This instrument was developed as a part of the Erika E. Smith’s (2016) doctoral thesis, Exploring undergraduate perceptions of meaning making and social media in their learning, completed at the University of Alberta. For more information, please see: http://hdl.handle.net/11205/271 and https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-017-0049-y Additional file 1: Survey Instrument Q1. Consent I agree I do not agree (branching – ends survey) Q2. Are you an undergraduate student? Yes No (branching – ends survey) Q3. Are you enrolled as a full-time student at the University of Alberta? Yes No Q4. What Faculty are you enrolled in? Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences Native Studies Alberta School of Business Nursing Arts Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Education Physical Education and Recreation Engineering Rehabilitation Medicine Law Science Medicine & Dentistry School of Public Health Other (please specify) Q5. What program (e.g., department) are you enrolled in? Q6. What year of study are you in? (1) First Year (2) Second Year (3) Third Year (4) Fourth Year Other (please specify) Q7. What is your year of birth? 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 Other (please specify) Q8. Do you identify yourself as: Male Female Other (please specify) Q9. Are you an international student? Yes No Q10. How do you make meaning ("make sense") of your university learning? Please check all that apply: a) gaining your own deep understanding (e.g., of a concept) b) saying something in your own words c) interacting with different perspectives d) discussing with other people e) applying your experience to real life (e.g., your career) f) putting your learning into context g) researching information h) seeking help from others i) working through the process of figuring something out (e.g., solving a problem) Other (please specify) Q11. How do you most often make meaning ("make sense") of your university learning? individually (personally) with others (socially) both individually (personally) and with others (socially) Perceptions of Social Media Social media include applications and websites that allow users to create and share content. Social media also enable users to connect via web technologies or to participate in social networks. Q12. Do you use social media in your own university learning? Yes (branching – goes to questions 13-17) No (branching – goes to question 18) Q13. In your own university learning, do you use any of the following? Please check all that apply: a) Blogs (e.g., Blogger, WordPress) b) Wikis (e.g., Wikimedia) c) Google Apps (e.g., Google Calendar, Google Docs) d) Image sharing (e.g., Flickr, Instagram, Pintrest) e) Social bookmarking (e.g., Delicious) f) Social networking (e.g., Facebook, Google+) g) Social news sites (e.g., Reddit) h) VOIP and Instant messaging (e.g., Skype, Google Talk/Chat, WhatsApp) i) Do-it-yourself networks (e.g., Ning) j) File sharing (e.g., Dropbox, Google drive, BitTorrent) k) Video sharing (e.g., YouTube, Vine) l) Location-based applications (e.g., Foursquare, Google Maps) m) Microblogs (e.g., Twitter) Other (please specify) Q14. In your opinion, do you see these social media as an important part of your university learning? a) Blogs (e.g., Blogger, WordPress) b) Wikis (e.g., Wikimedia) c) Google Apps (e.g., Google Calendar, Google Docs) d) Image sharing (e.g., Flickr, Instagram, Pinterest) e) Social bookmarking (e.g., Delicious) f) Social networking (e.g., Facebook, Google+) g) Social news sites (e.g., Reddit) h) VOIP and Instant messaging (e.g., Skype, Google Talk/Chat, WhatsApp) i) Do-it-yourself networks (e.g., Ning) j) File sharing (e.g., Dropbox, Google Drive, BitTorrent) k) Video sharing (e.g., YouTube, Vine) l) Location-based applications (e.g., Foursquare, Google Maps) m) Microblogs (e.g., Twitter) Other (please specify) Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Q15. In your opinion, are the following characteristics of social media useful for your university learning? Strongly Agree a) Building relationships with peers (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn) b) Building relationships with instructors (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn) c) Creating media to share online (e.g., pictures, videos, music) d) Sharing information online (e.g., links to websites, articles) e) Posting/Re-posting media or information found online (e.g., re-tweeting, sharing links) f) Commenting on media or information found online g) Collaborating to create documents online (e.g., Google docs) h) Tracking and managing your academic schedule Other (please specify) Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Q16. In your opinion, do the following characteristics of social media help you to make meaning (make sense) of your university learning? Strongly Agree a) Building relationships with peers (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn) b) Building relationships with instructors (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn) c) Creating media to share online (e.g., pictures, videos, music) d) Sharing information online (e.g., links to websites, articles) e) Posting/Re-posting media or information found online (e.g., re-tweeting, sharing links) f) Commenting on media or information found online g) Collaborating to create documents online (e.g., Google docs) h) Tracking and managing your academic schedule Other (please specify) Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Q17. Please take a moment to tell us why you use social media in your university learning. Q18. Please take a moment to tell us why you do not use social media in your university learning. Thank you for completing this survey! You can choose to be entered in a draw to win a $25 iTunes gift cards by following this link to a Google form that is separate from SurveyMonkey: Click here to enter your name into the iTunes gift card draw Q19. Other comments or questions about this study? Please list them here: