The initial assessment of SCE included finding out how students use the environment to meet their personal and academic needs. An assessment team conducted a series of focus group interviews during the winter quarter to gather data to address the initial assessment objectives. Computer Services Focus groups, involving 72 students in all, were held in the main lounges of five first year residence halls across campus. Personal and academic uses are intertwined according to many students. A common scenario involved working on a paper for class while frequently checking for e-mail messages and listening to music down loaded from the web.
Academic uses are varied according to interview participants.
E-mail correspondence between instructors and students is very common. Many students indicated that instructors made class notes and articles available on-line. Students taking biology and English reported having listservs for class. Chemistry students indicated many assignments were available only in web-based format. An English 151 student created a webpage to fulfill a class requirement.