Wordclouds can be a really useful tool for visualising themes within qualitative text datasets quickly and easily. In Higher Education, this approach can also be used to show key words within a text, to visualise student feedback, and to help those with a more visual learning style to engage.
A quick search for ‘free Wordcloud generator’ will return a few online tools that can be used to generate a graphical representation of the dataset in use*. Some e-learning software packages have Wordcloud generators built in; for example, a lot Student Response Systems such as Vevox can automatically take student responses and turn them into Wordclouds while students are engaged with the poll. This technique can help with engagement and provides academics and students with real-time waypoint assessment insights.
In the example below, 112 people offered their opinion in response to the question ‘What are the personality traits of a good manager who delivers effective projects?’. Using the Wordcloud function, the academic staff member can instantly see that Kind and Supportive Leadership and Understanding are very important amongst the cohort of 112 participants.
One tip when using Wordclouds with a large group of people; to avoid generating a massive Wordcloud with hundreds of different words, provide a list of seed words to try to focus responses. Of course, we should always enable our students to add their own words/thoughts too but a more focused Wordcloud may be more meaningful when interpreting the dataset.
*As always, it is recommended that when using 3rd party online tools, that attention is paid to the vendor’s Terms and Conditions – just to ensure that data is remaining secure and that companies are operating ethically.
Title image by Photo by Vladimir Anikeev on Unsplash