Adding Your Own Questions to Course Feedback

At a glance

Plan on 10 to 15 minutes. Pick the path that fits what you want to ask:

Before you start

1. Log in at coursefeedback.syr.edu with your NetID and password.

2. Check your role in the top right corner. It must say Instructor. If it says Student/Respondent, click it and choose Instructor. The Custom Questions menu only appears in the Instructor role.

   

3. On your Home page, look at the My Courses in Custom Question Projects box. It lists each course that is Open for Questions, how much time you have left to add questions, and how many questions you have added so far. This box is the quickest way to see which project is open for you right now.

   

   Tip: If you do not see this box, or your course is not listed, the window for adding questions may not be open yet. Contact coursefeedback@syr.edu.

Part 1Build your survey

1. In the purple menu bar, click Custom Questions, then Custom Questions Surveys.

   

2. Click Create New Survey in the top right corner. Any surveys you built in past terms are listed here too.

   

   Tip: Reusing a survey from a past term? Click the three-dot Options menu next to it and choose Create a Copy, or Edit to change it. Clicking a survey's title only opens a preview.

3. Enter a Title (required) and an optional Description, then click Save. Students do not see the title or description, so pick a name you will recognize later, such as "INQ 101 Fall 2026 Custom Questions."

   

4. Click Add a Question. You will see four choices. Use the one that matches what you want to do:

   

Paths A and B: Add questions from an Item Bank

1. From the Item Banks dropdown, choose one bank, then click Search. The page starts on All Item Banks, which mixes every bank's questions together, so always choose a bank first.

   

   Tip: Looking for something specific? Type a word in Search Question Text (for example, "exam") or filter by Question Type, then click Search.

2. To use the whole bank, check Select all. Then click Add Selected Questions in the top right corner.

   

   Tip: Only use Select all after you have chosen a single bank. With All Item Banks showing, it would add every question from every bank.

3. To use only some questions, check Select above each question you want instead, then click Add Selected Questions.

   

4. You are returned to your survey with the questions added. Questions are not always added in the same order as the bank, so check the order. To add questions from another bank, click Add a Question and repeat.

   

   Tip: The chain-link icon marks a question that came from an Item Bank.

5. To move a question, type how many spots to move it in the small # box next to the arrows, then click the up or down arrow. For example, type 1 and click the up arrow to move a question up one spot.

   

   Tip: If you click an arrow while the # box is empty, you will see a "Move number is required" message. Type a number in the box first.

Mid-course Item Banks are popular for a quick check-in with students:

Tip: These banks were written for mid-semester check-ins, but you can use them on your end-of-course survey too. Check the wording first: a question about the course "so far" may read oddly at the end of the term.

Path C: Write your own question

1. Click Add a Question, then Create New. Choose a Question Type and click Continue.

   

1. Type your question in Question Text. For choice-type questions, enter one answer option per line in Response Options. The system numbers them automatically (1, 2, 3...). Click Save & Add in the top right corner when finished.

   

   Tip: For agreement questions, OIE recommends the 6-point scale shown here: Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Somewhat Disagree, Somewhat Agree, Agree, Strongly Agree. Save & Add is at the top of the page, so scroll back up if needed.

2. Optional settings are below the answer options: reverse the numbering, add an N/A choice, add a comment box, mark the question Required, and choose a vertical, horizontal, or drop-down layout. Leave Learning Outcomes Question unchecked.

   

Path D: Mix and match

Repeat Paths A, B, and C in any order within the same survey. Each time you add questions you return to your survey, where you can click Add a Question again.

Finish Part 1

1. Review your questions. Use the pencil to edit a question and the X to delete one. Click Preview to see the survey as students will, then click Done.

   

2. Back on the Custom Question Surveys list, your survey shows 0 under In Projects. That is expected: it is built but not attached yet. Continue to Part 2.

   

Part 2Attach your survey to your course(s)

1. Go to your Home page. In the My Courses in Custom Question Projects box, click the name of the project you want to add questions to (for example, 2026 Fall | Course Feedback). This opens the project page. A project is the system's name for one term's course feedback.

   

   Tip: Only add questions to a project whose courses say Open for Questions. If two projects are listed, check that you are choosing the one you mean, such as end-of-course feedback rather than mid-course feedback.

2. On the project page, check Project Access Dates on the left to see when each course opens and closes for questions. Then click Add Survey on the right.

   

3. Step 1, Select Survey: click the circle next to your survey. The counter confirms how many questions it contains. Click Next.

   

   Tip: The panel on the right previews the Main Survey questions your students will already see. Scan it so you do not ask the same thing twice.

4. Step 2, Choose Destinations: check each course that should receive your questions, or check Select All. If you teach many sections, use Search Courses. Click Finish & Add.

   

   Tip: Your questions go to every student enrolled in the courses you check.

5. Your survey now appears under My Surveys in this Project with its number of questions, and the count at the top goes up.

   

Another way to open a project

1. You can also reach your projects from the menu bar: click Custom Questions, then Custom Questions Projects.

   

2. On the Attach Surveys to Projects page, click the project whose Status says Open. The Access From and Access Until columns show the window for adding questions.

   

Confirm it worked

1. Return to your Home page. The My Courses in Custom Question Projects box now shows how many questions you added to each course. If it still says no questions, repeat Part 2.

   

2. You can also check the Attach Surveys to Projects page (Custom Questions, then Custom Questions Projects). The Added to # Courses column shows how many of your courses received the survey.

   

Making changes later

1. To change which courses get the survey, or to remove it, open the project (Part 2, step 1) and click the three-dot menu next to your survey: Preview Survey, Adjust Courses, or Remove from Project.

   

   Tip: Adjust Courses changes which courses get the survey. Remove from Project takes it off every course in this project at once.

2. To change the questions themselves, go to Custom Questions Surveys, click the three-dot Options menu next to the survey, and choose Edit.

   

3. If the survey is already attached to a project, a message asks how you want to edit it. Choose Edit as Copy to make a new version and leave the original, and its results, unchanged. Choose Edit as Override only if you want to change the survey everywhere it is used.

   

   Tip: Edit as Override changes past, present, and future reports for that survey and cannot be undone. If you edit as a copy, attach the new copy to your course in Part 2.

Common questions