Designing Surveys in SoTL

Facilitators:   
Yuxin Tu, Senior Manager, Evaluation & Assessment, CTSI
Amanda Brijmohan, Educational Developer, Assessment & Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre, UTM 

This workshop is Part III in the 2024-25 SoTL Series and is jointly facilitated with CTSI and the RGASC at UTM. This session provides an introductory overview of design principles and data collection strategies for survey tools used in teaching and learning research.  

We begin with a discussion on the strengths and limitations of surveys as a data collection tool relative to other methods, including the types of research questions that surveys best address. We then provide an overview of how to design and assess survey questions, including examples of how to adopt validated instruments/scales. Finally, this workshop provides practical guidance for conducting surveys in SoTL settings, particularly around eliciting responses.  

The workshop will include breakout groups for participants to discuss their research ideas/questions and survey design considerations with their colleagues. Although it’s not mandatory, we invite participants to bring a working draft of survey questions that they feel comfortable sharing with colleagues. 

 By the end of this session, participants will be able to: 

• Identify research questions that can be answered with surveys 

• Identify types of surveys and variables which can be assessed with surveys 

• Make informed choices on the use of appropriate survey instruments 

• Design effective survey questions  

• Disseminate surveys and collect data 

 *NOTE: In advance of this workshop, you might consider developing your research on teaching questions or general topic area by checking out the October 17th webinar: Introduction to SoTL: From Curiosity to a Research Question. To access all SoTL programming, ensure you are enrolled in the SoTL Quercus Hub.