The Power of Student Feedback: How To Use Surveys To Improve Your Teaching

As a teacher, you're always looking for ways to improve your teaching. One way to do this is by using student feedback surveys. Student feedback can help you identify what's working and what needs improvement in your classroom. It can also help you better understand your students' needs and preferences. In this blog post, we'll discuss how to use student feedback surveys in your teaching, and we'll provide some tips for getting the most out of them. Keep reading to learn more!

When it comes to student feedback, surveys are a great way to collect data. You can use surveys to ask students about their thoughts on your class, their learning experiences, and more. Surveys can be administered in person or online, and they can be anonymous or confidential. I personally love using Google Forms for my surveys because they are easy to administer and collect. And then it also makes looking at the data easy as well!

When creating a student feedback survey, it's important to keep a few things in mind. First, you'll want to make sure that the questions you're asking are clear and concise. Know ahead of time what you are wanting to improve and target those things with your questions. Rather than saying “Do you like this class?” you could ask something like “Which unit in this class is your favorite and what did you enjoy about it?” Now we are going to get real information about the curriculum and what the students are enjoying and why.

It's also good to give students ample time to respond to your surveys. I generally give them a week because they can do the Google Form any time and anywhere, but if you are doing paper copies or giving time in class, you will want to make sure they have ample time and that it is clear that they can take their time. 

Lastly, you should consider offering incentives for students who complete your surveys. This could be something as simple as extra credit or a chance to win a prize. This means that it wouldn’t really be anonymous, but you can look at the data separate from the names and just use the names to be able to tell who did it and give them their rewards.

Once you've collected the data from your student feedback surveys, it's time to analyze it. This is where you'll look for patterns and trends in the responses. For example, if you're noticing that many students are struggling with a particular concept, you may want to consider reteaching that concept in your class. Alternatively, if you're seeing that students are generally enjoying your class, you can use that feedback to inform your teaching going forward.

I had a student one year tell me that he was feeling overstimulated in my classroom because there was too much stuff on the walls and so I took down about half of it. Not only did it help him focus, but it probably helped other kiddos too, and the other students didn’t really notice. 

Student feedback surveys are a great way to collect data about your students' thoughts and experiences in your class. By asking clear and concise questions, you can get valuable insights that will help you improve your teaching. 

So don't hesitate to give student feedback surveys a try in your classroom and if you are looking for a survey to use in your classroom for the end of the quarter, grab one that is done for you! It asks about the class, the curriculum, and you as the teacher! Get all the info you need to help make positive changes in your classroom!