score in “Overall, the course is better than you expected” – maintaining their lead in both metro and large colleges and beating the provincial averages in this category.
George Brown shone particularly brightly in the classroom. The school was the top metro college for the quality of Continuing Education course instructors – 96% of students were very satisfied/satisfied. George Brown’s teachers also earned the highest rankings for their subject knowledge, their presentation of course material, their helpfulness, fairness of evaluation and ability to use a variety of teaching methods and materials. In total, Continuing Education instructors at George Brown earned the highest rankings amongst metro colleges in all of the 13 teaching-related categories.
The courses themselves also earned high marks – 96% of students were very satisfied/satisfied with overall quality. Furthermore, the school was the highest ranked amongst metro and large colleges in three areas – usefulness of assignments, usefulness of handout material and usefulness of web-based learning tools. In all, George Brown’s Continuing Education courses took home top marks amongst metro colleges in 9 different categories.
But the success wasn’t limited to the classroom. In addition to overall ease of registration, the school earned high praise for its classroom/lab equipment, library hours, price of books, helpfulness of staff at the College and feeling safe in College buildings.
Student Feedback Matters
“We are proud of our survey results – especially the fact that we’ve increased our score in a number of areas,” says Colin Simpson, Dean, Centre for Continuous Learning. “This is important feedback that we use to improve our offerings and the student experience – and our results show that our commitment to improving both our service and curriculum does indeed make for a better educational experience for everyone involved.”
The results of the 2005 survey, completed by students, let George Brown know what worked and, of course, what didn’t. Combined with the school’s ongoing interaction with students in the form of end-of-semester feedback and it’s clear to see how students help make the college, and its Continuing Education offerings, better.
Academic departments use student responses when reviewing courses, teachers and curriculum; student feedback factors into decisions about rehiring and offering professional development opportunities to teachers; survey results help George Brown determine where to focus additional resources for services specific to the unique needs of our students; feedback about availability of technology allows the college to implement a number of course delivery options and determine the best way to communicate directly with students; and the results give George Brown a greater understanding of our demographic so that we can create support services and programs specifically for our students.