Student Surveys

Student surveys help forge connections and offer valuable formative feedback.

Pre-course surveys: Survey students before (or early in) the semester to gain insight about your students “with regard to the social identities, equity and inclusion challenges, and other attributes they bring to class” (Addy et al, 2021, p. 139) and to consider how you might adjust your teaching proactively. Sharing data in aggregate with your students can also help them feel a sense of general connection and belonging in the course.

Formative feedback: Survey students at mid-semester, for example, to gain insights into what is working well and what isn’t working so well, enabling you to make changes and also providing materials to reflect on. Examples include:

• Sample surveys from OFE, also available on Canvas Commons for direct copy into your course. Simply log in to Canvas and click “Commons” in the far left-hand navigation. Then search “OFE” and “survey.” You can make an anonymous survey in Canvas by setting it as an “ungraded survey” and clicking on “anonymous replies” in the settings.
• Your own survey, focusing on specific questions that are easily answered, such as: “Which of the following in-class activities have you found most useful?” Or, “On a scale of 1-5, how accurate and useful do you believe each of the following assessments is in gauging your learning?”

Have a survey to share? Please let us know!

Resources and References

Addy, T. M., Dube, D., Mitchell, K. A., & SoRelle, M. E. (2021). What Inclusive Instructors Do: Principles and Practices for Excellence in College Teaching. Stylus.

• Example feedback questions (Bates College): Collection of example survey questions from a range of colleges and universities.
• Midterm survey (University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Teaching and Learning