Select a topic you wish to evaluate. Survey topics can evaluate information such as the students' amount of experience or knowledge on a subject, viewpoint on an issue, partiality for a teaching strategy or their demographics.
Decide on a survey format that is the most functional for your topic and will best prompt revealing responses. According to the University of South Florida's Center for Instructional Technology, formats include open-ended surveys, which pose questions and supply an area for written responses; rating scale surveys, which provide statements that students rate on a given scale of how much they agree or disagree; and multiple-choice surveys, which are most functional when looking for specific responses to specific questions.
Write each survey question or statement clearly and concisely. Ensure that each question can be interpreted in only one way to limit confusion and the risk of an error in your survey results.
Complete the survey yourself before issuing it to the class in order to catch any unclear questions, statements or supplied answers.
Conduct the survey with the appropriate level of anonymity. Stepping out of the classroom and using classroom aides to hand out surveys and a collection envelope to collect surveys can help assure students that their responses are anonymous, which may result in more specific or honest responses.