Exploring Key Areas To Survey In Schools, Colleges And Universities

Having explored why student voice surveys matter for the education industry, in the first of our two-part blog special on education, we will now investigate some of the key areas to survey in schools, colleges and universities.

While the focus of schools, colleges and universities will differ in some areas due to the different demands placed on them, they will share many similar goals. These typically include improving the standards of teaching, the quality of learning experiences and the life chances of that child or student, when he or she leaves education.

However, if you’re a head teacher, teacher, professor, lecturer or any other person in an influential role at a school, college or university, it’s useful to know how you can use surveys in your own establishment to make improvements. So, that’s what we will go on to look at next.

Key areas to survey in schools

From the standards of teaching, the quality of the learning environment and the state of school facilities and services, to the views of teaching staff and parents, extracurricular activities, pastoral care and more. When it comes to school surveys there’s lots of areas to consider collecting feedback on, if you’re to raise standards across the board.

So, without further ado here’s some key areas to think about including in your next school survey.

Standards of teaching

Following the emergence of league tables and the ability to compare schools by the qualifications and grades that are typically obtained in each establishment, the pressure to improve educational outcomes has continued to grow. As a consequence, the scrutiny on school teachers and the quality of teaching that they deliver to their pupils across all subject areas, has never been greater, making teaching standards a key area of focus in a school survey.

From what they find the easier or hardest to learn, to what they most enjoy or would like to see changed and more. If you’re to get a better insight in to the quality of teaching your school is delivering, it can be helpful to know what questions to ask your students.

Here’s a few ideas for survey questions to help get you started.

How would you rate your teacher?

• Excellent
• Average
• Poor

Rank this year’s lessons from the easiest to the hardest

Which classroom activities do you learn from the most?

What is your greatest learning accomplishment so far?

What is the one thing you’d change about your class if you could?

Questions for teachers

While it’s crucial to get feedback from students, if you’re going to improve the quality of your teaching, you need to be running teacher surveys, to get feedback from them too. That way you’ll be able to find out if they’re getting all the support they need to perform to the best of their abilities.

From how well they’re treated to how often they’re assessed and given freedom to innovate their teaching methods and more. If you’re to get a better insight into how your teaching staff are feeling and whether you’re supporting them sufficiently to perform well, you need to be asking them some effective questions.

Here’s a few examples of questions to help get you on track with that.

How often have you received an appraisal for your work at your school?

• Never
• Less than once a year
• Once every two years
• Once per year
• Twice per year
• Three or more times in a year

How well does the school support your growth?

Does the school allow you to innovate your teaching methods?

Do you think the school’s administration treats you fairly?

Given your own experiences, how likely are you to recommend our school as a good place to work to a friend or colleague?

Questions for parents

Student success is not solely based on what goes on in the classroom but is impacted by the support they have at home too.

By sending parent surveys, you can get a better idea of how involved they are with their children’s education. Understanding your students’ home life and the amount of help they receive with their studies, will also enable you to identify any additional support your students may need.

From their satisfaction with their child’s performance and personal interest in their education, to their views on homework and the performance of the school where their child attends.  If you’re to get a better understanding about the involvement of students' parents in their education, as well as their views on your school, you need to be asking them the right questions.

Here’s a few sample questions, to help get you started.

Are you satisfied with your child’s performance?

How involved are you in your child’s education?

How well do you think the school caters to your child’s learning needs?

On a scale of 1 to 5 (where 1 is far too much and 5 is about right), do you think that your child has too much academic work after school?

Does our school provide you with adequate opportunities to discuss your child’s academic performance?

The wider learning environment

Obviously, the quality of teaching will have an impact on the performance of students, but so can their wider learning environment including their school surroundings, and the facilities and resources available to them within that school.

From the resources and materials they’re given to complete their schoolwork, to the state of the classrooms where they have to learn. If you’re to get a better insight into how your students are feeling and how well your wider learning environment is supporting them, you need to be asking them some good questions.

Here’s a few ideas for questions to help you with that.

How satisfied are you with the resources and facilities of this school?

• Very satisfied
• Somewhat satisfied
• Neutral
• Somewhat dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied

Did you have access to all the learning materials you need?

Is there sufficient lighting in the classrooms?

Is the school warm enough?

Do you have any additional comments you would like to make with regards to the school facilities?

Extracurricular activities and pastoral care

We’ve talked about how factors outside the classroom can affect students' overall performance, well that includes availability of extracurricular activities and pastoral care, which can impact their physical and mental health.

From the after-school programmes that are made available to students, to the support that is provided for their emotional and mental health. It's important to ask the right questions if you’re to get a better understanding of your student’s physical and mental wellbeing.

Here’s a few sample questions to consider.

My school encourages me to look after my physical health (for example, healthy eating and fitness)

• Totally agree
• Somewhat agree
• Neutral
• Somewhat disagree
• Totally disagree

My school encourages me to look after my emotional and mental health

• Totally agree
• Somewhat agree
• Neutral
• Somewhat disagree
• Totally disagree

Do you partake in any extracurricular activities?

Do you feel that you receive adequate care and support from the school outside of the classroom?

What improvements or changes would you suggest for after-school programmes in your area?

Key areas to survey in colleges and universities

When it comes to devising surveys for students in colleges and universities, there are a lot of similarities with school surveys, particularly in terms of wanting to find out more about the quality of teaching, the wider learning environment and services supporting that.

However, as further and higher education students are older than most school students, it’s likely they’ll be a lot more active in working to influence what happens with their education. So, you also need to think about that when you’re considering what areas and questions you need to cover off in your survey.

Here are some key areas to consider for your next educational survey.

Lecturing and teaching quality

Depending on whether you operate in a college or university, there’s likely to be a wide range of teaching styles to consider, due to a mix of teaching settings that includes the traditional classroom, to seminars, workshops and lecture halls.

From their overall view of the quality of your teaching, to how engaging and comprehensive it is in providing the information they need. If you’re to get a better insight in to the quality of teaching that your college or university is delivering, it's helpful to know what questions to ask your students.

Here’s some ideas for questions to help get you started.

How would you rate the overall quality of teaching on your courses on a scale of 1 to 5 (where 1 is very poor and 5 excellent)?

Do you feel your lecturer or teacher effectively communicates all the course materials and concepts?

How would you rate your lecturer or teacher’s knowledge of the subject matter?

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Poor
• Very poor

Did your lecturer or teacher use effective and engaging teaching methods?

Does your lecturer or teacher provide timely and constructive feedback on your assignments and assessments?

College or university campus facilities

In contrast to schools, the facilities provided by a college and university have a more significant role to play in determining how well students settle in and are comfortable with their surroundings moving forward.

From how well they rate the overall quality of your campus facilities, to more specific areas, which contribute to the quality of their student experience. It's important to ask the right questions if you’re to get a better insight into what your students’ think about the facilities you provide for them.

Here are some questions to think about including.

How would you rate the campus facilities?

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Poor
• Very poor

How would you rate the resources that we provide to support your learning such as our library and our technology resources and services?

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Poor
• Very poor

Are there sufficient dining options and food quality on campus?

How would you rate the cleanliness and maintenance of campus buildings and grounds on a scale of 1 to 5 (where 1 is very poor and 5 is excellent)?

Do you feel that the university's sports and recreational facilities meet your needs and expectations?

Administration and support

From the time you first register and enrol with your college or university, right through to your graduation, the way you’ve been helped and supported in that time will have a major impact on how well you will go on to perform.

From their satisfaction with your registration and enrolment processes to their views about the wider support services you provide. If you’re to get a better understanding of how well your administration and support services are helping students, you need to know what questions to ask them.

Here’s a few sample questions, to help get you started.

How have you found the administrative support provided by our institution?

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Poor
• Very poor

Did you find our registration and enrolment processes straightforward?

How satisfied are you with the availability and quality of career services?

• Very satisfied
• Somewhat satisfied
• Neutral
• Somewhat dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied

Are you aware of and satisfied with the mental health and counselling services available on campus?

How would you rate the accessibility and responsiveness of the university's financial aid and scholarship services on a scale of 1 to 5 (where 1 is not accessible and 5 is very accessible)?

Postgraduate feedback

Getting feedback from your students while they’re studying with you isn’t the only time when you could be approaching them for comment, you can also get more feedback from them after they’ve graduated. In fact, you can pick up some really interesting insight once they’ve completed their studies and had some time to properly absorb and assess all their experiences as a student.

From their contentment with the quality of their course, your faculty’s knowledge and expertise, to their how well they feel they were supported with other areas of their student life. It's important to ask the right questions if you’re to get a better insight into what your students’ thought of their overall experiences as a student studying at your institution.

To help you with this, here are some initial questions to help get you started.

How satisfied were you with the overall quality of your course programmes?

• Very satisfied
• Somewhat satisfied
• Neutral
• Somewhat dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied

Having completed your studies, how would you rate the faculty’s knowledge and expertise?

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Poor
• Very poor

How well did our programmes support your social and academic needs?

• Very well
• Somewhat well
• Neutral
• Somewhat well
• Very poorly

How well did our programmes prepare you for your career goals?

• Very well
• Somewhat well
• Neutral
• Somewhat well
• Very poorly

Given your own experiences, how likely are you to recommend our college or university as a good place to study to a friend or colleague?

Concluding thoughts

Whatever educational level we’ve reached, it’s likely that our experiences at school, college and university will stay with us for the rest of our lives. Therefore, for anyone in charge of running these establishments, it’s important to make sure they do everything they can to make as many of those experiences positive for all students passing through their doors.

Fortunately, with the right surveys and templates of questions to help them, schools, colleges and universities have a great opportunity to find out exactly what their students are really thinking. And as long as they act on this feedback and make the right improvements, they can look forward to a long and prosperous future.