This site is an archive; learn more about 8 years of OpenHatch.

[Events] getting people to fill out exit surveys

Greg Wilson gvwilson at software-carpentry.org
Thu Feb 13 00:38:24 UTC 2014


Hi all,
Julia's right: we _always_ do a "what went right/what went wrong" as the 
last thing in the workshop.  If nothing else, it gives participants a 
chance to reflect on what they've learned, and instructors a chance to 
get feedback while their work is fresh in their own minds.  We're 
working hard to get people to fill in a post-survey that goes into more 
detail, but the response rates are presently hovering around 10% --- 
which I'm told is pretty good, but it's still disappointing.
Cheers,
Greg

On 2014-02-12 4:53 PM, Julia Evans wrote:
> Everyone at a Software Carpentry workshop has a red and a blue sticky 
> note to signal if they're having problems, and Greg has each person 
> write a good thing / a bad thing on the blue / red sticky notes at the 
> end. Or something they learned, and something that could have been better.
>
> When I helped out at a SWC workshop with Greg he also went around the 
> room at the end and called on each person to say a good thing and a 
> bad thing.
>
> The sticky note approach is great because you don't have to go do a 
> separate survey afterwards -- it's integrated into the workshop and 
> everyone does it.
>
> (correct me if I'm wrong, Greg)
>
> Julia
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 10:22 PM, Shauna Gordon-McKeon 
> <shaunagm at gmail.com <mailto:shaunagm at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     Good thought, Sheila.  I'm CCing Greg Wilson into the
>     conversation, as he'll probably have a better answer to your
>     question than I will.  (I volunteered at a Software Carpentry
>     event a while ago but I've mostly forgotten what methods they
>     use.)  Greg - we are discussing exit surveys/other feedback
>     mechanisms and how to convince attendees to use them.  How does
>     Software Carpentry manage this?
>
>     (One thing I want to try is spending about five minutes at the
>     start of the event talking about the importance of giving feedback
>     to FOSS projects generally.  If anyone's interested in helping me
>     craft a quick and hopefully amusing presentation/activity on the
>     topic, let me know - I'm brainstorming over here:
>     https://etherpad.mozilla.org/feedback-feedback)
>
>
>
>     On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 4:02 PM, sheila miguez <shekay at pobox.com
>     <mailto:shekay at pobox.com>> wrote:
>
>         What is the participation % for software-carpentry bootcamps?
>         I follow their blog and they post recaps after events with
>         examples of good things and bad things from the comments. I
>         wonder what method they use?
>
>
>         On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 2:58 PM, Tim McNamara
>         <paperless at timmcnamara.co.nz
>         <mailto:paperless at timmcnamara.co.nz>> wrote:
>
>             Something that can work well is an Etherpad/Google Doc/etc
>             with an easy-to-type-in URL. Post the URL at the start of
>             the day and invite people to add their thoughts as they're
>             going along.
>
>
>
>
>             On 13 February 2014 09:53, Carl Karsten
>             <carl at nextdayvideo.com <mailto:carl at nextdayvideo.com>> wrote:
>
>                 I attended a conference where you did not get your
>                 shirt until you had filled out the survey. I was busy,
>                 so I jammed thought the questions as fast as I could
>                 thinking "I wish I had a little more time to give
>                 better answers"
>
>                 how about:
>                 When someone signs up for an event that agree to give
>                 feedback with the threat that they will be sent an
>                 email every day reminding them until they do.
>
>                 and if you really want to squeeze, email everyone the
>                 list of people who are still outstanding "if you know
>                 these people, please encourage them to fill out the
>                 survey."
>
>                 I didn't say it was a good idea.
>
>
>
>
>                 On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 2:04 PM, Shauna Gordon-McKeon
>                 <shaunagm at gmail.com <mailto:shaunagm at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>                     We've historically had a really hard time getting
>                     people to fill out exit surveys.  This is a
>                     problem, as it's one of only a few ways we have of
>                     finding out how events go and how to improve them.
>
>                     What do folks recommend?  Should we try to get
>                     folks to fill out surveys at the event, rather
>                     than afterwards?  (Maybe we could frame it as an
>                     open source contribution?)  Should we build in
>                     time for exit surveys during the event?  Offer
>                     prizes/rewards/stickers/thank yous for filling it
>                     out?  Is there language we could use to express
>                     how very much we would like people to complete it?
>
>
>
>                     _______________________________________________
>                     Events mailing list
>                     Events at lists.openhatch.org
>                     <mailto:Events at lists.openhatch.org>
>                     http://lists.openhatch.org/mailman/listinfo/events
>
>
>
>                 _______________________________________________
>                 Events mailing list
>                 Events at lists.openhatch.org
>                 <mailto:Events at lists.openhatch.org>
>                 http://lists.openhatch.org/mailman/listinfo/events
>
>
>
>             _______________________________________________
>             Events mailing list
>             Events at lists.openhatch.org <mailto:Events at lists.openhatch.org>
>             http://lists.openhatch.org/mailman/listinfo/events
>
>
>
>
>         -- 
>         sheila
>
>         _______________________________________________
>         Events mailing list
>         Events at lists.openhatch.org <mailto:Events at lists.openhatch.org>
>         http://lists.openhatch.org/mailman/listinfo/events
>
>
>
>     _______________________________________________
>     Events mailing list
>     Events at lists.openhatch.org <mailto:Events at lists.openhatch.org>
>     http://lists.openhatch.org/mailman/listinfo/events
>
>


-- 
Greg Wilson
Software Carpentry   http://www.software-carpentry.org/
Mozilla Science Lab  http://mozillascience.org/
@swcarpentry  |  @swcannounces  |  @mozillascience

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openhatch.org/pipermail/events/attachments/20140212/38c98f5d/attachment-0001.html>


More information about the Events mailing list