Menu Close

Creating a Survey

​Overview

Before students can complete a survey, the instructor must create it. The instructions on this page are a step-by-step walkthrough on creating the survey, adding items to the survey, and giving it the appropriate settings. 

Instructions

From your course homepage, click on Surveys under the Assessments menu.

D2L Brightspace Navbar with the "Assessments" dropdown menu expanded out. There is a red box around the "Surveys" option in the dropdown menu.

Select New Survey. The new Survey Properties screen will open.

Survey tool showing the "Manage Surveys" page. There is a red box around a button labeled "New Survey".

Fill in the following information in the Properties tab:

  1. Name: Enter a title for your survey.Category: If desired, assign the survey to a category (optional)
  2. Feedback: Show respondents feedback immediately after entering a response to a question.
  3. Anonymous: Check this box to make survey results anonymous, meaning that you will not be able to see who submitted each response. Note: Once enabled, this cannot be reversed.
  4. Description/Submission Message:  Enter the text that respondents will see before they start the survey and after they submit the survey respectively.

Labeled screenshot of the Properties tab of the New Survey creation page, showing 1. a text field for "Name", 2. a checkbox to "give instant feedback", 3. a checkbox to "make results anonymous", and 4. large text boxes for the "Description" and "Submission Message". There are buttons for "Save and Close", "Save", and "Cancel" at the bottom of the page.

On the Survey Properties screen, click the Add/Edit Questions button to add items to the survey. This will take you to a new page.

The Survey Questions section on the Properties tab of the New Survey creation page with a red box around the "Add/Edit Questions" button.

On the new page, click the blue New button towards the top of the page. Then, select the question type you would like to add from the dropdown. For these instructions, we will demonstrate adding a Likert Question to the survey.

Questions creation page for a survey titled "Check In". There is a red box around the "New" button at the top of the page, as well as a red box around the "Likert Question (LIK)" option in the associated expanded dropdown menu.

Fill in the information required for the question. This will vary depending on the question type. For a Likert type question, you will fill in the:

  1. Title: Give the question a short title (optional)
  2. Introductory Text: Provide introduction and context for the set of statements that respondents will rate.
  3. Scale: Select the scale that will be used in the responses.
  4. N/A Option: Give respondents the ability to not respond to a statement by give them the “Not Applicable” option.
  5. Options: Enter the statements that respondents will rate.
  6. Question Feedback: Enter the feedback that students can receive automatically or after they submit the survey, depending on your settings.

When you are finished entering the required information, click Save.

Labeled screenshot of the New Likert Question creation screen, showing 1. a text field for "Title", 2. a large text box for "Introductory Text", 3. a series of radial options to define the item's "Scale", 4. a checkbox to "Include an N/A option", 5. a series of text fields to enter statements to rate, and 6. an expandable link labeled "Expand question feedback". There is a red box around the "Save" at the bottom of the page.

You will now see your survey item in the “Add/Edit Questions” area. Click Done Editing Questions to return to the Properties tab of the survey.

Questions creation page for a survey titled "Mid-Semester Check-In", showing a newly created Likert item. There is a red box around the "Done Editing Questions" button in the top-right corner of the page.

Go to the Restrictions tab. Under this tab, you can:

  1. Status: Uncheck the box to make the survey Active (available to respondents) or check the box to Hide from Users (not available to respondents)
  2. Dates: Enter a Start and End Date and Time for the survey. Also decide whether to list the survey in the course calendar (optional).
  3. Additional Release Conditions: Add release conditions to the survey to restrict access to it. More information on Release Conditions can be found here.
  4. User Responses: Define how many times a user can take a survey.
    • Unlimited – Respondents can complete unlimited surveys, and each completed survey is recorded separately.
    • Single attempt that is editable – Respondent can only complete one survey, but they can change their responses as long as the survey is available.
    • Limited –  Respondents can take the survey a limited number of time, and each completed survey is recorded separately.
  5. Special Access: Give modified access to specific users. More information on Special Access can be found here.

When you finish modifying the settings to the Survey, click Save and Close.

​Labeled screenshot of the Restrictions tab of the New Survey creation page, showing 1. a checkbox to "Hide from Users", 2. fields to set Start and End Dates for the survey, 3. buttons to Create and Attach Release Conditions to the survey, 4. a dropdown menu to set Attempts Allowed, and 5. Special Access options. There is a red box around the "Save and Close" button at the bottom of the page.