The following information was previously included in a June 2025 Assessment Guide created by the Teaching and Learning Center.
Student Experiences of Teaching (SET) surveys are typically administered to students in your class at the end of a term. These surveys are optional and allow students to provide anonymous responses to a series of questions about their experiences in your course. SET surveys are designed to give instructors and teaching assistants (TAs) feedback on a variety of topics, including student learning objectives, instructional materials, student workload, the learning environment, and other course elements. This resource is designed to provide instructors and TAs with recommendations for how to communicate with students about the SEY surveys and encourage student feedback.
In addition to your efforts to improve the quality of SET survey responses, it is important to maximize response rates to have a more inclusive range of student feedback and meet adequate thresholds for analysis of quantitative scores from online surveys (American Sociological Association, 2019; Curran, 2020; Nulty 2008). In their recent study, He and Freeman (2021) ran simulations to investigate ideal response rates including course variations based on course size, SET survey scores, and nonresponse patterns. Overall, the authors advocated for 50-60% response rates, depending on course conditions. While this may not be feasible given course enrollments/class sizes, it does allow for a target response rate to strive towards. It is important to note, however, every single response can provide useful feedback on course successes and areas for improvement.
Evidence suggests several practices have been shown to increase SET survey response rates. Here are strategies you can take throughout the quarter to try and increase the number of SET survey responses received:
Set aside time in class to complete their SET survey.
Plan to provide a small amount of time in class during the last week of instruction to finish the SET survey. Usually 10-15 minutes at the start of the course provides sufficient time for students to complete their SET survey for your course. Evidence suggests providing time at the beginning of class, as opposed to the end of class, can increase the likelihood of students completing their SET survey.
Incentives for completion.
You can also consider offering incentives for the completion of SET surveys. Examples of incentives can be point-based, such as tiny amounts of extra credit or participation points also known as micro-incentives, or given to an entire class based on a threshold of responses (e.g. if 75% of students complete the SET survey, all students will receive 2 participation points). For many students, even if the points ultimately have very little or no effect on their overall course grade, they still perceive this to be enough of an incentive to participate. When using incentives, it is helpful to remind students that regardless of the mechanism used to give extra credit, all SET surveys are anonymous. In other words, instructors may be able to see if a student completed a SET but not what they said. Note to TAs: make sure to check with the instructor of record before implementing this strategy. It is important that incentives be standardized across sections of a course.
Give explicit instructions.
Provide students with directions on how to access their SET survey in case they have misplaced a website link or did not receive an email invitation. Instructors and TAs should receive messaging on how their students can access their SET surveys; information is also available on the SET Program website.
Ensure students know where to access the surveys.
If you plan to have students complete their SET surveys during class time, it is important that students have adequate access to the UCLA Wifi and devices capable of accessing the SET form. If possible, have extra devices in case a student forgets or does not have web-enabled devices.
Acknowledge fatigue.
When discussing SET surveys with students, acknowledge that they likely have a number of surveys to complete and may even be experiencing survey fatigue, and express your appreciation for their time and effort.
Remind your students about their SET surveys.
Another effective strategy is to monitor your response rates and remind your students. Whether through Bruin Learn or in person, reminders for students have been shown to be a simple but effective way to increase SET responses rates. Remind students that while you can see how many students have responded, you cannot see which students have responded and that all feedback is anonymous. Remind students the SET survey window closes before final grades are submitted so as not to unfairly influence the student responses based on the grade received for the course.
Check your response rates.
Throughout the SET survey window, you have the ability to check your response rates. During regular quarters, SET surveys are open for 11 days, beginning Tuesday of Week 9 at 8 a.m. and ending at 8 a.m. the Saturday before Finals week. By checking your responses for each class during this timeframe, you can identify potential issues early on in the process and have time to address them.
Questions about SETs in Teaching and Learning
The UCLA Teaching and Learning Center has staff dedicated to providing support in assessment, course design, and effective teaching practices for instructors and TAs. If you have any questions about SET surveys or are interested in getting help interpreting your SET ratings, please contact us at assessment@teaching.ucla.edu.