Gathering and Implementing Student Feedback

Course and Program Evaluation Surveys

Student Opinion of Teaching Surveys (SOTS)

Student Opinion of Teaching Surveys are conducting in all-for credit courses above a department set size of enrolment. The process and use of these surveys are governed by the Collective Agreement Between the University of Prince Edward Island Board of Governors and the University of Prince Edward Island Faculty Association. The questions for these surveys are set by the department and are consistent across the department. SOTS are primarily intended for instructor performance review though with the acknowledged potential for bias against instructors from disadvantaged groups. 

University Initiated Surveys

While the Student Opinion of Teaching Surveys are conducted in all courses and the process is safe-guarded within the Collective Agreement it does not preclude other surveys being conducted. However, only the Student Opinion of Teaching Surveys are to be used for faculty performance review. These surveys may be used for program planning and departmental review. 

Instructor Initiated Surveys

Instructors can also conduct their own surveys for the purpose of their own course development or teaching effectiveness. These instructor initiated surveys are considered the instructors intellectual property and are not to be examined without the instructor's consent. 

Gathering Student Feedback Resources & Course 

Live Polling

Course instructors can conduct live polling in their courses. Live polling can be a strong tool for formative assessment within a course, understanding what students have understood from the course to reorient instructor and learning experiences accordingly, additionally it can be leveraged as a tool for students to provide feedback on their experience of the course as well. For example, an instructor may try an innovative approach and use live polling to gather student reaction to determine whether if that approach would be useful or well-received if deployed in the future. 

Live Polling Tools

There are a variety of tools and approaches to conducting live polling, the following tools are currently provided by UPEI:

Microsoft Forms

Microsoft Forms can be used to create a survey or feedback form. Windows users can embed a form directly into a PowerPoint presentation. 

Google Forms

Instructors can use Google Forms via their UPEI account in Google Drive if they are more familiar with that platform. 

Mootimeter

Mootimeter is an activity installed in Moodle, this tool can be used to run series of questions for select or written response. There is a word cloud option for displaying results.