SurveyMonkey

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Jenni Bartels

Introduction
There are several survey building sites on the internet, but none of them are as prevalent as SurveyMonkey. SurveyMonkey is an online survey and quiz builder, created by Ryan Finley and Chris Finley in 1999. With both basic (free) and premium (paid) account options, it enables anyone-- from the tech savvy to the tech challenged-- to create and share original or templated questionnaires, quizzes, and surveys quickly and efficiently. From the Monkey's profile and mission statement, "We strive to make our tools powerful enough for professional researchers, yet easy enough for a survey novice...We want to make it as easy as possible for you to get at the knowledge you need to make smart, informed choices." SurveyMonkey is so reliable that their customers include 100% of the Fortune 100 as well as hundreds of small businesses, academic institutions, and individual knowledge seekers.

Benefits

 * The survey-creation process is very simple and quick, so you can create your account, create your quiz, and begin examining your results in the same hour.
 * SurveyMonkey breaks its services down into three main categories: registration forms, tests & quizzes, and votes & polls. Below is a breakdown of how each of these services can be applied to online teaching and learning.
 * Registration Forms: Collect information about your students - demographics, expectations, and attitudes are easily gathered
 * Tests and Quizzes: Create assessment tools your students can access from any computer - multiple choice, essay/short answer questions are easy to develop and preview
 * Votes and Polls: Give students an opportunity to contribute feedback - self-assessments, course evaluations & assignment reviews let students actively participate in their learning experiences
 * 12 different color themes on the basic account
 * 15 different question types to use
 * Analyze whole group and individual responses
 * Custom themes available to premium account users-- add your school logo, change your font, design, color scheme, etc.
 * 508 Compliant - this means accessibility for students with disabilities! Surveys kept in default themes are screen reader-friendly and readable for color-blind students.
 * Comprehensive information and support in the Help Center
 * User Manual - available as a .pdf, this is a 72 page guide to account navigation, survey creation, distribution, & analysis
 * Best Practices for Survey Design - available as a .pdf, this 36 page guide provides step-by-step information on writing successful and effective survey questions, creating survey flow and layout, and calculating and increasing response rates.
 * Tips for Improving Response Rates - this .pdf document is a brief discussion of how to collect acceptable response rates. At four pages in length, it's far less intimidating than the above documents-- it's actually an excerpt from the //Smart Survey Design// document.
 * Tutorials
 * FAQs & Answers
 * Question Bank - available for both paid and free accounts, this contains hundreds of certified questions, created by survey methodologists, that minimize bias and increase accuracy in responses to your questions.
 * Expert survey templates available - these are surveys that have already been created for you! There are nineteen templates ready under the Education category, five of which are available for basic account holders, and can be customized to suit individual course and instructor purposes.

Challenges

 * Basic account only allows maximum of 10 questions and 100 responses per survey/quiz.
 * Can only download, share, and export results in premium accounts.
 * Surveys/quizzes cannot be automatically graded; all question types (even multiple choice!) must be manually graded.
 * Difficult to control who responds-- anyone with the link can take your survey/quiz-- can skew results

Example Learning Objectives
**Objective A:** After browsing the course homepage, syllabus, and instructor biography, students will take a brief intake survey in which they share their own course expectations and evaluate themselves as readers and writers. Students may have the course site open on their web browsers as they answer five multiple questions about the homepage, syllabus, and instructor biography, which should be answered with 100% accuracy and completed by Saturday night (11:59 PM central time).

**Objective B:** After reading the chapter and doing the chapter exercise, students will take a ten-question quiz during which they may reference their books. The grammar check quiz should be answered with at least 80% accuracy and completed by Friday night (11:59 PM central time).

**Objective C:** After turning in Essay One, students will fill out the feedback form regarding their perceptions of and experiences with the assignment. Students may refer to the assignment page, peer review sheets, any notes taken, and all drafts done and are expected to answer completely and honestly. This feedback form should be completed no later than Tuesday night (11:59 PM central time).

**Objective D:** Having completed the outlines of the chapters assigned to them, each student will use his or her notes to construct ten multiple choice quiz questions in SurveyMonkey. Each student will post a link to his or her quiz on the discussion board for fellow students to take and email the teacher the quiz answers. This will serve as the official class study guide and should be completed a week before the test without exception. Questions will be reviewed and discussed during the week before the test and evaluated based upon the test question design rubric.

Videos
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Resources Utilized
SurveyMonkey. (2012). //User manual: Customer guide to account navigation, survey creation, distribution, & analysis//. Retrieved from http://help.surveymonkey.com/euf/assets/docs/pdf/UserManual.pdf?noIntercept/1.

SurveyMonkey. (2009) . // Smart survey design //. Retrieved from http://help.surveymonkey.com/euf/assets/docs/pdf /SmartSurvey.pdf?noIntercept/1.

SurveyMonkey. (2009). Response rates & surveying techniques: Tips to enhance survey respondent participation. Retrieved from http://help.surveymonkey.com/euf/assets/docs/pdf/Response_Rates.pdf?noIntercept/1.

SurveyMonkey. (2011). SurveyMonkey Section 508 Certification And Accessibility. Retrieved from http://help.surveymonkey.com/euf/assets/docs/pdf/508_Guide.pdf?noIntercept/1.

TechCrunch. (2010). //SurveyMonkey//. CrunchBase. Retrieved from http://www.crunchbase.com/company/surveymonkey.