Measuring the online student experience: A sensemaking exercise

Postgraduate students often return to the classroom, physical or online, with little or no training for what is expected from them in terms of reflective practice or critical thinking. While many universities are benchmarking student experience in face-to-face or more traditional programs, surveys do not offer customizable solutions to measure the online student experience, especially at the postgraduate level. We begin with the assumption that there is a need to measure the online student experience that has not been met by current tools or processes specifically within Library and Information Science (LIS). We employ social sensemaking to examine the student experience discussed in the LIS literature and map our understanding of the student journey to focus on a student-centered journey more deeply. Focusing on the why and how of the learning experience, this article discusses our mapping and the stakeholders and partners involved in learning and teaching throughout a program of study. We identify action research as a framework to explore both the student experience and its improvement over time.