By Simone Knapp
A web-based survey tool that was introduced at the U of S Technology Forum Oct. 31 has been launched by Information Technology Services (ITS) to meet a variety of needs across campus.
“Over the last few years, ITS has been regularly asked to provide a tool to conduct surveys,” said Keith Jeffrey, manager of Education and Research Technology Services with ITS. “Instructors want a way to poll students in their classes to assess whether they (the instructor) are going too fast or too slow, what areas need more explanation, and what students gain the most value from. This tool allows students to respond in an anonymous way.”
A key feature of the tool is its integration with PAWS, said Jeffrey. For PAWS courses, instructors can use the tool to poll their students or PAWS group leaders can poll members. The new My Surveys PAWS channel shows a list of surveys individuals can manage and ones that are targeted to them for participation, he explained. The tool can also be accessed outside of PAWS at http://survey.usask.ca.
The tool is free, can be used to survey people outside the University and supports a variety of question types, Jeffrey said, outlining its features.
“Although the survey tool was developed primarily to support teaching,” said Ed Pokraka, Director of ITS, “it can be used for many different purposes including collecting research data, holding council or board elections, or doing course evaluations for distance education classes.”
ITS is offering a training workshop on how to use the survey tool in the new year, and has information useful to survey creators at https://survey.usask.ca/docs/.
_____________
Simone Knapp is Communications Officer with Information Technology Services
Login
