List the topics or dimensions that you want the survey to address. For instance, list topic areas such as student efforts at engagement, interest in or desire for engagement, availability of opportunities for engagement and availability of resources for engagement. For each topic, draft questions that contribute to one (and only one) topic, so as to gather clear information.
Draft questions that are brief, straight-forward and simple to understand. Avoid survey questions that are long, complex or that contain qualifiers or phrases conjoined by "and/or" or "if/then," as these sentences confuse students.
Draft open-ended questions to collect data on the utility of current student engagement efforts and how to improve student engagement. Draft open-ended questions that begin with words such as "how," "why," "describe" or "explain." For instance, ask questions such as the following: How does student engagement activity 'x' impact your experience at school? Describe engagement activities that you would like to see implemented. Explain how the student engagement center can improve to meet your needs. Why do you think student engagement is or is not important?
Draft closed-ended questions that are answered either with a Likert scale or a selection of true or false. For a Likert scale, ask survey participants to indicate on a scale of one to five their agreement with a statement (e.g. "My instructor encouraged me to participate in X activity"). Alternatively, use the Likert scale to asses the frequency with which a student completed a task (e.g. "I interacted with faculty"), specifying that "1" is never and "5" is often.