ONLINE ADJUNCT FACULTY TIP #27 - Making an End-Of-Course Survey / Soliciting Feedback

There are times in life when feedback is unwelcome. For instance, my golf game. I know its subpar (pun intended), but have no burning desire to be "coached" in the great hopes of earning my tour card. Hey, smacking a plastic Wonderloaf sack full of St. Vinney's re-tread golf balls around the links with friends holds no pretenses of being anything more than a social outing. I don't even keep score, much less replace my divets, but I do abide by clubhouse rules and have the courtesy to move on to the next futile tee box after the approximate dozen strokes that brought me to within sight of the green (not including the standard Mulligan-per-hole).

OK, so when does this instructor want feedback...???

I want, I want, I want...feedback from the students that I've instructed. Good or bad, I want feedback -- I want students to rate my effectiveness as an instructor -- I want students to sing the praises and yell the pitfalls of the syllabus... You might think that an end-of-course survey is an "automatic" with any university. Ironically, it's not a requirement for half of the institutions I work with -- and the places that do require a survey often fail to capture the information I personally want as an instructor.

My survey is 10 questions - with a mix of True/False, Likert Scale and open-ended boxes. I've utilized http://www.freeonlinesurveys.com/ to build my surveys (a screenshot is posted above). The service is easy to use, is free (of cour$e), and provides a postable URL to the created survey. There are more features with the paid version, but the free version will be all that most folks will need to garner core feedback.

Why do a survey? My primary reason for an end-of-course survey is to evaluate the syllabus. The secondary reasons are to assess the classroom (ease of navigation, layout, etc.) and also effectiveness of the instructor. Trust me, I've made several syllabus revisions (improvements) based directly upon survey results.

When should the instructor post the link to the survey? I post the URL to the survey (as a class ANNOUNCEMENT) the second to the last day of the course. In Blackboard, I also click the "Email announcement to all students" box. I allow students 5 days to complete the survey.

I've found that, on average, 50% of students will complete the survey - which I judge to be a solid rate.

Another Thought for the Survey... I've been tossing around the idea of a "Pre-Survey" -- in which I would conduct a brief K-W-L (Know, Want, Learn) activity. I predict that information would assist me in placing emphasis on various discussion questions in addition to seeking and incorporating supportive outside links and resources. This approach would allow the course to be more responsive and dynamic, yet certainly places a greater load upon the instructor and requires rapid turnaround... I'm sure I'll pilot it with a smaller class - and I look forward to sharing my findings in this BLOG.

By the way...I bought my best driver for $2.99 from the local Goodwill - rescued it from the barrel of miscellaneous clubs in the rear of the store. Yet, acquiring clubs in this manner is risky - as how does one distinguish whether a club was originally part of a man's or woman's set? Hmmm...