Microsoft Forms
Microsoft Forms is an intuitive app that enables you to create surveys and quizzes to embed within your course. Forms are part of the Microsoft 365 suite. You can easily share these forms with your students or colleagues and collect responses in real-time. It also has inbuilt analytics to help you visualise and alyse the collected data effectively.
Microsoft Forms enables users to:
- Create basic surveys, polls, or other types;
- Share the form with others for review;
- Send your form or survey to recipients;
- Review responses in real time;
- Export responses to excel; and
- Visualise your data in a variety of ways.
AI elements
Microsoft Forms leverages natural language processing (NLP)), machine learning (ML), and sentiment analysis algorithms to provide suggestions for users, undertake sentiment analysis, and provide insights into response patterns.
Microsoft Forms is a good option when you are trying to gather information from your cohort. It is a user-friendly, cost-effective solution for creating surveys and quizzes. It seamlessly integrated with the M365 suite to leverage your license.
List of functions
Key features of Microsoft Forms are:
- User-friendly interface with no coding required;
- Multiple question types;
- Logic and branching within different forms;
- Ability to attach files; and
- Anonymous submissions to encourage responses.
Recommended for using Microsoft Forms are:
- Formative assessment: student evaluation through timely, structured feedback mechanisms.
- Facilitating dialogue: provide a forum for students to engage in discussions about their responses to promote critical thinking and peer-to-peer learning.
- Branching scenarios: use conditional pathways to support decision-making and problem-solving exercises.
Support resources
Deakin Resources:
Microsoft Forms: A resource for you to learn how to leverage Microsoft Forms in less than half an hour.
Additional Resources:
Microsoft Learn (external): explore the different features and functionality of the M365 suite completing modules at your own pace.
Examples
The use cases below showcase some ways in which you can leverage Microsoft Forms and the features for teaching and learning:
-
Monitor and Manage
Student feedback – receive student input on an activity that can be altered immediately in response to feedback
As a teacher I want to survey my students to gain insights into their learning experiences, so I can act on feedback straightaway.
My students can provide feedback on, and influence, their learning experience within the trimester.
Example practice considerations when collecting student feedback using Forms:
- Consider what insights you need from students and the key points of this interaction that could influence the design, e.g. the most challenging key concepts so you can embed additional resources or activities.
- Be mindful that students are often over-surveyed. If the activity does not have the flexibility to change until the next cohort of students, then consider waiting for the eVALUate university-administered survey. If the activity can pivot on student feedback, then keep it short and purposeful, with key targeted questions.
- Communicate to the students the benefits expected from their feedback, and subsequently the impact of their feedback, e.g. what change occurred because of their feedback.
-
Inquiry
Scaffolded inquiry – structuring an inquiry-based learning activity in a flipped classroom model
As a teacher I want to structure a learning activity that requires students to actively engage with key ideas, ready to discuss at the next tutorial.
My students can work through the questions presented in a learning activity, which requires engagement with key readings and application of core concepts, and receive a copy of their own responses after submitting.
Example design considerations when structuring an inquiry-based learning activity using Forms:
- When using Forms for a flipped classroom model, where students complete some learning activities prior to attendance, ask the students to bring their activity responses to the next scheduled tutorial.
- Plan how the responses will be purposefully used, e.g.
- student-centred: students share their findings in pairs of small groups to present back to the cohort for feedback
- teacher preparation: a summary could be collated prior to the tutorial, or a WordCloud created, to stimulate discussion in the tutorial.
- Provide formative feedback to help students to assess and modulate their learning (particularly as forms doesn’t assign automated grades or feedback; if you need these features, consider using CloudDeakin quiz functionality).
- Practice
Reflection in/on practice – guide student reflection in and/or on a practical experience
As a teacher I want to provide a structured process for students to purposefully reflect on their practical experiences.
My students can reflect on their practical experiences, at iterative or final points in their learning journey, in an easy to access form, and receive a copy of their reflection after submitting.
Example design considerations guide student reflection using Forms:
- Clearly communicate the purpose of the reflection activity to motivate students to take the time required to meaningfully reflect.
- Design Forms with some prompts that would elicit student reflection.
- Decide on appropriate framing of the reflection. If a particular framing is not required, then another more open tool might be considered for reflection (e.g. OneNote).
- Choose a reflective practice framework, which is most authentic to the discipline, to base the reflective questions on and to help structure the Form (e.g. the Jasper (2013) ERA cycle, Driscoll (2007) 3 What’s, Kolb (1984) Experiential Learning Cycle, Gibbs (1998) Reflective Cycle).
- Determine and communicate how students will receive feedback on their reflections.
