[Events] getting people to fill out exit surveys

Wed Feb 19 03:01:49 UTC 2014

Now that you mention it, I do remember the "what went right/what went
wrong" part of the day!  And I've seen the blog posts summarizing that
feedback for individual events.  Do you find that feedback adequate when
trying to get a sense of how changes to curriculum design, event structure,
etc are impacting the event?

Your post-survey response rates make me pretty pessimistic.  If such a
competent, effective group as Software Carpentry can only get a 10%
response rate, what hope is there for us?  ;)

I think probably we need to think about what, precisely, we want to know
and if there are better ways to figure that out than a survey.  Our needs
have changed a bit as we move to organizing events that neither Asheesh nor
myself is physically present for. I'm not sure how to measure how an event
is going when I can't see attendees' faces or see for myself how engaged
they are.

On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 7:38 PM, Greg Wilson <
gvwilson at software-carpentry.org> wrote:

>  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
> > 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> 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> 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> 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> 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
>>>>>> http://lists.openhatch.org/mailman/listinfo/events
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  --
>>> sheila
>>>
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>>>
>>
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>
>
> --
> Greg Wilson
> Software Carpentry   http://www.software-carpentry.org/
> Mozilla Science Lab  http://mozillascience.org/
> @swcarpentry  |  @swcannounces  |  @mozillascience
>
>
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