Why Conduct Mid-Semester and End-of-Semester Surveys
Surveys can be used to gauge how students are feeling about your course, the materials, and the instructor. Well-constructed surveys can provide instructors with data to assess students’ experience and make adjustments to improve student satisfaction, if needed. "Not only are mid-semester surveys a great idea, but one that we encourage", says Julie Nash, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies and Student Success.
Mid-semester surveys provide feedback that can be applied immediately to the course. Students respond positively when their comments result in changes to the course, leading to improved student attitudes about the class and/or instructor (Keutzer, 1993). It is recommended to keep mid-semester surveys brief and to avoid administering additional surveys at the end of the semester, when end-of semester course evaluations occur, to avoid survey fatigue (Davies, 2019).
How to Build and Deploy Surveys in Qualtrics
UMass Lowell Supports Qualtrics
Qualtrics is a web-based survey software available to all faculty and staff. Surveys can be anonymized and then sent to students. To create an account, navigate to Qualtrics.
The Academic Technology Team has developed three mid-semester survey templates for your convenience. The survey templates can be modified to meet your individual needs, or you can build your own survey.
- Please see our Qualtrics article for more information.
- How to access mid-semester or end of semester templates (pdf)
- Examples of the templates are available for your review (pdf)