Student Perceptions of the Help Resource Landscape
Background and Context. Existing works in computing students’ help-seeking and resource selection identified an expanding set of important dimensions that students consider when choosing a help resource. However, most works either assume a predefined list of help resources or focus on one specific help resource, while the landscape of help resources evolve at a faster speed. Objectives. We seek to study how students value each dimension in the help landscape in their resource selection and utilization processes, as well as how their identities relate to their perceptions of the landscape. Method. We surveyed N = 1, 625 students on their perceptions of 8 dimensions across 12 offerings of 7 courses at 2 institutions. Findings. We found a consistent pattern of four distinct dimension tiers ordered from most to least important: (1) timeliness of help, (2) availability and adaptability of the resource, (3) the resource’s time/space anchor and the effort to phrase the help need, (4) formality and socialness of the resource. We also found men and first-years rate all dimensions as less important than their classmates. Implications. Our results reveal what the students collectively value most when selecting help resources and thus can inform practitioners seeking to improve their course help ecosystem.
