SIRS Information for Instructors

Midcourse Surveys

Midcourse surveys offer instructors the opportunity to receive feedback from students at a point in time when changes can be implemented. When instructors close the feedback loop, it allows them to clearly demonstrate to students they care about their thoughts, and to share (a) what students said holistically, (b) what changes they are implementing, and (c) what changes they are not making and explain their reasoning. Additional information about using midcourse surveys is available in our recorded midcourse workshop (login to Canvas required).

Running Your Midcourse Survey in Blue

OTEAR provides the ability for department administrators to turn on Midcourse Surveys through the same survey system (Explorance “Blue”) that is used for the end-of-semester SIRS. Administrators can choose to send the survey results only to the instructor or to both the instructor and the department.

  • Typically run in the 7th week of the course
  • Surveys are automatically distributed to your students based on the REGIS course roster
  • Results are released 24 hours after the end of the survey
  • Instructors will be notified a few days prior to the start of the survey that they may add questions and change survey dates slightly
  • Students will complete the midcourse surveys at https://sirs.rutgers.edu/blue
  • Surveys are set up centrally by your department administration or OTEAR.

OTEAR offers two midcourse survey options, allowing instructors to choose between the default four-question survey or a “Critical Teaching Behaviors” question set.

Reach out to your department administration or OTEAR at otear@rutgers.edu to request a midcourse survey in Blue, indicating which question set you would like to use.

Option 1 — Default Midcourse Questions

The standard midcourse survey includes four questions taken from the Student Instructional Rating Survey. The first two are Likert-scale questions, and the last two are open-ended comment questions. Using the standard questions allows an instructor to compare the responses that they receive on the midcourse to the same questions at the end of the semester.

5-point Likert-scale questions from Strongly Disagree (1) to Strongly Agree (5):

  • The instructor was prepared for class and presented material in an organized manner.
  • The instructor responds effectively to student comments and questions.

Open-ended comment questions:

  • What do you like most about this course?
  • What do you think needs improvement, and how should these improvements be made?

Option 2 — “Critical Teaching Behaviors” Midcourse Questions

We are excited to offer a new evidence-based survey option for the midcourse surveys starting in Spring 2026: The Critical Teaching Behaviors (CTB) midcourse (Lauren Barbeau and Claudia Cornejo Happel, 2021).

Why this instrument?

  • The items are observable teaching behaviors based on the Critical Teaching Behaviors framework, which focuses on areas where students are uniquely positioned to provide feedback.
  • The instrument has been validated1.
  • An initial study has shown that there is no difference between student responses of male and female faculty although some variation was seen between instructors of various ages and experience levels2.

5-point Likert-scale questions from Never (1) to Very Frequently (5):

  • States the learning outcomes (development of specific skills and knowledge) to be accomplished in the course assignments and activities.
  • Uses time effectively and efficiently towards achievement of course learning outcomes.
  • Gives exams and assignments that reflect course readings, lectures, and class activities.
  • Invites students’ questions, examples, and experiences and listens carefully when students speak.
  • Selects examples and activities that represent a range of perspectives and experiences.
  • Builds community and trust between students.
  • Encourages participation from all students through meaningful individual and/or small group activities in the classroom and/or online.
  • Connects content to real-life applications and examples and/ or current research in the field.
  • Establishes regular and open communication.
  • Gives timely and specific feedback that helps you improve on future assignments.
  • Schedules regular tasks (quizzes, homework, discussions, project drafts, etc.) that help you prepare for bigger assignments.
  • Clearly communicates how to succeed on assessments by providing grading criteria or examples.
  • Shares course materials on the online learning platform in a way that makes it easy to find and access them.
  • Uses technologies and/or apps that enhance your learning experience in the course (e.g. Canvas, multimedia content, polling, etc.).
  • Trains students to use course technology/apps and provides support.

Open-ended comment questions:

  • What’s working well in this class? What are the strengths of the class and which aspects are having a positive impact on your learning?
  • What’s not working so well in this class? What specific changes could be made to improve your learning experience in this class?

This instrument is longer than our standard midcourse survey, but we hope it provides instructors with actionable feedback for change. You will still have the ability to add additional questions if you desire. We recommend providing time for survey completion during synchronous classes, if possible, in order to encourage higher response rates.

Other Methods for Running Surveys at Rutgers

If you would prefer not to use a centrally-managed survey, no problem! There are several other options that allow you to run your own midcourse survey, and provide much greater flexibility in the timing and choice of questions:

  • Canvas Quizzes: For instructors already using Canvas, you can add a semi-anonymous, ungraded quiz to collect survey responses from students in your class. Read how to create a survey in the Canvas quiz tool, or use the “Commons” tool to search for “Midcourse Survey Template.”
  • Google Forms: Recommended. Easy to use, quick to set up, and handles many question types (scales, comments, multiple choice, etc.). For Rutgers courses, you should use a Rutgers ScarletMail account rather than a standard Google account. Read how to create a survey in Google Documents, or sign in with your ScarletMail address and use the “template gallery” (upper-right corner) to see the ready-made “OTEAR Midcourse Template”.
  • Microsoft Forms (Rutgers Connect): Recommended. Easy to use, quick to set up, and handles many question types (scales, comments, multiple choice, etc.). You could try duplicating the OTEAR Midcourse Template in Rutgers Connect, adding your preferred questions, and distributing it to your students.

Note that Qualtrics is no longer recommended for simple surveys. Due to licensing costs, Qualtrics should only be used for research or other more complex survey needs. Please keep in mind that surveys for research or publication must meet legal requirements, possibly including Human Subjects Certification. Please contact the Office of Research Compliance for guidance.

References

  1. Cornejo Happel, C., Rohrbacher, C., Cooks, T., Korentsides, J., Keebler, J. R., Van Ommen, C., Williams, K. N. & Barbeau, L., (2024) “Validating the Critical Teaching Behaviors Midterm Feedback Instrument for enhanced teaching effectiveness and student engagement”, To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development 43(2): 96-133. doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/tia.4759 ↩︎
  2. Cornejo Happel, C., Barbeau, L., Rohrbacher, C., Korentsides, J., & Keebler, J. R. (2025). Rethinking bias in student evaluations: a multivariate analysis of observable instructional behaviors. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2025.2548923 ↩︎