This article explains how instructors can set up Early Term Student Feedback surveys in the Student Rating of Teaching (SRT) system. The SRT system is used to help improve teaching, to rate and acknowledge teaching effectiveness, and to assist future students in selecting courses.
In this article:
Note: If you need any additional assistance, email SRT support at [email protected] or visit the Student Rating of Teaching website.
Planning the Timing of Your Survey
You need to decide the best time frame for your students to complete the survey. Here are a few considerations to keep in mind:
- Based on the Start Date and Time you select, students will receive an invitation email from the Center for Education Innovation (CEI) asking them to complete the survey. At that point, they can access the survey.
- We recommend keeping the survey open for at least 3–5 days.
- It is best to give students time in class to finish the survey. This will increase your response rate, and you can review the results and discuss them with your students in a timely manner.
- You can set the exact time for each survey to open, so if you have class time set aside for gathering feedback, set the Start Date for that class time.
- Be sure that you inform students that they will be receiving the survey and why you are collecting feedback. Ask them to watch for the email from CEI.
- You will receive the results of the survey based on the set End Date.
Note: Students will not be able to complete the survey after the set End Date.
Creating a Survey
Follow the steps below to create a survey for your students, keeping in mind the recommendations given in the Planning the Timing for Your Survey section in this article.
- Sign in to umn.bluera.com with your University internet ID and password.
- You will begin on the home page with My Active Tasks prominently visible in the main body of the screen.
- There should be an Early Term Feedback task for each course you are teaching this semester.
- Examine your task list to find the course(s) and section(s) you want to send the survey to:
- There is a task for every section you are teaching this semester.
- The Ends on date is the last date that you can set up your feedback survey.
- Select View to set up an Early Term Feedback survey for that course.
- After the course opens, select Create. A new window will open over the application with options to create the survey.
- Choose your survey date range by selecting the calendar icon to the right of the Start Date and End Date fields to update the date and time.
- The Start Date is the date and time when students will be sent an email asking them to complete the survey.
- The End Date is the date and time when the survey will close for students and send the instructor an email with the results.
- Note: If you choose a time outside of the available window, red text will appear to remind you of the available date range.
- Important: Select Apply to update the Start Date and End Date. The date will not change if you do not make this selection.
- Select Launch in the bottom right corner. This will only appear if all of your selections meet the allowed date range.
- Add the chosen dates to your calendar and/or syllabus.
- After setting up a survey, the tasks associated with the course that you just set up should now say Complete instead of Open. These will show in the full task list viewable through the Tasks link from the navigation menu at the top of the page. Repeat the process for your other classes.
- Note: You may need to reload your browser's tab to see the updated status.
Viewing Survey Results
Once the End Date has passed, you will receive an email notification with a link to your report.
- Reports can also be found from the Reports upper navigation menu at umn.bluera.com.
- Once data collection has started, a Reports link will also appear in the lower left corner of the individual course display window where the Create button was located in Step 4 of Creating a Survey (outlined above).
Learn more about the Response Rate Monitor: