I also got many more responses on paper in the old days. I now have my mid-semester, paper-based, anonymous survey where I ask the students to respond to just before a quiz (pro: ~100% response rate, con: stress on students). This survey is simple and mostly about course delivery to that point and anything I should change for the rest of the semester (and I do listen).
The digital survey at the end of the semester does not get more than 25-35% response rate in my courses (close to the average across the school). I have found that asking students specific questions about the course delivery (you could add your questions) and letting them know about the chance to comment will motivate a few more to participate.
Nonetheless, I am going to try to run an experiment next semester and ask the students to stay in the class for 15 minutes during the last lecture and fill out the forms in the classroom (like the old days of paper-based feedback). I will probably guard the door so that nobody runs away 😊 Some might still decide to do other things, provide less than useful responses, or just be annoyed with this, but this might hopefully provide more feedback.
Cheers
From: Laura Tate <laura_tate@sfu.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, December 5, 2023 10:29 AM
To: Andrew von Nordenflycht <vonetc@sfu.ca>; Eugene McCann <emccann@sfu.ca>; Faculty Forum Mail List <academic-discussion@sfu.ca>
Subject: Re: Is it just me?!
Andrew, I like your approach. True, it lacks the validity of a formal survey administered by someone else; however, I understand that there are alternative ways of assessing us anyhow if we feel that the surveys are not representative of our teaching.
I did something similar to you in one of my courses, where I asked students to reflect on their strengths (I had them do a strengths assessment at the start of the course), and how those strengths helped them (or did not) during their work over the term. I enjoyed reading those reflections a lot, since they showed the students really tuning in to who they were as people, and many of them mulling over where to go next with their personal development.
Laura
Dr. Laura Tate (she/her)
Lecturer
Resource and Environmental Planning Program
Simon Fraser University
8888 University Drive
Burnaby, BC
From: Andrew von Nordenflycht <vonetc@sfu.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, December 5, 2023 10:24 AM
To: Eugene McCann; Faculty Forum Mail List
Subject: RE: Is it just me?!
Eugene – you write: “I always say to them that these are mainly for me: I read them, I especially appreciate written comments, and if I see the same concern recurring I try to adjust the class for the future. Apparently this has little impact”
To ‘solve’ the problem of not getting useful feedback for me in my own courses, I now distribute a paper-based survey in class and dedicate 10 minutes to let them fill it in. It asks questions about course content and format – what worked for them / didn’t work for them – to help me improve it. And the response rate is very high. 😊
I recognize this doesn’t address the need for the school or programs to evaluate instructional quality and effort. But better than nothing.
From: Eugene McCann <emccann@sfu.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, December 5, 2023 7:22 AM
To: Faculty Forum Mail List <academic-discussion@sfu.ca>
Subject: Re: Is it just me?!
Thanks to all of you who have replied so far (some direct to me as well as others on here). There’s an obvious correlation between the switch to online and the general significant decline in feedback. Hard not to see that as causation …
Someone who replied directly to me also hypothesized that part of the issue is that students have figured out the surveys seem to be less relevant than they used to be to profs careers etc. So why would they bother, the person asks?
An excellent undergrad who I happened to be talking to last week was also complaining the questions seem odd and oddly-written (they were talking about dept and univ. level ones as I understood it.). In this case, I explained the shift away from ‘evaluate the quality of the course/instructor questions as a result of a realization that students couldn’t necessarily judge quality and that evidence shows that those sorts of questions lead to women, BIPOC, Trans faculty, etc. getting lower evaluations. We agreed this was a good shift … but they maintained the new questions are weird!
Another undergrad, argued that the only way anything changes is when students complain in an extraordinary way about a specific issue/incident and/or the media picks up on something.
That’s about extreme cases though. I always say to them that these are mainly for me: I read them, I especially appreciate written comments, and if I see the same concern recurring I try to adjust the class for the future. Apparently this has little impact.
Another theory of mine is that these Surveys, in their online form, have melded into the exhausting welter of satisfaction surveys we all get every time we buy a product or service ("Rate your satisfaction with the toothpaste you just bought from Shoppers!"). I never (I assume most people don’t) complete those. Maybe students, as citizens, consumers, are just sick to death of being surveyed (esp. if they don’t see any concrete outcomes). I don’t know ...
As for incentivizing responses with with bonus points (why not chocolate bars?!), as another off-list respondent was advised to do: No. I’m not doing that. Unbelievable.
Thanks again for the responses. Happy to see more experiences/theories sent to this list. It’s a great forum for discussion of various perspectives on important issues!
Best,
Eugene
On Dec 4, 2023, at 9:05 PM, Eugene McCann <emccann@sfu.ca> wrote:
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
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_______________________________________________________
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
_______________________________________________________
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