Each year, we survey students to understand your teaching experiences at LSE. The course survey asks you about the courses you are taking each term. The results of these surveys help the School to reward and promote excellent teachers, and to improve the quality of its teaching.
How the survey process works:
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The School runs a survey in each of its main teaching terms, Autumn and Winter.
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You should expect to receive emails containing an individual survey link for each of your taught courses between weeks 8-10 of Autumn and Winter Term.
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You can also access course surveys via the survey portal. This portal is where you will access the Undergraduate Survey or Postgraduate Survey, if applicable to you.
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The course surveys we run for Executive programmes have slightly different questions and can be run throughout the year depending on when the courses take place. Your programme team and an email from the LSE’s surveying software will invite you to give course feedback at the appropriate times.
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If you have any questions about the survey process, please contact LSE Surveys
How to fill in the course survey:
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There are two sections to the course survey: Course Questions and Teacher Questions.
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The 'Course Questions' section contains questions about the overall course and it should be used to provide feedback about the overall course, whether that encompasses seminars, lectures and/or other teaching modes.
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The 'Teacher Questions' contains questions about named teachers. Please use the teacher section questions to submit feedback or comments on your individual teachers, whether they are a lecturer and/or seminar teacher.
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Please ensure that any feedback you provide is constructive as this will help the department make appropriate course enhancements and adjustments going forwards. Likewise, when evaluating your course teachers, it is important that you focus only on the quality of their teaching, as opposed to reflecting on their personal protected characteristics. This is to ensure that the course is reviewed fairly and to prevent discrimination. Please note, the use of discriminatory or expletive language in any comments you submit will not be tolerated.
Survey technical issues.
If you have any technical issues when trying to fill in a course survey please get in contact with us and we will investigate: LSE Surveys
Are the surveys anonymous?
The course surveys are not anonymous but confidential. The individual respondent details are never shared with academic departments, but it is possible for TQARO to access the underlying meta-data to identify particular students. This is only needed where students disclose something concerning which from a safeguarding perspective may necessitate further investigation.
How are the survey results shared at LSE?
Please see this privacy notice page for more information on how the survey results are shared at LSE.
Examples of changes made to teaching as a result of survey feedback:
Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method: 'An essay feedback form was introduced in response to general feedback on surveys. Specialist philosophy classes were introduced in PH101 and PH103 in response to feedback from students taking these courses – not just on surveys but through the Staff-Student forum and other more informal channels.'
Management: 'The department of Management has used feedback from student surveys on our three existing undergraduate degrees in consulting with student representatives on our Staff–Student Liaison Committees in the design of our new BSc in Management. This new degree has thus been designed to remedy students' concerns including a new course on management in the first year.'
Media and Communications: 'The introduction of the non-academic readings in the reading list of the core course MC408 as a response to students' requests for non-academic 'entry points' to the theoretical discussions that drive the course; The introduction of 90 minute seminars in the core course MC408; move to 3 hrs per week feedback and consultation hours (office hours); our teaching exchange sessions to ensure that we meet the teaching needs of students who are both struggling and those who find the learning too easy (in response to the survey question, 'is the level of teaching and learning about right, too hard or too easy?').'