35 Learning needs
How did you get to know your students and their learning needs, particularly in a large class? What information might you collect in a welcome survey?
ES: I asked students to fill out a learning needs survey for a 5% completion grade. It was available for completion until the second week of class. That survey had questions about learning needs, what skills students would like covered (e.g. close reading, writing, researching, analysis of media texts, etc.), and the technology available to students.
EG: I also went the survey route (love the 5% idea!). In future, I’d consider reworking the second half of my survey, which is about course interests/ expectations, into a short activity they complete in small groups. This would function as an icebreaker and reduce the number of responses I’d have to comb through! You can view the survey I distributed here.