Summary of Recent Education Research

Strategic Research and Planning

Marc Beebe, Manager, Strategic Research and Planning

Elena Gerstmann, Ph.D., CAE, Staff Director, Corporate Strategy & Communications

14 February 2009 Puerto Rico

Agenda

Introduction to Corporate Strategy & Communications (CSC)Research Specific to Educational Activities– Academic Needs Survey– Expert Now– Education Partners

Other relevant Research– Member Satisfaction Survey– Member Segmentation Survey

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2008 Academic Member Needs &

Expectations Survey

Managed by:Chuck HickmanMarc Beebe

2008 Academic Member Needs & Expectations Survey

Survey went to 4,000 members – Deans, professors or indicated they work at

academic institutions Fielded from 8 December 2008 to 6 January 2009 567 respondents, representing a 14% response rate and a margin of error +/- of 4.1%Objectives – Who are they? What are their interests? How can IEEE better serve them?

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Respondents evenly split between teaching/instruction and research

6What is the primary focus of your job?

Teaching and Research InterestsResearch Teaching

Communications and Information 30.7% 29.4%

Signal Processing 27.6% 24.8%

Computer Engineering 25.8% 33.2%

Control and Automation 24.7% 19.6%

Biomedical Engineering 22.7% 9.8%

Circuits and Devices 20.3% 31.9%

Power and Energy 16.4% 16.1%

Instrumentation, Measurement & Testing 14.3% 13.9%

Engineering Education 9.9% 18.0%

Electromagnetics 9.6% 11.2%

Optics and Optoelectronics 8.6% 6.0%Geoscience, Ocean Technology & Remote Sensing

4.9% 2.7%

Engineering Management 3.4% 3.3%

Nuclear and Plasma Science 1.6% 0.8%

Other 16.1% 16.3%7

“In what discipline(s) are your primary teaching and research interests?”

Academic Members generally satisfied IEEE efforts for the academic community

8Overall, how satisfied are you with the efforts IEEE has done to serve the higher education community?

Professional Development/ Continuing Education Interests

Interest

Systems Engineering 61.8%

Sustainable Development 48.6%

Standards in Education 45.6%

Biomedical Engineering 40.3%

Nanotechnology 37.5%

Global Perspectives 36.5%

Ethics 33.1%

Implantable Micro Devices 30.3%

Entrepreneurship 29.9%

Biometrics 23.9%

Other 73.0% (mostly unique)9

Percent Saying “Interested” or “Very interested” to the question “How interested are you in professional development/continuing education in the following emerging and cross-disciplinary curriculum topic?”

Student Development Interests

Interest

Innovation 83.1%

Oral and Written Communications 79.7%

Leadership 67.5%

Technical English 67.1%

Other 64.7%

10Percent Saying “Interested” or “Very interested” to the question “How interested are you in helping students develop the following skills and abilities?”

Interest in Teaching and Learning Topics

Interest

Teaching Effectiveness for new PhDs & Young Faculty 69.1%

Developing high performance learning environments 68.5%

Developing and using learning assessment tools 61.0%

Other 28.5%

11Percent Saying “Interested” or “Very interested” to the question “How interested are you in the following teaching and learning topics?”

Interest in Administrative Topics

Interest

Grants 68.8%

Intellectual Property Rights 55.0%

Fundraising 52.5%

Other 40.9%

12Percent Saying “Interested” or “Very interested” to the question “How interested are you in the following education administration topics?”

Real World Engineering Project

Less than 10% aware of Real World Engineering ProjectHowever, significant interest in participating in RWEP– As a source for

classroom materials – 67.8%

– By seeking to be a Seed Grant Recipient – 60.2%

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Recommendations

Work to increase awareness of Real World Engineering ProjectThere is high interest in nearly all teaching and learning topics, so work to develop resources in areas that we currently have strength in

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2008 Expert Now Research

Managed by:Doug GorhamKaren HawkinsMarc Beebewith TNS Research

2008 Expert Now Research

Conducted three online Bulletin Board Focus Groups with 42 total participants. The three groups were– Expert Now users– Higher Grade members who had not used Expert

Now– People at corporations who had the responsibility to

purchase training/continuing education for their organization

The results of the focus group were used to develop a quantitative survey– Fielded from 23 June 2008 to 6 July 2009 – Representative sample of Higher Grade IEEE

members– 564 respondents, representing a 12% response rate

and a margin of error +/- of 4.1%

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Awareness of Continuing Education Programs

Q4. Which of the following programs for continuing education have you heard of?

Significantly higher in USA (74%) than outside

USA (31%)

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Source of Continuing Education Program Awareness

Q5. Where did you learn about these programs?

Significantly higher in USA (22%) than outside USA (8%)

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Who Selects Courses?

Q6/Q7 How do employees at your organization identify continuing education courses they would like to sign up for? How is the funding for continuing education handled at your organization?

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Who Pays?

Q6/Q7 How do employees at your organization identify continuing education courses they would like to sign up for? How is the funding for continuing education handled at your organization?

Important CharacteristicsCharacteristic Importance

Skills learned 90.1%

Interest Level in topic 86.5%

Relevance to job/project 81.3%

Updated/current content 80.7%

Impact on career goals 66.6%

Reputation of organization 61.0%

Duration/scheduling 59.2%

Cost 58.1%

Instructor/author reputation or credentials 53.2%

Travel requirements 51.0%

Recommendations/reviews from peers 44.1%

Ability to disseminate information to colleagues 36.7%

Certifications needed 33.2%

Format 31.9%

CEUs/PDHs 23.4%

21Percent Saying “Important” or “Very important” to the question “ How important are the following characteristics when selecting a continuing education program?

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Likelihood to participate in or purchase Training Types

Base Total Respondents (n=564)Q25 How likely are you to purchase the following types of trainings? / How likely are you to sign-up to attend the following types of trainings?

Somewhat/ Very Likely

63%

59%

52%

47%

42%

42%

35%

Recommendations

Work to increase awareness, in ways that fit how people search for continuing educationProviding detailed course descriptions, course demos or trial offers will stimulate interest.

Increase availability of intermediate and higher level courses

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2008 Education Partners Program

Bulletin Board Focus Group

Managed by:Chris SaliccoMarc Beebewith Wedewer Group

2008 Education Partners Program Bulletin Board Focus Group

Two online Bulletin Board Focus Groups– participants in the Education Partners

Program– non-participants

Fielded in May 2008

Objectives were to understand:– the experience of members who have

participated – the awareness of EPP– how best market EPP

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Overall results

Participants in the program were highly satisfied with their experiencesEPP had very low awareness among non-participantsBoth participants and non-participants were critical of the EPP website

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EPP Participants highly satisfied

Got a lot out of their coursesRegistration was easy, and the information provided was clearWould strongly recommend the program to their colleagues

HoweverNearly all would have taken courses regardless of EPP

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Low awareness of EPP

Most of the non-participants had not heard of EPP prior to this researchThose who had heard of it, knew little about it other than the nameWhen we shared the name, few knew what it was

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Not IEEEIEEE is not seen as a source for continuing educationWhen searching for continuing education, they go to…

Unfortunately, IEEE-sponsored education products often do not show up in the top ranks of Google searches

Where do they go to find Continuing Education?

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EPP Website seen as in need of improvement

Both EPP participants and non-participants, when asked to review the EPP website, indicated that it significant room for improvement– Better search capabilities, to find courses of

interest by topic, cost, length, and so on

– Samples of the type of materials in each course

– Reviews/ratings of courses30

Chris is working on it

Other Relevant Research

2008 Member Satisfaction Survey

Managed by:IEEE Strategic Research

Low awareness of Expert Now

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Satisfaction with IEEE Publication Products

2008

Transactions/Journals/Magazines/Letters 88.5%

IEEE Standards 87.5%

Spectrum Magazine 85.5%

IEEE Conference Proceedings 84.5%

Wiley-IEEE Press Books 82.3%

IEEE Xplore 79.7%

The Institute 74.2%

IEEE-USA Today’s Engineer 70.3%

IEEE Expert Now 69.4%

IEEE Member Digital Library 67.7%

Percent Saying “Satisfied” or “Highly Satisfied” to the question “How satisfied are you with the qualityof the following IEEE publications?”

Recall, 15% rated this item

Satisfaction with Mission of IEEE

2008

Operating as a global organization 76.3%

Providing members with the information needed for them to benefit humanity and the profession

71.9%

Promoting the public understanding of technology 66.7%

Supporting pre-university educational activities 63.0%

Informing members of public policy issues 62.3%

Creating a public understanding and appreciation of engineering in society

61.6%

Promoting career interests of members 60.7%

Percent Saying “Satisfied” or “Highly Satisfied” to the question “How satisfied are you with IEEE performance in achieving the following?”

Satisfaction with Additional Membership Products and Services

2008

IEEE Awards programs (for example, Medals, Technical Field Awards, Prize Papers, Society and Regional Awards, etc.)

73.1%

IEEE educational products (for example, Education Partners Program (EPP), web courses, online tutorials, conference tutorials, etc.)

66.3%

IEEE-USA products (for example, salary service, career navigator, consultants database, etc.)

63.8%

IEEE Financial Advantage products (for example, insurance, credit cards, etc.)

58.6%

IEEE Travel Services 42.9%

Percent Saying “Satisfied” or “Highly Satisfied” to the question “How satisfied are you with the qualityof the following products and services provided by IEEE?”

All of these have high levels of “Not aware” and “No opinion”

2008 Member Segmentation Survey

Managed by:MGAIEEE Strategic Researchwith Harris Interactive

Reasons for Joining and Remaining in IEEE

Join Maintain DifferenceTo remain technically current 58% 69% 0.11

To obtain IEEE publications 56% 64% 0.08

To enhance my career opportunities 44% 40% -0.04

To enhance my stature within the profession

38% 40% 0.02

To join IEEE Societies 37% 43% 0.06

To network with others in the profession 34% 40% 0.06

For continuing education 28% 34% 0.06

To obtain a reduced registration fee at IEEE conferences

27% 34% 0.07

A professor suggested it 26% -- --

To participate in local IEEE activities 25% 29% 0.04

38Percent selecting choice to questions “Please indicate the major reasons you originally joined IEEE” and “Which of the followingreasons best describe why you continue to maintain your membership with IEEE?”

Stayed tuned for more from 2008 IEEE Member Segmentation

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Summary

Summary/Common Themes

Many IEEE Education products and services have very low awareness with IEEE membersNeed to make IEEE known as a course providerThose who have used IEEE Education products and services often have very positive experiencesBoth participants and non-participants would like to see greater variety of content available to them

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QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?

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THANK YOU

Reasons for Joining and Remaining in IEEE

Join Maintain Difference

To remain technically current 58% 69% 0.11

To obtain IEEE publications 56% 64% 0.08

To enhance my career opportunities 44% 40% -0.04

To enhance my stature within the profession 38% 40% 0.02

To join IEEE Societies 37% 43% 0.06

To network with others in the profession 34% 40% 0.06

For continuing education 28% 34% 0.06

To obtain a reduced registration fee at IEEE conferences 27% 34% 0.07

A professor suggested it 26% -- --

To participate in local IEEE activities 25% 29% 0.04

To have access to discounts on professional and personal services 17% 25% 0.08

To give back to my profession 15% 24% 0.09

To obtain an IEEE email alias with virus protection 9% 22% 0.13

To give back to the world community 9% 16% 0.07

To participate in standards development 7% 12% 0.05

To access insurance 6% 14% 0.08

43Percent selecting choice to questions “Please indicate the major reasons you originally joined IEEE” and “Which of the followingreasons best describe why you continue to maintain your membership with IEEE?”