reminders for students
Our team sends an email invitation and two reminder emails with a general link to the Course Survey Portal to students over the course of their survey period.
If you are using Canvas, a link to the survey portal will appear under the 'Course Evaluation' section starting on this day. You will also receive an email notifying you that the survey has begun. However, research confirms that encouragement from instructors can significantly boost student response rates.
Here are some optional tools you can use throughout your course to engage with your students and show them that their feedback is important to you:
Including it in your Course Syllabus
Consider adding a short section to your course syllabus about student feedback and review it with your students at the beginning of the term. See your survey schedule to add specific dates. The note could look something like:
Learning Experience Feedback: Towards the end of the course, you will receive an email from the Course Experience Survey (CES) program inviting you to give feedback (confidentially) on your learning experience in this course. You will get to reflect on how the course content worked for you as well as provide feedback on my teaching. I value this feedback and use it to make changes to this course, reflect on my teaching approach, and add highlights to my teaching portfolio. If you have any feedback or concerns before this time, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
Adding a Slide to your Course Presentation Deck
During the week of your course survey, acknowledging that the survey is now live in your next class will help students understand that their feedback is important to you. Providing 15-minutes of in-class time to participate in the survey is recommended to improve response rate. Here is a reminder slide you can use for your course(s):
Canvas Announcement
Plan on including a reminder on Canvas either before or during your survey to reach as many students as possible. Here is a template you can use on the day your survey begins:
Canvas/Email messaging template:
Today, you should have received an email from the Course Experience Survey (CES) program inviting you to give feedback about your learning experience in this course. I would appreciate it if you could please take some time to provide your honest reflection on this course. Your responses are confidential and I count on your feedback to improve this course and reflect on my teaching approach. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!