Re: Is it just me?!

Dear Eugene,

Your percentages are similar to those I initially had for my two classes. Because my courses are blended, I did not have an opportunity to provide time during the in-class lecture for students to fill them out.

For what it's worth, Announcements I posted in Canvas last week encouraging students to complete the surveys seemed to have helped, as the percentages are now doubled.

To my knowledge, this issue has gotten attention in recent years, and I imagine there have been committees and units who have explored the problem in depth. Perhaps there is a faculty or staff member who could point us to report findings or conclusions. My understanding has been such response rates are not unusual for online surveys.

Best,

Suzanne

Dr. Suzanne K. Hilgendorf
(she, her, hers)

Professor | Linguistics
Simon Fraser University | Robert C. Brown Hall Building, Room 9201
8888 University Dr., Burnaby, B.C. V5A 1S6 CANADA
T: + 778 782 8583 | https://skhilgendorf.weebly.com/

From: Eugene McCann <emccann@sfu.ca>
Sent: Monday, December 4, 2023 21:05
To: Faculty Forum Mail List
Subject: Is it just me?!

Dear colleagues,

Thought I’d use this forum to try to help me understand something going on in my classes and maybe yours too:

As of earlier today, only about 15% of students in one of my classes and 20% in another had filled in their Course Evaluations online. That means something like 12 responses have flooded in for two classes with a total of ~75 students. The rate is much lower than when I used to do these on paper, in person.

I have announced the online evals on Canvas, in class, (even with a very clever Bernie Sanders-themed slide, if I do say so myself), and I’ve encouraged the students to do them in class during break.

So, is this a common experience? Has the shift to online evaluations reduced response rates significantly?

Does there need to be a rethink?

Or is it just me?

Best,

Eugene

_______________________________________________________
Eugene McCann (he/him/his)
Professor, Geography
Associate Faculty, Sociology & Anthropology
Simon Fraser University

Managing Editor, EPC: Politics & Space
https://journals.sagepub.com/home/epc

Minor Revisions podcast
https://journals.sagepub.com/page/epc/collections/podcasts

Personal website: https://emccanngeog.wordpress.com

Contact information:
Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University,
8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada
Unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

Email: emccann@sfu.ca; Phone: 778-782-3321