A quick guide to education surveys

There are three main types of surveys used within educational institutions like colleges, schools, and universities – student satisfaction surveys, student career surveys, and academic research surveys conducted by students: 

• Student satisfaction surveys aim to receive insight from the respondent in the form of feedback.
• Student career surveys aim to offer insight to the respondent in the form of guidance.
• Academic research surveys aim to conduct primary research that students, especially postgraduate students, can use within their studies – alongside secondary research.

Later on we will dive into the different types of surveys educational institutions might like to utilize, but before we do let’s explore how academic surveys can boost satisfaction, engagement, and learner retention.

Benefits of Online Academic Survey Tools

Online academic survey tools are an intuitive, affordable method that will improve your educational service.

Improving the quality of education

The first reason to build a regular survey student satisfaction process within your institution is that feedback will make your service better. 

Surveys for learner satisfaction offer real feedback from people really impacted, which will push your administrators and educators to improve the teaching and learning they offer.

Enhancing student satisfaction

It may seem counterintuitive that an outlet for criticism may boost overall scholar satisfaction, but in most cases, feeling heard by their educational institution will improve your pupils' sense of care. 

Online surveys that are routinely sent out, with data collected at regular intervals, will further promote this feeling of wellbeing and improved satisfaction.

Increasing transparency between educator and learner

Academic surveys will foster an atmosphere of open feedback that creates a positive impact beyond the survey. 

Not only does a clear feedback process empower learners to be more honest in general, but it also means that educators hear that feedback. Student surveys for teachers can function essentially as anonymous feedback forms, which can be greatly beneficial.

Rooting decisions in data

Online academic survey tools like Checkbox make it easy to store and analyze data on an ongoing basis. The more surveys you do, the better your future decisions will be.

With easy access to current and past data, educational institutions will be able to make more informed decisions based on a wider range of quantitative and qualitative feedback.

Student Satisfaction Surveys

Student satisfaction surveys take a wide variety of forms, but all generally aim to canvas pupils for feedback on their studying experience. 

The most common types of student satisfaction surveys are:

1. Instructor evaluation surveys – these give you a first-hand insight into the effectiveness of teaching methods.
2. Class feedback surveys – these let you assess the quality of support offered by faculty members, as well as the overall condition of the facilities and campuses.
3. Course evaluation surveys – these help you source a wide range of views on how to improve course content.

Online surveys are an especially useful tool for gauging pupil satisfaction as they can be sent out wholesale to large cohorts, and responses can be automatically collated for more accurate future analysis.

Instructor evaluation surveys and class feedback surveys are both vital for educational institutions wanting to ensure that they're providing a high level of teaching. Teacher, mentor, and class survey questions will help you understand:

• how effective your teaching methods are;
• the relationships and dynamics (positive and negative!) between your professors and scholars; and
• how conducive your classroom environment is to strong learning results.

Course evaluation surveys look closer at how educators and learners work alongside each other – especially at college research level. Here online surveys are a key tool, as they ensure anonymity, and help maintain strong working relationships whilst offering an outlet for honest feedback.

Student Career Surveys

Surveys to find out your career options are an essential tool for educational institutions, as they will help your students gain a better understanding of their potential future goals. 

These will usually ask questions about career goals, preferred industries, previous work experiences, predicted education qualifications, and lifestyle preferences. 

But thinking about a career can be a scary thing for some pupils – anonymised online student career surveys will help with this through dynamic responses, links to helpful resources, and faculty contact details.

Education Survey Question Examples

As you send surveys, gather responses, and analyze the data, you will naturally develop the education survey questions you choose to include. Adapting questions to gain the best insight is natural and valuable, and helps your institution to grow. 

Here are some sample education survey questions to help with your course evaluation survey templates, teacher survey templates, and student career survey templates:

Student Survey Questions

• How would you rate the quality of course content and materials provided?
• How satisfied are you with the accessibility and responsiveness of learner support services?

Classroom Survey Questions

• How welcoming did you find the classroom environment?
• Were you satisfied with resources provided in the classroom?

Course Evaluation Survey Questions

• How effective did you find the teaching methods used during classes?
• Did the course objectives align with your expectations?
• How would you rate the organization of the course structure, assignments, and assessment?

Career Survey Questions

• Which industries are you most interested in entering following graduation?
• Are you more interested in working in an independent, corporate, or academic environment?

Education Surveys Summary

Online education surveys are a cheap, effective way of getting a large range of viewpoints to help you improve your business in the ways that matter. 

By staying in touch with students through regular education surveys and real-time reporting, you'll be able to make decisions informed by what your scholars really want.

Checkbox is a flexible, cost-effective tool that's trusted by thousands of companies for high-quality survey creation – find out more about Checkbox's easy-to-use survey templates, or enjoy your free demo today.