Nearly all processes for online evaluation of courses struggle with student response rates. Low response rates raise questions about the validity of the data, because there is no way of knowing how representative the students who completed the form are.
Faculty need valid information about their courses in order to improve their teaching. What students say about their learning experience matters, since they are the only ones able to observe all that happens in a course. The higher the response rate, the more confident faculty can be in making changes to improve student learning.
Communication Strategies
Over the years several communication strategies have been used to increase response rates though none produced greatly increased response rates.
- Advertising on the Inside Augsburg page.
- Advertising on the digital signs around campus.
- Advertising using posters created by students in a summer graphic design course.
- More frequent email reminders.
Response Rate History
This table shows the historic response rates by term.
Academic Term |
Number of Course Sections |
Number of Received Evaluations |
Number of Possible Evaluations |
Response Rate |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pilot Test | Fall 2004 |
89 |
835 |
1461 |
57% |
Spring 2005 |
102
|
1121
|
1800
|
62%
|
|
Fall 2005 | Day |
4346 |
8109 |
54% |
|
Weekend/Graduate |
1510
|
3035
|
50%
|
||
Winter 2005 | Weekend/Graduate |
204 |
1521 |
2837 |
54% |
Spring 2006 | Day |
395 |
3040 |
6785 |
45% |
Weekend/Graduate |
188
|
1531
|
2771
|
55%
|
|
Summer 2006 | Day and Weekend/Graduate |
89 |
486 |
1144 |
42% |
Fall 2006 | Day |
3915 |
7920 |
49% |
|
Weekend/Graduate |
1952
|
3432
|
57%
|
||
Winter 2007 | Weekend/Graduate |
228 |
1635 |
2972 |
55% |
Spring 2007 | Day |
437 |
3044 |
7947 |
38% |
Weekend/Graduate |
185
|
1440
|
2616
|
55%
|
|
Summer 2007 | Day and Weekend/Graduate |
111 |
715 |
1416 |
50% |
Fall 2007 | Day |
472 |
3966 |
8322 |
48% |
Weekend/Graduate |
237
|
1771
|
3255
|
54%
|
|
Winter 2008 | Weekend/Graduate |
244 |
1675 |
3166 |
53% |
Spring 2008 | Day |
431 |
3013 |
7350 |
41% |
Weekend/Graduate |
148
|
1109
|
2248
|
49%
|
|
Summer 2008 | Day and Weekend/Graduate |
180 |
1084 |
2152 |
50% |
Fall 2008 | Day and Weekend/Graduate |
669 |
5232 |
11022 |
47% |
Winter 2009 | Weekend/Graduate |
218 |
1498 |
2934 |
51% |
Spring 2009 | Day |
464 |
3348 |
7895 |
42% |
Weekend/Graduate |
206
|
1494
|
2888
|
52%
|
|
Summer 2009 | Day and Weekend/Graduate |
122 |
641 |
1538 |
42% |
Fall 2009 | Day and Weekend/Graduate |
745 |
6501 |
12589 |
45% |
Winter 2010 | Weekend/Graduate |
264 |
1798 |
3599 |
50% |
Spring 2010 | Day |
461 |
3053 |
7866 |
39% |
Weekend/Graduate |
210
|
1424
|
2915
|
49%
|
|
Summer 2010 | Day and Weekend/Graduate |
127 |
715 |
1602 |
45% |
Fall 2010 | Day |
540
|
4110
|
9283
|
44%
|
Weekend/Graduate |
245
|
1759
|
3216
|
55%
|
|
Winter 2011 | Weekend/Graduate |
237
|
1600
|
2991
|
53%
|
Spring 2011 | Day |
505
|
3221
|
8422
|
38%
|
Weekend/Graduate |
222
|
1408
|
2854
|
49%
|
|
Summer 2011 | Day and Weekend/Graduate |
125
|
525
|
1353
|
39%
|
Fall 2011 | Day and Weekend/Graduate |
772
|
5776
|
12191
|
47%
|
Winter 2012 | Weekend/Graduate |
213
|
1218
|
2483
|
49%
|
Spring 2012 | Day |
539
|
3332
|
8816
|
38%
|
Weekend/Graduate |
193
|
1178
|
2363
|
50%
|
|
Summer 2012 | Day and Weekend/Graduate |
115
|
530
|
1223
|
43%
|
Fall 2012 | Day |
550
|
3597
|
9281
|
39%
|
Weekend/Graduate |
192
|
1161
|
2329
|
50%
|
|
Winter 2013 | Weekend/Graduate |
195
|
1146
|
2312
|
50%
|
Spring 2013 | Day |
523
|
3059
|
8371
|
37%
|
Weekend/Graduate |
164
|
1044
|
2203
|
47%
|
|
Summer 2013 | All programs |
106
|
481
|
1336
|
36%
|
Fall 2013 | All programs | 702 | 4604 | 11864 | 39% |
Spring 2014 | All programs | 739 | 4086 | 10845 | 38% |
Summer 2014 | All programs | 182 | 775 | 2143 | 36% |
Fall 2014 | All programs | 734 | 4423 | 11559 | 38% |
Spring 2015 | All programs | 722 | 3845 | 10718 | 36% |
Summer 2015 | All programs | 177 | 764 | 2051 | 37% |
Fall 2015 | All programs | 746 | 4495 | 11841 | 38% |
Spring 2016 | All programs | 674 | 3860 | 10341 | 37% |
Summer 2016 | All programs | 207 | 1018 | 2442 | 42% |
Fall 2016 | All programs | 768 | 5373 | 12498 | 43% |
Spring 2017 | All programs | 714 | 4172 | 11139 | 38% |
Summer 2017 | All programs | 200 | 1133 | 2603 | 44% |
Fall 2017 | All programs | 833 | 5408 | 12757 | 42% |
Spring 2018 | All programs | 772 | 4528 | 11169 | 41% |
Summer 2018 | All programs | 236 | 1224 | 2778 | 44% |
New University Course Survey Begins | |||||
Fall 2018 | All programs | 844 | 5077 | 11983 | 42% |
Spring 2019 | All programs | 760 | 4027 | 10704 | 38% |
Summer 2019 | All programs | 202 | 1099 | 2689 | 41% |
This table shows the historic response rates by term.