Creating a student feedback response system using Google Forms

RMIT University uses Keepad, Responseware and Turning Point to provide a personal response system for students in the classroom. This is a good solution but it doesn’t cover every use case.

Sometimes you want to create a simple, immediate interactive feedback opportunities for learners in class or online over a period of time. For institutions using Google for Education a simple and cost effective approach is to use Google Forms. This post steps through the process of creating a feedback form that can be used in class by students using smart phones, tablets or laptops or by students studying online.

There are a number of steps but each step is quite small and easy.

Click on each step to view the details and click on the images to view a larger version.

Step 1: Create your form

Step 2: Name your form and add questions

Step 3: Share your form

I clicked on the Send button to get these options.

I could send it to students via email but I just want to give students the link to the form so I clicked on the link icon to get the screen below. Now the URL of the form is quite long by default so I clicked the Shorten URL checkbox to get a shorter version that is easier to share.

I can put this link into a Canvas site or I can just put it into my presentation slide deck for students to enter manually in class in their smart phone or tablet or laptop.

I can change the settings for who can respond, what they see when they respond and what their options are upon submitting. I like to let them see the summary page immediately. They can then see it change as more responses come in.

Step 4: Test your form

Optional Step 5: Saving your responses to a Google Sheet

Now the form will work fine as it is but you may want to save the responses to a spreadsheet. This give you more control over creating graphs and embedding them in Canvas or other places

To do this click the green button with the white, off centre cross in it as shown below.

You will be given the option of saving to an existing spreadsheet or creating a new one.

Here is the new spreadsheet with the two test responses in it.

Now we can create a nice chart by selecting the two columns and then selecting Insert > Chart.

If there are a few responses then Google Sheets will recommend a format as shown here.

Optional Step 6: Publishing the chart

Optional Step 7: Embedding in Canvas

Create a new blank page in the Canvas site.

I’ve called this one Google Feedback.

When you see the rich text editor click the HTML button.

In the pop up window paste the embed code you got from the Google Form.

Click Update and it will look like this.

Click Submit and then turn off editing mode and you will see the chart embedded in the Canvas page.

Note that it can take a few minutes for the chart to update and the user will need to refresh the page.

In a class situation it will be better to just show the chart in the spreadsheet. It will update automatically and immediately as responses come in. This can look quite dramatic as the chart changes in real time.

Summary

This model has been tested with various smart phones and tablets and works very well. Once you’re familiar with the steps it becomes very easy to create forms quickly. It’s even possible to create response forms in the class to get the kind of feedback you’re looking for.

If you want more information then Howard Errey has posted two excellent posts on using BluePulse as a student feedback system and the use of Google Sites for learning.

Feature image licensed Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) by Håkan Dahlström https://flic.kr/p/7PhRRc