CHINA: New survey to help improve student experience

Imagine a university where student numbers have doubled within five years, writes Mary Hennock for The Chronicle of Higher Education. That is the problem facing Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology. Located in the bleak industrial city of Baotou, a megacity built on mining, the campus typifies the overstretched state of China's colleges, particularly academically average ones.

The university now enrols 19,000 undergraduates. With an average class size of 100, "students cannot get individual attention" and teacher training is a "total blank", says Zheng Wenguang, head of the higher education department. Zheng is hoping to find some solutions to that problem by having his institution participate in a new student survey, created and organized by Tsinghua University. Forty-nine institutions participated this year, and confidential results of their students' responses will be given to them soon. The results will enable administrators to pinpoint problems and identify reforms that might improve teaching styles, course materials, and students' overall enjoyment of campus life.
Full report on The Chronicle of Higher Education site