St. Olaf does not require the use of any specific questionnaire for course feedback; however, many instructors use the St. Olaf Course Feedback Survey Form, which was developed at St. Olaf. It can be used as a Word document or as a template in Google Forms. All course feedback forms should include information explaining the purposes and confidential nature of the course feedback process; sample text is provided below and is incorporated in the college-wide form.
St. Olaf Course Feedback Survey Form
The St. Olaf Course Feedback Survey Form, developed by a faculty-student working group convened by the St. Olaf Curriculum Committee, is suitable for a wide range of courses and teaching styles. This link opens a copy of the form in Microsoft Word to enable instructors to add course information or to modify or add questions easily. This link opens the St. Olaf template gallery in Google Forms (directions for using the template can be found here), which contains a course feedback survey template that can also be edited as needed. See these pages for advantages, disadvantages and advice about administering on-line course feedback surveys and administering course feedback surveys on paper.
Your department or program may have a standard form for course feedback; check with your department chair/program director to see whether there is a specific form you should use. If you would like to see examples of department-specific forms developed by other departments or programs, contact your department chair/program director or Associate Dean.
Sample information about course feedback surveys for students
The text below is included in the St. Olaf Course Feedback Survey Form and is recommended for inclusion in instructor-developed forms as well.
The purpose of this course feedback questionnaire is to provide feedback to your instructor concerning your learning experiences in this course. Your candid and thoughtful responses will help your instructor improve his or her teaching, not only in this course but in other courses as well. Your participation is voluntary, and you will not be asked for your name or other identifying information. Your instructor will not review the results until after course grades have been submitted. Results are provided only to your instructor, although they may share the results with others (such as the department chair) for purposes of professional development.
St. Olaf College recognizes that evaluations of teaching are often influenced by unconscious and unintentional biases and expectations related to the race and gender of the instructor. Women and persons of color are systematically rated lower in their teaching evaluations than white men, even when there are no actual differences in the instruction or in what students have learned. As you fill out this review, please remain aware of your own frame of reference and focus on the effectiveness of the instruction.
Thank you for your participation in the St. Olaf course feedback program.
Guidelines for developing course feedback questions
Information for faculty wishing to add questions to an existing course feedback form or to develop a form from scratch.