Creating simple surveys using Google Forms

Have you ever wondered whether or not a project went well - in the eyes of the students? I frequently survey my students on recent projects to get ideas of what went well, and what could be fixed for next time. I've learned a lot!

Using Google Forms, one of the features of Google Docs, makes creating and administering surveys a snap. All the answers are compiled in either a Google Spreadsheet, or can be downloaded to Excel for further manipulation.

Here are a few things to think about when making surveys:

1. Think about what data you'll get back from the students? Ask the right questions.
2. Do you want quantitative or qualitative data? Both work equally well, but the latter takes a lot longer to evaluate.
3. Make the surveys anonymous - it takes the pressure off of the students, and allows them to answer more honestly.
4. Add a field to sort the students by, like period, or subject.
5. Make certain questions mandatory - that way you know you get better data.
6. When using the Grid question type, limit your rows to 10 - otherwise it takes up more than one screen, and the answer choices are difficult to reference.
7. Use section headings and page breaks effectively - good ways to break up longer surveys.
8. Don't forget the themes - makes the survey more interesting than a blank page background.
9. When using the Scale question type, use catchy or funny Good/Bad statements - makes for a more engaging survey.
10. Save often. Sometimes, depending on your connection, Forms has a tendency to stall, especially with large surveys.

Those are just a few hints about using Forms to create effective, and quick, and highly informative surveys for free, using Google Forms. As always, you learn by doing, so the more surveys you create, the better they'll get. And, you'll get better at asking really good questions that will drive your instruction. Why not create a pre-test for a new unit?