Surveys: Basic

Follow these steps to set up and manage Surveys in Carmen. For best results, work through the steps in order.

For a general overview of Surveys, see Surveys: Overview.

To begin, log in to Carmen and go to a Course Home page.

Step 1: Add Surveys Link to the Navigation Bar

Click Edit Course > NavBars and then click the Bottom Left tab.

1. Highlight Surveys (under Inactive Links), then click right arrow (>).

2. Click Save.

3. Click Go to Course on the upper right to return to your course Home Page. You should now be able to see Surveys in the toolbar.

Step 2: Add Questions to the Question Library

Click Surveys > Question Library to add questions to the Question Library so you can retrieve them as needed.

1. Choose a Question Type from the Create New dropdown list, then click Go. For details on question types, see Understanding Question Types and Information Items.

Note that accessing the Question Library while within the Survey tool gives you the option of creating a Likert Question, using a Likert-type scale as answer options.

2. Set up questions. Details vary by question type but set up for most types includes:

Enter a Title so you can easily identify the question later.
Enter the Question Text.
If needed, set enumeration and style for answer choices.
Type answer choices in the boxes provided. Click Add Option if you have more answer choices than text boxes displayed. If you have fewer, click Remove to the bottom-right of each empty answer box.

3. Continue adding questions to the Question Library as needed. After you have completed creating questions, click Back to Survey Administration or Surveys in the navigation bar to return to the Survey page.

See Importing Questions for instructions on how to import questions from a text file or from Respondus.

Step 3: Set Up Survey

Part A: Set Up Survey Properties

Click Manage Surveys > New Survey.
(When you click New Survey, Carmen begins at the Properties tab; Parts B - E move left-to-right through the rest of the tabs.)

1. Name the Survey.

2. Associate the Survey with a particular Category, if desired.

3. Check the box next to Feedback to give students immediate feedback; check Anonymous to hide respondent data in survey results.

If you choose to make a survey anonymous, it cannot be changed back and, once chosen, you cannot know who has taken the survey and who has not.

4. Optional: Type a Description that will appear at the beginning of the survey. Select the radio-button to turn the description on.

5. Type a Submission Message to be shown after respondents submit the survey (the default submission message is: "You have successfully submitted the survey").

6. If you choose, type a Footer Message to be shown at the bottom of the survey.

7. Click Save Survey near the top-right of the page.

Part B: Set Up Survey Restrictions

From Part A above, click the Restrictions tab

1. Select Active in the Status box when you want students to see that a Survey is available and able to be completed.

2. Setting a Start Date and End Date gives students a window of time for starting the survey. To make the survey available anytime, retain the default of no set start date and no set end date.

3. If needed, attach Additional Release Conditions, such as requiring students to view a certain content topic before taking the survey; see Release Conditions for more instructions.

4. Choose which type of Response Type you'd like to allow.

Unlimited allows an individual user to take the survey as many times as they wish (within the start date/end date window). A separate response is recorded each time they submit the survey.
Editable means that users can re-access and edit their answers for as long as the Survey is available. A single response is recorded for each user.
Limited to means that you can specify how many times a user can take the survey; their response will be recorded separately each time.

Regardless of Response Type, users have the following options:

Save (lower left corner) saves responses and allows the user to continue.
Exit (upper right corner) returns the user to the Survey list but does not automatically save responses; users can return to finish a survey they have exited as long as the survey is still available.
Submit (lower right corner) saves responses and submits the survey.

5. Click Add Special Access under Advanced Availability to override availability and timing settings for specific students, such as those working with Disability Services or those students who'll be taking the survey outside of any specified time limits you've set.

6. Click Save Survey near the top-right of the page.

Part C: Set Up Survey Activities

From Part B above, click the Activities tab

If competencies and learning objectives have been set up, use the Activities area of the surveys tool to create and assign activities that will be used in the assessment of learning objectives. See Rubrics and Competencies for more information.

1. Click Add Activity to add an activity and associate it with a Learning Objective, if applicable.

2. Click Save Activity when you are done.

Part D: Set Up Survey Reports

From Part C above, click the Reports Setup tab

1. Click Add Report.

2. Type a Report Name.

3. Select Summary Report or Individual Attempts Report Type.

Additional Summary Report options:

Show aggregate data: displays the data collected for multiple choice questions, true and false, Likert, multi-select, and matching question types.
Show text responses: displays the data collected for long answers, short answers, and fill-in-the-blanks question types.
Show signed comments: displays responses (with data) for any long answer questions in the survey with the Show signed comments property turned on, where the user has given permission to release their name with their response.
Show unsigned comments: displays responses (with data) for any long answer questions in the survey with the Show signed comments property turned on, where the user has not given permission to release their name with their response.

Additional Individual Attempts option:

Hide user information: will not display the user's first and last name when the Individual Attempts report is viewed.
If anonymous is chosen under the Restrictions tab, respondents will be identified as User 1, User 2, etc., in the Individual Attempts option, or will not be identified by name under the Summary Report option, even if Show signed comments is checked.
4. Select Immediately or specify a date and time to release the report.

5. Select who to Release Report To.

6. Click Save Report near the top-right of the page.

For more information on viewing Survey Reports, see "Looking at Survey Reports" below; see "Looking at Survey Results" below for information on viewing Overall Results, which can be viewed without setting up any Survey Reports.

The Carmen team offers reporting services beyond those provided within Carmen. More information about available data and timeframes is available.

Part E: Set up Layout and Questions

From Part D above, click the Layout/Questions tab

1. Click Add/Edit Question.

2. Click Import to import questions from your Question Library.

To create new questions for the survey, choose Question from the Create New menu and click Go. Create new questions as in the Question Library.

3. On the Import page, choose Question Library for the Source Collection. Choose Collection Root as the Source Selection to show all questions and sections in your Question Library, or choose a specific section to narrow your options.

4. Check the box next to each question to import.

5. Click Save. Click Back to Survey Layout/Questions.

To include questions that would follow an 'if true, then skip the next question', etc. type of pattern, click on the Branching Wizard button in the bottom right. Note that because of a known issue with the Survey tool, users who intentionally skip questions will be erroneously prompted to answer them when they submit their survey. We suggest using the survey’s description or footer to advise users to disregard this reminder.

(Optional) Part F: Invite People to Take the Survey

If desired, you can send an email to invite people enrolled in your course to take your survey.

1. Click on the Properties tab under Edit Survey.

2. Click on the Invite Participants button.

3. Edit the invitation text in the Body field, if desired. When you send the invitation, Carmen will automatically fill the fields in that are within the {curly brackets} in the Body field, such as student name, survey name and link.

4. You will see a list of everyone who has access to the course (regardless of role). Click the box beside a name to send an invitation to that person.

If your list is longer than 1 page, use the dropdown box at the top right of the list to show more people per page, up to 200. If you have more than 200 students enrolled in the class, you will need to repeat the invitation process for each page of the list.

Step 4: Manage Surveys

Preview a Survey

After a survey has been created, you can preview to see how it would appear to a typical student.

1. Click Surveys.

2. Click the Preview Icon beside the survey you want to preview.

When you preview a survey, you will see any introduction message that you have set up. If you answer and save your responses, you will not return any results.

3. Click Exit Preview to return to Manage Surveys.

Looking at Survey Reports

If you've previously set up your Survey to release a Report, you can view the report(s) by clicking on the Survey Report icon.

1. Click Surveys.

2. Click the Survey Report Icon beside the survey for which you want to view reports. All reports for the survey will be listed; to view a report, click on its name.

3. Select the conditions you want (for example, you'd like to see the report for surveys completed that week), then click on Generate HTML Report to see the results on-line. Click on Generate CSV Report to export the report as a .csv file.

If no dates are selected, the report will be based on all responses.

Many instructors prefer to export reports as CSV files. These text-only files can be opened in Excel or other programs for further analysis. We have created an Excel Add-In that can make working with the exported CSV file more efficient. The Add-In program, with explanatory documents, is available as a downloadable .zip file. Once you have downloaded and unzipped the file, consult the Help menu available in your Excel program for information on installing the Add-In program.

Looking at Survey Results

Survey Results are available for all surveys. Within Survey Results, you can view individual and overall responses. You can also reset survey attempts.

1. Click Surveys.

2. Click the Survey Results Icon beside the survey for which you want to view results.

3. Results can be viewed by Users or Attempts. Within each tabbed area, you can search for, sort, and filter responses using the options provided.

4. The names of those users that you have invited to take the survey and have taken it will be in bold. If you have allowed more than one attempt, all attempts will be listed.

5. You can view each attempt (if multiple attempts were permitted) by clicking on the number of the attempt, or you can view an individual's overall results by clicking on overall results.

6. Click on Overall Survey Results at the page bottom to view overall results from all attempts for all users.

If you previously set the Survey to be anonymous, all you will see is Overall Survey Results, not individual results.

7. To permanently reset (delete) an attempt at a survey, check the box next to the attempt and click on Reset.

Re-order Surveys

1. Click Surveys.

2. Click on Re-order Surveys.

3. Select the survey you want to move and click Up or Down to move the Survey as necessary.

4. Click Save.

Delete a Survey

1. Click Surveys.

2. Click Delete Surveys.

3. Check the surveys you want to delete.

4. Click Delete Selected.

5. Click OK to confirm.