A Student Survey
Why Student Surveys?
Another great addition to that orientation module that you're working on is a student survey. A student survey creates a space for students to share information with you about them as a learner in your class. Sometimes this information is shared on the discussion board, but that's not an ideal space for sharing more personal information about their specific needs to be successful in your course. A student survey is a more suitable spot for sharing that information.
Surveys Available for Import
When you're ready to craft your survey, one great option is this importable student survey developed as part of the Humanizing Online STEM Academy Links to an external site.. Another survey we love is this one from Juan Bernal (MATH) from his work in the Humanizing Online STEM Academy cohort.
Another student survey available for import is this 'Mesanized" survey which is similar to the above, but also includes a question about the Mesa Journeys tool. This survey was developed as part of our MOST Humanize Summer 2023 Cohort: Getting to Know You Survey.
Creating from Scratch
If you want to create a survey from scratch, create a graded survey as explained in this "How to create a Graded Survey in Canvas Links to an external site." page. Note, this is different from ungraded surveys which you would need to use for anonymous surveys.
Responding to Student Surveys
So what should you do with the survey results once you receive them?
- Allot some time at the start of each semester to make personal contact with a message. You may find that it's worthwhile to message each student, or you may want to focus on students who are expressing concerns or anxiety so that you can give them a warm welcome and begin a conversation about the support that may be helpful.
- For any students you don't personally message, you may want to include something that stood out from the survey, if appropriate when you respond to their icebreaker post in the speed grader. One way to do this is to keep both tabs open and consult each survey as you respond to each student's icebreaker post. You can then decide whether to personally message the student or include information from their survey response in your response to their icebreaker.
- Finally, you can make a note of relevant information for future reference. We will review a simple way to do that using the Notes feature below.
Leveraging Student Surveys
One way you can leverage your student surveys to help your students succeed in the first ten hours and, looking toward Module Four, the first ten days - and beyond - is by noting key information and concerns to refer back to throughout the semester.
Gradebook Notes
An easy way to do this is by using the notes column in the grade book. This is a great place to keep track of key details you learned about students in the student survey. See the screenshot on this page of the sample notes column.
Leveraging your student surveys in this way can go a long way toward creating a sense of belonging, care, and inclusion, and will likely impact your success and retention rate. Many students experience hinge points during the semester in which remaining in a course needs a recommitment. Over time, you might find that the little notes from you, or mentions in office hours, or even as an extra sentence or two in your feedback comments, come just at the right time to help nudge students back "in" to your class, and to college.
If you haven't used notes before, it's super easy:
- Open Grades > Settings (Gear Icon)
- On the View Options tab there's an option to Show Notes. Be sure that checkbox is checked.