So much is changing on campus this term, and it’s important to pay attention to how these changes impact your faculty and students.
In a Spring 2020 Watermark survey of 850 participants at 706 institutions, 87% of respondents said they’re highly prioritizing student feedback as a way to get insight into curriculum and the student experience. But the pandemic caused 51% of institutions to adjust their processes. Why?
| 61.5% | had concerns about the context and use of responses gathered during COVID-19 | 20.1% | were using a paper-based or other method that wasn’t feasible during COVID-19 | |
| 47.2% | had concerns about how COVID-19 may alter the data collection | 7.3% | didn’t have time or capacity to conduct course evaluations given COVID-19 restraints |
In a Spring 2020 Watermark survey, 46% of respondents indicated that their institutions planned to increase the frequency of feedback collection, add new surveys and questions, and add additional course evaluations to survey schedules in Summer and Fall 2020. Use these tips to make effective adjustments to your course evaluations.
Consider adding new surveys or custom questions to help you provide the right kind of support to students and faculty. Swinburne University used their early check-in survey to gauge students’ satisfaction with faculty communications, their ability to access online resources, and whether they need additional support.
Recent research by EDUCAUSE shows institutions are finding creative ways to provide support to students and survey feedback can help determine what is most helpful. Some options include:
The pandemic is also creating unique challenges for students as they adjust to hybrid learning models, including time management, self-direction, finding reliable internet access and a quiet location to work, and increased stress outside of school. Use custom questions like those suggested by EDUCAUSE to learn how to best support students through these unique difficulties.
Stick to the same timelines, offer the same access to responses, and work from the same survey instruments. It’s important to show students you’re consistently collecting feedback and that their opinions are valued.
Allow programs to adjust their survey length or add additional questions. For example, one college at Washburn University shortened their survey from 50+ questions to just five, and all other units could add an open-ended, neutral question for students to provide additional comments.
According to our survey, many institutions are looking at course evaluation results from Spring 2020 from a different perspective.
Planned use of Spring 2020 course evaluation results
While most institutions continued collecting student feedback in Spring 2020, less than half (44.8%) planned to use the course evaluation data in faculty reviews. Instead, they’re using student feedback to plan for future terms.
“We don’t want faculty to think we can adequately and reasonably assess the work they’ve done to modify their course to online instruction with one survey. What we really want to do is use this to glean information from students on how to plan for the summer and potentially the fall being online.” – Christa Smith, Academic Effectiveness Analyst at Washburn University
COVID-19 not only impacted the courses students were evaluating – response rates took a hit as well. If you’re among the 59.5% of responding institutions that planned to return to pre-COVID course evaluation plans in Fall 2020 and beyond, be sure to factor these variations, along with any new surveys and the addition of custom questions, into your longitudinal reporting.
Seamless integration with your campus learning management system and the use of notifications, reminders, and pop-ups drive strong response rates. A large percentage of students prefer to complete their evaluations on mobile devices, so make sure your platform adapts to any device.
“Nearly 50% of students use [their mobile phone] to complete their survey. When you tie that in
with the learning management system, you… get the responses because it’s all in the system
where they’re already working.” – Pam Jones, Coordinator, Surveys & Credit Arrangements at Swinburne University of Technology (AU)
It’s essential to stay connected and collect immediate, honest feedback from students as your campus’ plans continue to evolve. By creating a digital evaluation and survey strategy, you’ll be better equipped to collect relevant, actionable feedback, make real-time adjustments, and align your plans with student needs for Fall 2020 and beyond. EvaluationKIT
See how our tools are helping clients right now, get in-depth information on topics that matter, and stay up-to-date on trends in higher ed.
