SOS Faculty Experience

Best Practices to Administer the SOS in Your Classroom

We know from students that a key barrier to giving feedback to instructors is having dedicated time to complete the SOS form. To better encourage students to take the online SOS—and to secure a higher response rate and more detailed student comments—the following strategies are recommended:

Prior to administering the SOS

  • Reserve at least a 15-minute time slot to administer the SOS during the survey period.
  • Schedule this time slot at the beginning of class with planned activities starting after the SOS are completed, to minimize the chance that students will leave the classroom (right after the faculty does) without filling out the survey.
  • Inform students of the date when they will be given time in class to complete their SOS.
    • Invite students to bring their laptop, phone, or other mobile device to complete their SOS.
    • If students do not have a device or their device does not work properly, inform them that they can complete their survey outside of class before the end of the last day of instruction.
    • This information can be shared through in-class announcements, Canvas announcements, including it on your course schedule, and/or any other methods appropriate to your course and class format. View sample messages you can tailor to your class here.
  • Ensure there is adequate cell phone/wifi reception in the room where the SOS will be administered prior to attempting to carry out the survey. If reception is poor, schedule an alternative location and notify students both verbally in a previous class and electronically via email &/or a Canvas announcement.

Day of SOS Class Administration

  • Talk with your students about the importance of course evaluations and how the evaluations they provide are used.
  • Inform students that they should not begin filling out their survey until you have provided the directions and left the room.
  • Invite students to find their SOS email in their UWO email account using their smart phone, laptop, or other mobile device.
    • Emails with the student’s link to their SOS portal will come from: sos@uwosh.edu.
    • A search for sos@uwosh.edu in their O365 mailbox will help them locate this email.
    • Invite students to follow the link in their email and bookmark the URL. This is their personal Course Evaluation portal and all future SOS will be placed in this portal.
  • Remind students that the SOSs are voluntary and the results are completely anonymous. Instructors receive their SOS feedback after final course grades have been submitted to the Registrar.
  • Prior to leaving the room, either show the SOS invitation video or request that a student serve as proctor for the survey. Ask the proctor to read the following text out loud to the class:

“It’s time to fill out your Student Opinion Survey. This is your chance to provide feedback and suggestions related to your learning experience in this course. Instructors appreciate your insights. They change and improve their courses thanks to feedback they receive from students like us.
The learning process is collaborative and requires significant effort from the instructor, from you, and from the class as a whole. Please provide specific reflections on your experience. The most helpful feedback is actionable, thoughtful, and specific. Describing how activities and experiences helped you learn the course content and sharing ideas for enhancing instruction can be very useful. On the other hand, comments regarding personal characteristics of the instructor are neither appropriate nor helpful and will not be considered.
All SOS surveys are anonymous, so your instructor will not know who provided specific responses and comments. For this feedback to be as comprehensive as possible, please take your time completing the SOS for this and every course you take.”

After SOS Administration

  • Thank students for their participation and encourage them to complete the surveys for all remaining courses in their SOS portal.
  • Remind and encourage students who were unable to complete their SOS during the provided class time to fill out their survey before the end of the last day of instruction. This message should inform students on how to find their SOS portal and course survey link, provide instructions for how to complete and submit the survey, and remind them that the survey will close on the last day of instruction.
  • Access the daily reports of the response rates for each of your courses. All instructors are encouraged to check the response rates for their courses throughout the SOS period and remind their students to participate as needed.

Testing Services

Polk Library, Lower Level - Room 4
801 Elmwood Avenue, Oshkosh, WI 54901

Contact Us

Phone: (920) 424-1432
Email: oshtesting@uwosh.edu