The use of weekly or after class exit tickets via Qualtrics, Google Forms, PollEv, Canvas quiz, or Zoom polling can help instructors gauge student understanding of content and lessons. By checking in on students more frequently, instructors can help increase student engagement while naturally building relationships and community between instructors and students.
What does this look like in a classroom?
Based on student feedback, surveys can provide instructors with crucial information on how to adapt the course structure and projects. The use of exit tickets will also allow instructors to check in on how students are feeling mentally, physically, emotionally, and academically and if somebody may require additional follow-up communication. For GSE Instructor Kristin Keane, exit tickets allow students to give timely feedback on the course: “What I always value, but particularly now, is the student feedback on the sessions. We relied on that. We had exit tickets every session. I don’t know what we would have done without taking that feedback every week, to see what was working here, what wasn’t working here, and actually then using that feedback. And we did and [the students] saw we were doing that. I think that gave them more motivation to complete yet another survey every week because they knew we were invested in their feedback and making it work as best as we could, for them.”
Similar to Keane, GSE Instructor Nikki Thornton remarked, “I really appreciated and was grateful that students shared their reflections and needs with us in the exit tickets. It felt like we were all in it together, which helped with some of the anxiety of being online. It was another way to continue to get to know the students, and that information greatly informed our learning together.”
How can an instructor implement this?
The exit tickets can be integrated into the Canvas website (e.g., modules, pages, quizzes, chat feature, assignments, discussion board, homepage), linked in the chat room during Zoom lectures, added into launchpads, Padlets, Google Slides, or class presentations, and sent through email. Instructors can choose between Qualtrics, Google Forms, PollEv, Canvas quiz, Zoom polling, and other surveying methods. When distributing the exit tickets and surveys to students, instructors can also choose their preferred platform or resource that is most compatible with their course structure. However, the recommended method is to add the survey link into the Canvas Modules section under the “After class” portion of the week.
Tools to use for creating exit tickets:
How to use Google Forms (A guide on how to use Google Forms directly from Google Support)
Google Forms Tutorial (Created guide with screenshots and a simple step-by-step process)
Exit ticket templates that can be modified for personal use:
Weekly Student Survey (Created example)
Remote Learning Intake Survey (Instructor example)
External resources:
Connecting in the virtual college classroom
Facilitating class community building before the quarter begins
Creating multiple pathways for student participation