Elevating Student Voices

A focus group is an opportunity for a small group of students to answer questions about various topics to inform the college community about your experiences. The group is selected based on predefined demographic traits, and the questions are designed to shed light on a topic of interest.

When focus groups are well executed, participants can answer questions in their own words and add meaning to their replies. Students' opinions contribute to a more meaningful learning process. Taking ownership of one's learning leads to a higher level of motivation and engagement. As a result, students feel valued and respected in a safe and inclusive environment (https://www.readingreadiness.org/the-power-of-student-voice-enhancing-learning-outcomes-in-education).

Institutions of higher education can elevate the student voice by soliciting input on all things related to their educational experience including policymaking, advocacy, research, storytelling, and leadership. Student success depends on hearing student voices and involving them in the process (KnowledgeWorks Foundation, 2023).

Focus groups are an excellent way for students to examine a particular subject in depth, to understand concepts, perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors related to the topic, and to gain insight into their experiences. Focus groups aim to capture a diverse range of perspectives through group discussions. Students are encouraged to build on each other's ideas.

Students who give feedback on what is working and what is not working co-create something that does work for everyone. It is important to enable students to advocate for their own learning by providing opportunities to elevate their voices.

For faculty, staff, or members of ASCSN

• The purpose of conducting focus groups is to elevate student voices and to improve student engagement. Input from the focus groups could be crucial to your unit planning process.
• Please complete the focus group project request form with your topics and questions. Please allow us time to review your request so we can determine whether a focus group is the best fit for your stated interests. If a focus group opportunity does not meet your unit's needs, you can request additional methods to collect data by completing the Institutional Research form. If you would like to request listening sessions or a survey instead, please contact Dr. Bob Ngo. Upon approval, we will post your topic on our website to solicit student participation. If students show interest, we will run a focus group with two trained facilitators. A summary of the discussion is most likely to be available within three weeks (in most cases)
• It is understood that these conversations will remain confidential, and only aggregate information will be published. We will post a summary of the group discussion on the focus group webpage and send a link to the requestor. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Flecia Thomas.

For students:

• Focus Group sessions will be posted on this webpage under “Upcoming Focus Group Sessions” for all students to view and sign up. Students who fit the criteria of the focus group topic will be contacted to participate. Focus group participants are selected based on specific project objectives or topics. Depending on the request, participants may be selected to represent a particular demographic, such as age, gender, occupation, or shared experiences related to the topic. Group composition should foster an environment where participants feel comfortable sharing their ideas. If incentives for student participants are available, they will be posted with scheduled focus group sessions on this webpage.
• The College of Southern Nevada will be using digital audio recording to document the accuracy of focus group discussions. No students will be personally identified in the analysis of the comments. Comments from the focus groups will only be used to better understand the focus group topics and help improve student success and institutional effectiveness.

• Focus Group sessions will be posted on this webpage under “Upcoming Focus Group Sessions” for all students to view and sign up. Students who fit the criteria of the focus group topic will be contacted to participate. Focus group participants are selected based on specific project objectives or topics. Depending on the request, participants may be selected to represent a particular demographic, such as age, gender, occupation, or shared experiences related to the topic. Group composition should foster an environment where participants feel comfortable sharing their ideas.
• Students can complete a Focus Group Student Interest Form to indicate what area of the college they are interested in providing feedback on. If we do not get enough participants to self-select for a topic by the deadline, we will reach out to those students who have indicated an interest in the category.

If incentives for student participants are available, they will be posted with scheduled focus group sessions on this webpage.

A CSN focus group moderator will guide the discussion and ensure everyone has an opportunity to participate. There will be predetermined questions (agreed upon by both the area initiating the request and our staff) as well as spontaneous dialogue and follow-up questions. Focus group meetings will take place in a room designated for this purpose.

Training will be provided virtually once a month the afternoon of the last Friday of every month from 1:00 pm-2:30 pm. Members of CSN faculty and staff interested in attending focus group moderator training must email Student.Voices@csn.edu to sign up.

All focus group conversations will remain confidential. Only aggregate information will be published on this web page.

To participate in a focus group, all students are required to review and sign the following consent clause upon request.

I agree to voluntarily participate in the focus group (topic). I understand that my responses and discussion will be de-identified, and the data collected from the focus group will be disseminated to the stakeholders at the college ensuring anonymity. This data will be used to improve the student experience at CSN. I agree not to disclose the responses of other students ensuring confidentiality and privacy of other group members.