students feedback survey cvr

Student Surveys:Insightful Tools for Enhanced Education

Try a free Voxco Online sample survey!

SHARE THE ARTICLE ON

Table of Contents

Just like an organization requires its employee’s feedback and opinions on its functioning,. In the education field, students’ perspectives on the operation of Universities and Schools also hold importance.

A student survey gathers students’ opinions on curriculum, school atmosphere, and teaching methods. The feedback from the students is intuitive information that can help in major decisions regarding education and student welfare.

Educational institutes run surveys on the students periodically with the purpose of improving. Questions that are not biased but which benefit the academic field should compose the survey. Moreover, the survey must be dynamic, with questions targeting all the relevant sections.

The survey should make sure students can share their honest opinions without fear or confusion. Anonymous student survey is a way to ensure that students don’t feel afraid to put forth their honest opinion.

A student survey helps teachers and administrators understand students’ opinions and issues.

NSS (National Student Survey) helps universities in improving the academic experience of the students by informing them what the students think.

What are student surveys?

Surveys for students gives students a platform to voice their opinion on their experience, satisfaction, needs, and concerns. Education institutes use student surveys to measure student engagement at the beginning, mid, and end of the school year. 

The feedback helps identify the key areas that require improvement and the strengths of the educational institute. It helps you evaluate every aspect of a student’s journey, including curriculum, activities, education models, safety, teachers, etc.

Start building impactful surveys today with Voxco!

Access our award-winning survey software, complete with 10+ survey templates, a comprehensive question library, a market research toolkit, and more.  

Types of Student Surveys

There are different survey types based on the need of the student and their opinion. You cannot mix different issues in a single survey because it will confuse the students. Therefore it is better to create relevant surveys that serve the purpose.

Satisfaction Survey

1. How likely would you recommend this school/college to your family and friends to join?

 2. Are you satisfied with your canteen service?

3. Are you facing an issue understanding any class/course?

Such question types are a part of the student satisfaction survey. This type of student survey is meant to gather feedback from students on how satisfied they are with the overall school’s performance. A student’s opinion can gauge how successful the school is within students.

This survey can contain multiple-choice or open-ended questions to motivate the students to give their reviews freely. Questions can range from the school infrastructure to the teaching and non-teaching staff and academic courses.

The survey is beneficial when conducted at regular intervals because it helps analyze the changes and the improvements. Moreover, the school can understand if the implemented changes were working or not. New strategies and development could be planned based on the latest report and its comparison with the previous survey.

students feedback survey4

Check out Voxco Online features to see how it can help you unlock the power of data with its robust functionalities.

  • 50+ question types
  • Advanced logic 
  • White-label
  • Auto-translations in 100+ languages

Course Evaluation

1. How would you rank the lesson of this year from easiest to hardest?

2. What two things do you think can improve classroom teaching?

The course a student has to focus on and the teaching method adopted by a teacher evaluated from a student’s perspective bring light to the discomfort the only student faces. Made of specific questions focused on evaluating how comfortable the students feel with the course, this survey can lead to edification changes.

Open-ended questions will provide a detailed explanation, but Likert-type questions and rating questions can also serve the purpose in some cases. In the case of asking questions about a specific class or teacher, you can use a Likert question.

students feedback survey1

Teacher Evaluation

  1. Does your teacher respond to your doubts on their subject?
  2. How well does your teacher react to your and your classmates’ suggestions?
  3. Would you recommend this teacher to the junior classes?

Students evaluating their teachers based on teaching methods and attitude is important. A teacher evaluation can highlight the issue a student finds when dealing with the teacher, be it in the class with a lesson or out of class.

A teacher evaluation can show problems a student has with the teacher, whether in class or outside of class. Students spend a lot of time with teachers. Their feedback can show if the teacher is professional or not.

A student perception survey of the teachers can provide pointers on how to improve the teaching staff. Being around students and staff for more than 5 hours a day can cause problems like bullying and sexual harassment.

students feedback survey2
students feedback survey3

See how Voxco helped Coyne Research boost productivity by 100% & reduce scripting time by 50%.

Student Harassment Survey

  1. Have you or your friend faced bullying in this school?
  2. How often do students report harassment?
  3. Does the school respond and resolve the case of sexual harassment or bullying?
  4. What do you think schools should do to decrease bullying in the future?

Students spending time among many students and staff for more than 5 hours a day can cause troubles like bullying and sexual harassment. Students may feel fear or shame to report such events directly to a teacher.

A student harassment survey can help the student report such an incident without any hesitation. The survey brings the attention of the authorities to such issues. Moreover, it demonstrates how knowledgeable students are regarding bullying, sexual, or verbal harassment.

Anonymous student surveys are the most useful when conducting a harassment survey. Students will feel peace of mind knowing their identity won’t be disclosed. Students are of a tender mentality and may fear threats, but an anonymous survey may give them the confidence to come forward in the future.

The school also needs to be more on alert when conducting the survey to prevent any influence. The survey allows the school to have full knowledge of the kind of assault or harassment taking place in school. This, in the future, can lead to the students reporting cases directly to the school and demanding justice.

Back to the school student survey

1. What new skill do you wish to learn this semester/school year?

2. Are there any school activities you would like to participate in this year?

3. What career-related skills do you want to learn?

4. Which class or activity are you looking forward to the most?

5. What excites you for the start of this year?

This is a simple survey for students that evaluates students’ excitement or dread at the beginning of the school year. Regardless of the grade, you can use this student survey to understand each student’s temperament. 

The information you gather from students can help teachers and staff to prepare the best for each student. You can gauge a student’s hopes, fears, and moods and make plans to improve the good and reduce the bad experience. 

Moreover, with student interest surveys, you can identify what the students are looking forward to most this year. This will help you understand the student’s interests so you can encourage them to pursue their interested field.

Student graduation survey

1. How would you rate the relevance of the coursework in your final year?

2. How satisfied are you with the availability of the resources in the school?

3. On a scale of 1 to 9, how well would you say the school activities and curriculum had prepared you for the future? 

4. What are your thoughts on the counseling support given to graduating students?

Just like an exit job interview helps a company identify the negative aspect of the workplace, a survey for students who are graduating will help the school board in the same way. The freedom of leaving feedback without any repercussions will encourage students to share their honest opinion. 

Questions such as the ones mentioned above will help you identify how students feel about their experience in the school. It serves as a type of student perception survey of the school, which tells you if the students think they have benefitted from the school activities. 

You can use the feedback to build upon the strengths and drive changes where required.

Why should you conduct student surveys?

A well-designed student survey can help you design a data-driven curriculum for the coming years. By understanding the areas of improvement and students’ concerns, you can rethink a student’s experience. 

Below are some key reasons to conduct a student survey. 

01. Understand your students and their needs:

As a teacher, it is important to know and understand your students and what they need. Without this basic understanding, no matter how great the study materials are, your students won’t be ready for the next step. 

Surveys can help you get insight into the student, their expectations, concerns, and needs. It can help you understand – How they learn the best? What are their favorite subjects? Which classes do they struggle with the most? 

While you can’t change your lesson plan based on every student’s preference. You can use the insight to redesign it to make it easier for every student to learn faster. 

02. Enhance student experiences:

You can use student surveys to understand their concern about campus safety or teaching quality. Surveys are a comprehensive way to gather feedback on any topic. Using surveys for students, you can gain insight into students’ experience, satisfaction, perception, interest, and more. 

With student feedback, you can modify the teachings in real time to improve the in-class experience. It can help teachers understand the student’s habits, needs, and fears. Using this insight, you can improve the positive experience and mitigate students’ concerns. 

03. Gauge the learning environment:

Most of the time, educational institutes use surveys to evaluate teaching plans or teachers’ performance. However, you must also use surveys to measure the impact of the learning environment, such as classroom culture, physical/digital resources, etc. 

Understand how accessible the resources are in the institute to the students. Ask students how effective the classroom culture is in their education. Students need to feel comfortable and secure in the learning environment. 

Use student surveys to learn what makes students feel uncomfortable or factors that you might otherwise miss.

Importance of Student Surveys

Students, if given the opportunity, can bring to light many issues that the school may overlook. They have opinions regarding ways to improve their experience in schools/universities. While this is enough reason to conduct a student survey, there are a few more reasons that student surveys can be of importance.

Reveals problems:

Students spend the most time around other students and are surrounded by the academy. They are more aware of what goes on inside the student body. The student survey may reveal problems and issues otherwise hidden from the authority.

A student survey also informs the school about the challenges students face in a class. This can lead to schools developing programs and lessons to provide support to the students.

Solves funding:

Schools may suffer from budget problems which can lead to teacher layoffs and more students. This may also lead to a cut-off of courses like arts and sports and other under-developed courses.

The student’s opinions on what they find more important can be applied in structuring a proper plan for the school. The school can plan its budget and financial investments with the help of students’ opinions.

Promotes school reputation:

A school’s reputation depends heavily on students’ perceptions. If the public hears negative comments about the school, this may lead to fewer students in the future. However, a student survey can support the school in creating a positive reputation.

Students’ opinions about the safety of the school, professionalism of teachers, academic excellence, etc., can help promote the school and spread positive news about the school.

Conducting Student Surveys

Now that you know the reasons to conduct student surveys and the best survey types to gather student feedback, here are four steps to creating an effective survey for students. 

Decide the question pattern:

It is important to set a tone for the survey that is easy to follow and asks relevant questions. Teachers can be asked to design the survey based on their knowledge about the class they share a bond with. This can help design a survey specific to a class and the students.

Send the surveys:

Class teachers can be asked to hand over the handout of the survey, in case of a pen-paper survey, to each student in their class. The school or university can also be appointed to update the survey on the website and inform the students to participate. An email is also an option for conducting the survey.

Analyze the data:

The teachers can be tasked to handle a particular class. They can analyze the feedback and opinions of the students and keep track. They can segment what the students are unhappy about, what their issues are, and what they like to develop further a plan to solve any issue.

Take action:

Any survey is meaningless if no action is taken. After analyzing the reports, it is important that the teachers and the school implement changes around the school and address the issues. The student’s insight should be used to improve the school’s performance and the welfare of the students.

Conclusion

Students have a lot of feedback for you about their journey in the school. Listen to the student’s voices to transform the education model and make it valuable for the students. Giving students the opportunity to voice their opinion helps you as an educator understand the school and learning environment from students’ perspectives. This helps build a supportive education system and a healthy school model.

FAQs

1. What is a student survey?

Student surveys include a structured questionnaire to collect feedback from students on various factors of their educational experience. Educational institutions, such as schools, colleges, etc., use it to gather data and insights about students’ opinions, perceptions, and experiences related to their academic and emotional well-being.

2. Why should schools conduct student surveys?

Some of the reasons why schools should conduct student surveys are the following: 

  • Student surveys allow schools to collect feedback from students about their experiences, which helps identify areas for improvement and make impactful changes.
  • It helps assess the effectiveness of educational programs or initiatives, such as curriculum, teaching methods, and support services. 
  • Student surveys provide valuable data to help administrators and teachers make informed decisions about school policies, activities, education programs, and resource allocation.
  • Schools can use surveys for students as a medium to demonstrate accountability to parents, students, and the community. They can show that they are actively seeking student opinion and taking action based on the feedback.

3. What are the types of questions asked in a student survey?

Some common question types that you can include in a student survey are:

1. Satisfaction questions: Use these questions to assess students’ satisfaction with their educational experiences, such as teachers, curriculum, and resources.

2. Engagement questions: Measure students’ engagement in activities, such as classroom discussions, extracurricular activities, and homework completion. This will help understand their level of involvement and interest in their education.

3. Perceptions questions: Student perception surveys help gather opinions on topics such as school climate, safety, bullying, and social-emotional well-being. The data helps assess their well-being in the school environment.

4. What are the uses of student survey data?

Here are some common uses of the student survey data. 

  • The data can help you identify areas for improvement in educational programs, teaching plans, and resources. Schools can use the feedback to enhance their program and remove what’s not working. 
  • Using the survey data, you can evaluate the effectiveness of the education programs and initiatives. By measuring student satisfaction, schools can assess the impact of their program on students’ skill and knowledge development. 
  • Using the data, you can drive changes and enhance school activities. It can help communicate to the parents and students the efforts schools take to improve the education experience. This can help build students’ trust in school. 

5. How often should you conduct student surveys?

The frequency of a student survey depends on two things- 

  • The goal of your survey.
  • The time it takes to drive action and see change.

However, it is important to gather student feedback annually, periodically, or after critical events. 

6. How should you encourage participation in student surveys?

Follow these steps to increase participation in student surveys: 

1. Communicate clearly the purpose of the survey. 

2. Remind students about the survey before the day of the survey. 

3. In online surveys, use skip logic and branching to ask questions relevant to students’ answers. 

4. Allow students to participate anonymously in the survey. 

5. Put aside a class or a specific time for students to complete the survey.

Read more