Strategies for conducting student feedback surveys

Online courses can face low response rates when surveys are emailed. To boost participation, consider placing your survey inside your course, not in email. You will get more responses when students encounter it during their regular coursework. To give participation an additional boost, you can give students dedicated time to complete it. For example, replace a discussion or short activity with the survey. 

Another strategy, if your LMS or survey platform allows it, is to require completion before students move forward in the course. Explore Best Practices for Mid-Course Feedback for additional ideas how ways you can collect feedback quickly. text

For collecting course feedback, consider keeping your survey anonymous. Students are more honest when their responses are not tied to their names. You can still track who completed the survey if needed, but do not connect identities to responses. 

If you have a very small group of students in a course, consider a live feedback conversation instead of a survey. You can ask similar questions and take notes on themes.

When writing questions, focus only on areas you can adjust during the course. Avoid questions that are too broad or questions that could only be answered at the conclusion of the course. Where possible, use a mixture of question types:

• Multiple choice questions (Example: I prefer the following course communication format: email, LMS message, text). 
• Rating questions (Example: course materials are easy to follow), followed by an open-ended question (Example: Please explain your rating) 
• Open-ended questions (Example: What is one change that would improve your experience right now?) 

Keep the survey as short as you can. A good rule of thumb is about 5 to 8 questions total. 

Once feedback is collected, review it promptly. Look for patterns, not one-off comments and craft a short summary of findings. Then, close the loop with your students. Let them know:

• What you heard
• What you will change
• What cannot change and why

Use or adapt the example below as a starting point for your own course survey.

Thank you for taking a few minutes to share your feedback. Your responses are anonymous. I will review your feedback after the survey closes and share any updates with the class.

1. Course materials are clear and easy to follow.
   Strongly disagree / Disagree / Neutral / Agree / Strongly agree
   Please explain your rating:
2. Assignments challenge me.
   Strongly disagree / Disagree / Neutral / Agree / Strongly agree
   Please explain your rating:
3. Instructor feedback is timely and helps me improve.
   Strongly disagree / Disagree / Neutral / Agree / Strongly agree / Not applicable
   Please explain your rating:
4. I know what is expected of me each week.
   Strongly disagree / Disagree / Neutral / Agree / Strongly agree
   Please explain your rating:
5. Which course communication method works best for you?
   Email / LMS messages / Announcements / Other (please specify)
6. What is helping you learn in this course?
7. What is one change that would improve your experience right now?

Student feedback surveys provide institutions and instructors with powerful information they can use to improve student learning and thus strengthen the institution as a whole. By optimizing the question types and encouraging students to participate appropriately, you can leverage these opportunities for feedback to benefit everyone involved in your online course.