Preferred Software Survey

by Lauren Jeanminette

A random sample of 30 students were selected on campus to complete a brief survey. The purpose of the survey was to find out what software students prefer to use in step lab's as well as software improvements they would like to see on campus.

Over half of the students surveyed admitted that Microsoft Office 2013 was their most preferred software program on campus. Sixty-five percent of the students surveyed who picked Microsoft Office 2013 uses the software for course work and class projects. Four of the seventeen students who chose Microsoft Office reported using the program to type up and print class notes. Overall, the students use this program at least 2-3 days per week.

Sixteen percent of students preferred Firefox and use the software on an everyday basis. All of those surveyed that chose Firefox also reported that their professors suggest they use this program when doing their class work, because it's known to work better for their needs. This isn't the only web browsing software used by students. Google Chrome was reported to be used by 10% of the students selected. Over half of the students who chose Google Chrome also stated that it is their preferred web browsing program on and off campus at least once a week.

Two students surveyed stated they use SAS the most on campus. As Informatics majors, they mainly use the program for class projects 2-3 times per week. However, the software can also be utilized by students opting to do optional training work. 

The remaining students chose between Adobe Photoshop and Movie Maker. Photoshop was chosen by 7% of students who either used the program for personal reasons or class projects. Movie Maker was only chosen by one student who is currently working on a class project and uses the software everyday.

At the end of the survey, there was an optional question available for all students to answer. The question asked students to list suggestions for improving the software on campus. Many students suggested adding Photoshop to more step labs. Also, several students said adding InDesign to some labs would be extremely beneficial. The two Informatics majors mentioned before suggested having individualized access to certain software in each department. There are a few software programs required for their coursework, but not available in step labs. They also recommended adding more business process modelers.

Generally, all of the students surveyed used software provided on campus step labs. The findings concluded that majority of them use Microsoft Office 2013 in the labs compared to other available software. While some students suggested certain improvements, many individuals had little to no recommendations for improving software across the university.