A recipe for effective participation rates for web-based surveys

One way many universities have approached the process of better understanding and meeting the needs of their students is through student evaluations. The evaluation data provide not only diagnostic feedback but also useful information in terms of the quality of learning and teaching experiences. In an effective quality cycle, the data gathered are analysed and used to make improvements. This is often referred to as 'closing the loop'. However, for any evaluation data to be of value an important prerequisite for 'closing the loop' is that response rates should be sufficiently high to be representative of the student cohort. This paper describes how a faculty within Monash University utilising only web based surveys developed a successful communication strategy to elicit staff and student participation in the unit (subject) evaluation process which achieved a response rate as high as 83.2%.