PawtoGrader's surveys and polls feature enables instructors to collect structured feedback from students about courses, assignments, teaching methods, and more. Create custom surveys, track response rates in real-time, and export data for analysis. Use polls for quick questions during class to check understanding and gather instant responses.

Surveys

Create custom surveys, track response rates in real-time, and export data for analysis.

Accessing Survey Management

Navigate to Surveys in the course navigation menu to access the survey management dashboard.

The survey dashboard displays all surveys for your course with key information:

• Survey title and description
• Status (Draft, Published, or Closed)
• Response count
• Created date
• Quick action buttons (View Responses, Edit, Delete)

Creating a New Survey

Starting from Scratch

1. Click the Create New Survey button in the top-right corner
2. Enter a survey title (required)
3. Add an optional description to provide context for students
4. Open the Visual Builder to add questions (see Visual Builder section below)
5. Configure survey settings (see Survey Settings section below)
6. Choose to Save as Draft or Publish immediately
7. Choose the due date and whether allow students to edit their responses after submission
8. Preview the survey if needed, otherwise click Save Survey

Using the Template Library

Save time by starting with a pre-built survey template:

1. Click the Create New Survey button
2. Click Load Template
3. Search or filter templates by:
   • All Templates or My Templates
   • Visibility: Class-Only or Global
   • Search by name or description keywords
4. Click Preview to see the full survey before using
5. Click Clone to create a new survey with the template's questions pre-filled
6. Customize as needed and publish

Template Scopes:

• Class-Only: Templates visible only within your course
• Global: Templates shared across all courses in the platform

Visual Builder

The visual builder uses SurveyJS, providing access to a wide variety of question types:

Supported Question Types

• Short Text: Short-line text area for concise responses
• Long Text: Multi-line text areas for detailed responses
• Single Choice: Radio buttons to select one option from a list
• Checkboxes: Multiple select boxes allowing students to choose one or more options
• Yes / No: Binary question with two clear options for simple confirmations

Building Your Survey

1. Name the page if needed (optional, helps organize multi-page surveys)
2. Click a question type button to add a new question (+ Short Text, + Long Text, etc.)
3. Enter the question name (this becomes the column header in response exports)
4. Add an optional description to provide context for students
5. Mark questions as required using the Required toggle
6. For choice-based questions, add and reorder answer options
7. Use the arrow buttons (↑ ↓) to reorder questions
8. Click the trash icon to delete a question
9. Click Use This Survey when finished

Multi-Page Surveys

For longer surveys, organize questions across multiple pages:

1. Click Add Page in the left sidebar to create a new page
2. Name each page to help students understand their progress
3. Use the arrow buttons to reorder pages
4. Delete a page by clicking the trash icon (cannot delete the last remaining page)
5. Click on any page name to switch between pages while editing

Students will navigate through pages sequentially when completing the survey.

tip

Use multi-page surveys to:

• Group related questions together
• Break up long surveys into manageable sections
• Create a logical flow through different topics

Configuring Question Options

For Single Choice and Checkboxes:

1. Click Add choice to add new options
2. Enter the value for each choice
3. Use the arrow buttons to reorder choices
4. Click ✕ to remove a choice

For Yes / No questions:

• Customize the True label (default: "Yes")
• Customize the False label (default: "No")

Survey JSON Editor

Advanced users may directly modify the SurveyJS configuration when creating a new survey. Use the visual builder first, then fine-tune in JSON mode if needed.

• The JSON textarea shows the raw SurveyJS configuration
• Click Validate JSON to check for syntax errors before saving
• Changes in the Visual Builder automatically update the JSON

note

The JSON editor is for advanced users familiar with the SurveyJS JSON format. Most users should use the Visual Builder instead.

Previewing Your Survey

Before publishing, preview how students will see your survey:

1. Click Show Preview in the preview section
2. A modal displays the survey exactly as students will experience it
3. Test navigation between pages (for multi-page surveys)
4. Verify question types and options display correctly
5. Close the preview when satisfied

tip

Always preview your survey before publishing to catch any formatting issues or unclear questions.

Survey Settings

Status Options

Draft

• Survey is not visible to students
• Allows you to work on the survey without time pressure
• No responses can be submitted
• Can be edited freely without affecting existing data

Published

• Survey becomes visible to students immediately
• Students can begin submitting responses
• Due date validation ensures deadline is in the future
• Editing published surveys is possible but use caution (see Editing Published Surveys below)

Due Date Configuration

1. Click the date/time picker in the survey form
2. Select a date and time for the survey deadline
3. System converts to your configured timezone (default: America/New_York)
4. Students see a countdown timer showing time remaining
5. After the due date passes, students can no longer submit responses

Due Date Display:

• Red "Closed" indicator when past due
• Orange warning when less than 24 hours remain
• Days and hours remaining for upcoming deadlines

Response Editing Control

Toggle Allow Response Editing to control whether students can modify their submissions after initial submission.

Enabled

• Students see an edit notification when taking the survey
• "View Submission" button changes to allow editing
• Timestamp updates to show last modification time

Disabled

• Students cannot change responses after submitting
• Original submission timestamp preserved
• Ensures responses reflect immediate reactions

Survey Assignment

Control which students can access and respond to your survey:

Assign to all students (default)

• All enrolled students in the course can see and respond to the survey
• Response rate is calculated based on total enrolled students
• Best for course-wide feedback or evaluations

Assign to specific students

1. Select Assign to specific students option
2. Click Select Students to open the student picker
3. Search for students by name
4. Check the boxes next to students you want to include
5. Click Confirm to save your selection

The button displays the count of selected students (e.g., "Select Students (5 selected)").

tip

Use specific student assignment for:

• Targeted feedback from a particular section or group
• Follow-up surveys for students who reported issues
• Pilot testing a survey before wider release

Peer Feedback Surveys

Peer feedback surveys allow students to provide constructive feedback about their teammates in group projects. A pre-built Peer Feedback Survey template is available in the Template Library.

Current Implementation

Peer feedback surveys use the Assign to specific students assignment mode. The instructor assigns the survey to students who need to provide feedback, and responses are collected like any other survey.

note

The current implementation does not include automated peer-to-peer assignment (e.g., automatically assigning Student A to review Student B). Instructors manually assign surveys to students who should provide feedback. Future versions may include automated peer assignment features.

Peer Feedback Template Structure

The built-in peer feedback template includes the following questions that can be customized for your course:

Rating Questions (1-5 scale):

• Overall contribution to the project
• Communication effectiveness with the group
• Reliability in completing assigned tasks on time
• Collaboration and supportiveness
• Quality of work produced

Multi-Select Question:

• Team member strengths (Technical skills, Problem-solving, Communication, Leadership, Time management, Creativity, Attention to detail, Helping others)

Open-Ended Questions:

• What did this team member do well?
• What could this team member improve on?
• Additional comments (optional)

Using the Peer Feedback Template

1. Click Create New Survey
2. Click Load Template
3. Search for "Peer Feedback Survey"
4. Click Clone to use the template
5. Customize questions as needed for your course context
6. Use Assign to specific students to assign to group members
7. Publish when ready

Viewing Peer Feedback Responses

Peer feedback responses are visible only to instructors and graders. Students can only see their own submitted responses, not feedback others have provided.

To review peer feedback:

1. Navigate to the survey's View Responses page
2. Use filters to focus on specific questions or date ranges
3. Export to CSV for detailed analysis or grade calculations

Managing Survey Responses

Viewing Response Dashboard

Click View Responses on any published survey to see the response dashboard.

The dashboard displays three key metrics at the top:

Total Responses

Shows the current number of submitted responses.

Response Rate

Percentage of enrolled students who have submitted responses. Calculated as:

Response Rate = (Total Responses / Total Enrolled Students) × 100

Time Remaining

Dynamic countdown to the due date:

• Black: More than 24 hours remaining (displays days and hours)
• Orange: Less than 24 hours remaining (displays hours and minutes)
• Red: Past due date (displays "Closed")

Response Data Table

The table shows all student responses with columns for:

• Student name
• Submission timestamp
• Answers to each survey question (dynamic columns)

Column Headers: Question titles automatically populate as column headers. Long question text is truncated for readability.

Empty Responses: Shows "—" for unanswered questions.

Complex Answers: Arrays display as comma-separated values (e.g., "Option A, Option C").

Filtering Responses

Click the Filters button to open the filter panel with advanced options:

Date Range Filter

Filter responses submitted within a specific time period:

1. Select a start date
2. Select an end date
3. Only responses submitted between these dates display

Use Cases:

• Analyze early vs. late responders
• Track response patterns over time
• Identify submission clusters before deadline

Anonymous Mode

Hide student identifying information for unbiased analysis:

• Removes student names column

Question Selection Filter

Display only specific questions of interest:

1. Check/uncheck questions to show or hide
2. Reduces information overload for large surveys
3. Focus on specific topics or concerns

Active Filters Display: Blue badges show currently applied filters with quick-remove (×) buttons.

Exporting Response Data

Click Export to CSV to download all response data for external analysis.

CSV Format:

Student Name,Submitted At,Question 1,Question 2,...
Jane Doe,"Nov 15, 2025, 3:45 PM",Answer 1,Answer 2,...
John Smith,"Nov 16, 2025, 10:22 AM",Answer 1,Answer 2,...

Features:

• Properly escaped values for Excel/Google Sheets compatibility
• Filename includes survey title and export date
• All question responses included as separate columns

Viewing Individual Responses

Click on any row in the response table to view a student's individual response in detail.

Individual Response View:

• List of full survey responses in read-only mode
• All questions and answers displayed in the responses page
• Navigate back to dashboard with breadcrumb or back button

Editing Surveys

Editing Draft Surveys

Draft surveys can be edited freely with no restrictions:

1. Click Edit button on the survey card
2. Modify title, description, questions, or settings
3. Save changes and continue working
4. No student impact since draft surveys are not visible

Editing Published Surveys

Caution: Editing published surveys should be done carefully as it may affect student experience.

What You Can Safely Edit:

• Survey title (won't affect existing responses)
• Description (provides context for future responders)
• Due date (can extend deadline if needed)
• Allow response editing setting

What to Avoid Editing:

• Survey questions (may invalidate existing responses)
• Question types (data type mismatch with existing responses)
• Removing questions (orphans existing response data)

Best Practice: If substantial changes are needed, create a new survey version rather than modifying a published survey with responses.

Validation and Error Handling

The system validates surveys before publishing:

• Ensures due date is in the future (cannot publish with past due date)
• Validates JSON structure of survey questions
• Checks for required fields (title, question structure)

Validation Errors:

• Error message displays explaining the issue
• Must fix errors before publishing

Saving Survey Templates

Share your successful survey designs with others or reuse them in future semesters:

1. Open an existing survey (published or draft)
2. Click Add to Template Library
3. Choose template scope:
   • Course Only: Available only in your course
   • Global (Shared): Available to all instructors across courses

Deleting Surveys

To remove a survey from your course:

1. Click actions button and choose Delete
2. Confirm deletion in the dialog box
3. Survey and all associated response data are permanently deleted

Warning: Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. Export response data before deleting if you need to retain it.