Hear what’s working in your course, and what students would change
Course feedback gives you your students’ view of the course in their own words. Add your own questions, help more students respond, and use what they share to plan your next course.
What’s on your course feedback form?
- Questions chosen by your school, college, or department, plus the Academic Affairs Common Questions.
- In many schools and colleges, you can add your own questions too. See how.
- While feedback is open, you can watch your response rate in real time. You’ll never see which students did or didn’t respond.
Jump to section
- Get ready before feedback opens
- Encourage student responses
- View your results
- Using your feedback
- Training and support
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Before feedback opens
Get ready before feedback opens
Log in
- Go to coursefeedback.syr.edu and log in with your SU NetID.
- In Blackboard, select Tools, then the Course Feedback tile.
If you’ve ever been a student at SU, the system may open in your student role. Switch to Instructor using the role switcher at the top right, next to your name, to see your courses and reports.
Check your courses
Look over the courses listed for you. If a course is missing or something looks off, email coursefeedback@syr.edu before feedback opens.
Add your own questions
Want to ask your students something your department’s questions or the Academic Affairs Common Questions don’t cover? Watch the walkthrough or pick the format that works best for you.
The Course Feedback Item Banks (PDF) offer ready-made questions you can use. You can start adding questions 21 days before feedback opens. We recommend adding no more than 5, so the full form stays a manageable length for students.
Schools and colleges where instructors can add their own questions
- School of Architecture
- College of Arts and Sciences
- School of Education
- College of Engineering and Computer Science
- Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics
- College of Law
- Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
- S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
- College of Visual and Performing Arts
Mid-course feedback
Mid-course feedback lets you check in with students while there’s still time to adjust the course.
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While feedback is open
Encourage student responses
Students get email and Blackboard notifications when their forms open. The most effective approach is to tell students how you use their feedback and give them a few minutes in class to respond.
Show the QR code in class or post it as a Blackboard announcement. It takes students straight to their forms. After each submission, students receive a Certificate of Completion email confirming it.
Watch your response rate
Your dashboard shows each course’s response rate as it updates. To protect students, the system never shows who has or hasn’t responded.
If a student can’t open their forms
Have them try another browser and make sure cookies are enabled. If that doesn’t work, they can email coursefeedback@syr.edu. More help is on the Information for Students page.
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After the term ends
View your results
Reports open 7 days after grades are due for fall and spring courses, and 14 days after feedback closes for flexible-format courses. You’ll get an email when they’re ready, and Important Dates has this term’s schedule. Reports stay in the system, so you can come back to them anytime.
Download a report
- Log in and make sure you’re in the Instructor role.
- In the Course Feedback Reports widget, click the term (for example, 2026 Fall | Course Feedback).
- Click the Download icon in the Report column.
- Choose Detailed Report + Comments.
Need several reports at once? Use Batch Report
- Click the term in the Course Feedback Reports widget.
- Select the reports you want, then click Batch Report above the table.
- Name the ZIP file and choose Detailed Report + Comments.
- Keep “Download Multiple Reports as ZIP File for Selected Courses” selected and click GO.
- You’ll get an email with a download link when the ZIP file is ready.
Looking for a past term?
- In the top banner, select Results, then Report Results.
- Choose the term, then follow the download steps above.
Reports from Summer 2020 onward are in the system. If a report is missing, your NetID may have changed or the course may have been combined with another section, so search the term by your name. For reports before Summer 2020, or anything you can’t find, email coursefeedback@syr.edu.
Reading your report
Each question shows the mean, median, standard deviation, and how many students chose each response, followed by students’ comments. For a step-by-step approach, see Using your feedback.
Using your feedback
Reports are most useful when you read them for patterns and act on one or two things. Here’s a simple way to work through yours.
- Open your results. View your report on screen, or download it, from the Course Feedback Reports widget. Start with Detailed Report + Comments.
- Check who responded. Note the response rate and class size first. Results from a small share of a class, or a very small class, describe those students’ experience, not necessarily everyone’s.
- Look at the spread, not just the average. Each question shows how many students chose each point on the six-point scale. A split between “Agree” and “Disagree” says something different than the same average from mostly “Somewhat agree.”
- Read comments for themes. Group similar comments and notice which ideas come up more than once. A single strong comment, positive or negative, is one student’s view. Comments are optional, so there are usually fewer comments than responses.
- Pick one or two changes to try. Choose something students consistently raised that’s within your control, such as how feedback on assignments is returned or how class time is used.
- Tell your next students what changed. A sentence in your syllabus or on the first day (“Last term’s students said…, so this term I…”) shows students their feedback is used, which gives them a reason to respond next time.
- Keep your reports. Save each term’s report for your teaching portfolio. Each school and college determines how course feedback is used in reviews.
If you see “No Results,” the course had fewer than 3 students enrolled or received no responses.
Look across courses and terms
Report Builder lets you create your own reports, such as one question over several terms or results across your courses.
Want to hear from students sooner?
Mid-course feedback lets you check in partway through the term, while there’s still time to adjust.
Want help making sense of your results?
Bring a report, and we’ll help you read it and decide what to do next. We can:
- Walk through your report with you, including on-screen viewing and Report Builder
- Help you choose your own questions for next term
- Come to a faculty or department meeting to share how colleagues use their feedback
To plan changes to your teaching, you can also meet one-on-one with the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE).
Have a quick question? Search the Course Feedback FAQs.
Search the FAQsTraining and support
Training: One-hour overview sessions and focused sessions, such as choosing and adding your own questions, are available by request for individuals or groups.
Questions: Email the OIE course feedback team at coursefeedback@syr.edu. We can also meet on Zoom.
Where to go for other help: Problems signing in to Blackboard or with your NetID go to the ITS Service Center at help@syr.edu or 315.443.2677.