2019-20 SLEQ-UG KEY FINDINGS

HKU conducts institutional surveys on students’ learning experiences for undergraduates (SLEQ-UG) on an annual basis. The survey data provide evidence-informed support for teaching and learning quality assurance and enhancement. First, second, and final year undergraduate students were invited to participate in the SLEQ-UG. In the 2019-20 SLEQ-UG, a total of 5200 undergraduate students participated in the survey exercise.

Highlights of Findings

Overall performance on Achievement of Educational Aims, Teaching and Learning Environment, and Overall Satisfaction has been largely steady across years, with moderate increases among final-year students (Figure 1).
In the longitudinal tracking of students reflecting on their learning experiences in the first and final years, there was an upward trajectory in all aspects of perceived attainment of HKU’s Educational Aims (Figure 2).
Over 75% of final-year respondents had positive perceptions of their learning experiences in relation to Internationalisation, Interdisciplinarity, Innovation, and Impact (the University’s 3+1 Is Strategy) as a result of their university studies.
In open-ended comments, students of all years frequently mentioned “learn”, “friends”, and “people” as the best aspects of their university experience. First-year students also stressed “life” and “resources”, second-year students highlighted “professors” and “tutors”, and final-year students emphasised “exchange” and “opportunities” (Figure 3).

Detailed results at the institutional, Faculty, and curriculum levels are available at the online Institutional Survey Reports System (ISRS), which allows Faculties to generate survey reports at various levels and make comparisons across years. All academic and administrative staff with access rights could directly access the System after logging on to the HKU Portal account (HKU Portal > Self Service > Teaching and Learning > Institutional Survey Reports > View Reports). Detailed instructions on using the System are available in the User Manual, downloadable here.

Faculties are welcome to contact Dr. Maggie Zhao at myzhao @ hku.hk for support in interpreting and utilising survey data, and Ms. Yvonne Chan at chanyyw @ hku.hk for technical support in using ISRS.

Figure 1. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from the SLEQ-UG between 2014-15 and 2018-19

Note. New “Overall Satisfaction” questions were introduced in the 2017-18 SLEQ; therefore, the 2017-18 mean score is not comparable to the means obtained in previous years, as represented in the grey dotted line.

Figure 2. Longitudinal Tracking of Students’ Perceived Achievement of HKU’s Educational Aims

a. SLEQ-UG1

b. SLEQ-UG2

c. SLEQ-UGF

Figure 3. Concept Maps and Quotes from Students’ Open-ended Comments.