I was recently told by a Stanford Lytics Lab researcher that the pre-course survey for Democratic Development had much higher rates of participation than other online classes. "This is by far the highest response I've seen on a MOOC survey," he wrote, wondering how we got "that many responses."
It was a very high priority for us to obtain demographic information about the MOOC participants. We felt it critical to know where students hailed from, in order to better shape the course for them -- structuring forums, noting future subtitle needs -- and to understand the international reach of Democratic Development. (It turns out there were participants from 185 different countries and territories).
How did we attain such high rates of survey responses? To strongly encourage participation in the survey by your students, you can deploy the following strategies:
Message early. Include the link to the survey in the welcome e-mail to students. Invite their participation!
Message often. Include the survey link in subsequent e-mails to students, either in the body or as a post-script. The series of reminders helps because not everyone reads every e-mail.
Integrate the survey into course material. Add in-video questions reminding students to take the survey. At the beginning of some of the early lectures, I added a question where students were asked either to fill out the survey if they hadn't already, or to check the box that they had completed the survey and move on to the video lecture. (Be sure to include the survey URL in the question). It's an extremely effective, but relatively unobtrusive strategy since students will definitely encounter the videos, in contrast to e-mails that they can easily skip over or miss.
It was a very high priority for us to obtain demographic information about the MOOC participants. We felt it critical to know where students hailed from, in order to better shape the course for them -- structuring forums, noting future subtitle needs -- and to understand the international reach of Democratic Development. (It turns out there were participants from 185 different countries and territories).
How did we attain such high rates of survey responses? To strongly encourage participation in the survey by your students, you can deploy the following strategies:
Message early. Include the link to the survey in the welcome e-mail to students. Invite their participation!
Message often. Include the survey link in subsequent e-mails to students, either in the body or as a post-script. The series of reminders helps because not everyone reads every e-mail.
Integrate the survey into course material. Add in-video questions reminding students to take the survey. At the beginning of some of the early lectures, I added a question where students were asked either to fill out the survey if they hadn't already, or to check the box that they had completed the survey and move on to the video lecture. (Be sure to include the survey URL in the question). It's an extremely effective, but relatively unobtrusive strategy since students will definitely encounter the videos, in contrast to e-mails that they can easily skip over or miss.
Make it a required assignment. I made taking the pre-course survey the first "quiz" of the MOOC. This was in lieu of an actual quiz, as we wanted to give the students some time to adjust to the course in the first week. We announced that the quiz was ungraded, and that there were no "right "or wrong" answers, but posted it in the "Quizzes" section of Coursera to give it the same gravitas as a required assignment. We subsequently moved the pre-course survey to "Surveys" a few weeks into the course.
Use inviting language. I framed the survey as a communal endeavor, a way to participate in the Democracy MOOC community. It was also underscored as a way for students to benefit their own learning, because the survey would help the course staff shape a better experience "for you, the students."
Use these methods to invite participation in your survey and learn more about your students! The findings can be eye-opening (and sometimes plain amusing).
Use inviting language. I framed the survey as a communal endeavor, a way to participate in the Democracy MOOC community. It was also underscored as a way for students to benefit their own learning, because the survey would help the course staff shape a better experience "for you, the students."
Use these methods to invite participation in your survey and learn more about your students! The findings can be eye-opening (and sometimes plain amusing).