Blackboard Survey Tool

Key Features

Easy to use - the survey manager's wizard interface makes it easy for anyone to create a publish a web survey
Already available to you - most Duke courses are automatically provided with a Blackboard course site or can request one
Secure - only students enrolled in your course will have access to the survey

Overview

What Is It?

Blackboard includes a survey tool that provides a "wizard" type interface to guide instructors step-by-step through the process of creating a survey in Blackboard. Surveys are essentially ungraded anonymous tests in Blackboard.

How Does It Work?

The Blackboard@Duke Help Site contains detailed instructions with screen shots to assist you in creating a new survey in any Blackboard web site where you have "Instructor", "Teaching Assistant", or "Course Builder" role.

Adding a Survey (Blackboard @ Duke)
Survey Manager (Blackboard 6.3 Instructor Manual)

Two recent enhancements to the Survey Manager tool included the integration of Likert scale question type (more familiarly known as an opinion scale with “Strongly Agree, Agree, Neither Agree nor Disagree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree, Not Applicable”.) Also, all survey data can now be exported to Excel for review and analysis beyond the simple tally tools provided within Blackboard.

Although Blackboard surveys are anonymous (individual responses aren't linked to individual students), Blackboard does place a check by the student's name in the instructor's gradebook when the survey is completed.

Uses as an Instructional Technology

Blackboard's survey tool provides an easy way for instructors to get feedback from students on new instructional strategies, activities, or assignments. Whether a brief mid-course check-in or a more comprehensive end-of-course survey to supplement the standard course evaluation, this tool provides a convenient method for instructors wanting to include student reaction and feedback in their assessment and evaluation activities. Blackboard surveys work especially well for large classes where a paper-based survey would be impractical.

You can have students complete the survey together during class (if teaching in a room with computers) or create an announcement to alert students to the survey's availability and have them do it outside of class time.