Here are some key points to highlight the importance and benefits of participating in course evaluation surveys:
Improving Teaching Quality
Enhancing Learning Experience
Curriculum Development
Accountability and Transparency
Student Empowerment
Informed Decision-Making
Faculty Development
Institutional Improvement
Cultivating a Feedback Culture
Champlain Online students are required to take the VOICE survey on their own during a two-week window that falls at the end of the term. Students will be notified of the availability of the survey through email and Canvas reminders, and they will have access to the survey through a module built into the Canvas course by eLearning. In addition to the survey link, the module includes a “quiz” that students must take to signal that they have completed the survey. Students receive a 1% grade increase through the Canvas gradebook upon completion of the quiz. Faculty should encourage students to participate. A high level of participation will ensure that the results are useful and meaningful to improving teaching and learning.
Faculty are required to offer students the opportunity to take the VOICE survey in class during the two-week open-survey period that falls at about weeks 12-13 in a 15-week semester. Students will need access to a computer, tablet, or mobile phone in order to take the survey in the classroom. During the first 20 minutes of a class session that falls within the designated two-week period, the instructor reads (or improvises on) the in-class instructions, points students to the survey url in Canvas, and asks them to take the survey. The instructor leaves the room while students are completing the survey. Instructions are available on how to plan ahead for administration of the VOICE survey in the classroom. After asking students to complete the survey, faculty can log into the survey platform to check the response rate, and, if the response rate is low, encourage students to log back in. A high level of participation will ensure that the results are useful and meaningful to improving teaching and learning.
Here are some ways to mitigate student concerns and improve student participation:
Am I safe to comment truthfully?
What happens with the results?
What kind of feedback is helpful?
Please contact your instructor if you have any issues with the extra point in Canvas. Note that you will not see the extra point until all course assignments have been graded.
The system is set to automatically create reminders in Canvas. Once your surveys have been completed you will no longer receive these reminder messages.
Check with your instructors to see when they are setting aside time in class to complete the survey. Any device with a wireless internet connection (smartphone, iPad, tablet, laptop, etc.) can access the survey via the survey portal login or through your Canvas course. The system is set to automatically create reminders in Canvas as well as email reminders. Once your surveys have been completed you will no longer receive these reminder messages.