--- title: "Course Evaluation Questions and Answers: 25 Examples | Formswrite Blog" description: "25 course evaluation questions with answer scales, including open ended ones, grouped by teaching, content, assessment and overall, plus how to use the results." canonical: https://formswrite.com/blog/course-evaluation-questions-and-answers last-updated: 2026-10-08 --- # Course Evaluation Questions and Answers: 25 Examples In short A course evaluation works best with about 15 rating statements on a 5-point agreement scale and 3 to 5 open questions. Rating statements show where the course is strong or weak, and the open questions explain why. The 25 questions below cover teaching, content, assessment, workload and overall satisfaction, with the answer format after each one. ## The answer scales Use one agreement scale for the statements, so students do not have to relearn the labels: - 1 = Strongly disagree - 2 = Disagree - 3 = Neither agree nor disagree - 4 = Agree - 5 = Strongly agree Questions that need a different answer (such as workload) show their own options in brackets. ## Teaching 1. The instructor explained difficult ideas clearly. 2. The instructor was well prepared for each session. 3. The instructor encouraged questions and discussion. 4. The instructor gave feedback that helped me improve. 5. The instructor treated all students with respect. ## Course content and materials 1. The learning objectives were clear from the start. 2. The course content matched the objectives. 3. The readings and materials helped me learn. 4. The course connected theory to real examples. 5. The pace of the course was right for me. (Much too slow, Slightly slow, About right, Slightly fast, Much too fast) ## Assessment 1. The assignments matched what was taught. 2. The grading criteria were clear before each assignment. 3. Feedback on my work arrived in time to be useful. 4. The exams or tests were a fair measure of what I learned. ## Workload and engagement 1. How would you describe the workload? (Far too light, Light, About right, Heavy, Far too heavy) 2. On average, how many hours a week did you spend on this course outside class? (Under 2, 2 to 4, 5 to 7, 8 to 10, More than 10) 3. How many sessions did you attend? (All or almost all, Most, About half, Fewer than half) 4. I took part actively in the course. ## Overall 1. Overall, I would rate this course as... (Poor, Fair, Good, Very good, Excellent) 2. I learned a lot in this course. 3. I would recommend this course to another student. ## Open ended course evaluation questions 1. What was the most valuable part of this course? 2. What one change would most improve this course? 3. Which topic needed more time or a clearer explanation? 4. Is there anything else you would like the instructor or the department to know? If you can only keep a few, keep 1, 6, 13, 19, 22 and 23. They cover teaching, content, feedback, overall, strengths and one fix. ## Questions and answers: how to read the results A "course evaluation question and answer" has two parts: the statement students rate, and what the numbers tell you. For each statement, look at the average and at the share who chose Agree or Strongly agree. | Result on a statement | What it usually means | Action | | --- | --- | --- | | 80 percent or more agree | A strength | Keep it and say so in the next outline | | 50 to 79 percent agree | Mixed | Read the open answers for the reason | | Under 50 percent agree | A problem | Change it before the next run | | Wide split (half agree, half disagree) | Two groups with different needs | Look at section, prior knowledge or format | Read the open questions after the numbers. Group them by theme (pace, feedback, materials, assessment) and note how many students mention each one before deciding what to change. ## Tips for a good response rate - Give students 10 minutes in class instead of sending a link they may forget. - Make it anonymous and say so at the top. - Run it before the final exam or grade is released, when the course is fresh but the results cannot affect grading. - Tell students what changed after the last evaluation. This is the single best way to get honest answers next time. ## Example: what the generator writes for a workshop For the brief "training course evaluation form for a two-day workplace safety workshop", the course evaluation generator's sample starts with two screening questions (the attendee's role and prior safety training), then rates Content ("The content was relevant to my job"), Trainer ("The trainer explained things clearly") and Materials, with a checkbox for which materials were useful. It ends with a recommendation statement, "I would recommend this course to a colleague", and one open question, "What should be added, removed or changed?". Limits worth knowing: three runs a day per visitor, an upload of up to 10 MB (PDF, Word, PowerPoint or text) or up to 20,000 pasted characters as source material, and an anonymous result is kept for 24 hours unless you save it to a free account. The questionnaire can be written in another language, including Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi and Arabic. ## Build the evaluation in a minute Rather than typing 25 questions, use the free [course evaluation generator](/tools/survey-generator/course-evaluation). Describe the course and what you care about, such as workload or assessment, and it writes a questionnaire with rating blocks and open questions. Read it on the page, download it as Word or print it to PDF without an account, with three runs a day. To collect responses online, host it on Formswrite with a free account. Creating it as a Google Form is a paid export. For a ready Google Forms setup, see our [teacher evaluation template for Google Forms](/blog/google-forms-teacher-evaluation-template), and for the rating format see the [Likert scale questionnaire examples](/blog/likert-scale-questionnaire-examples). [Generate a course evaluation free](/tools/survey-generator/course-evaluation) ## FAQ How many questions should a course evaluation have? Between 15 and 25 is common, taking under 10 minutes. Use about 15 rating statements and 3 to 5 open questions. Fewer questions get more careful answers, so cut anything you would not act on. What are good open ended course evaluation questions? Good ones ask for a specific thing: what was most valuable, what one change would improve the course most, and which topic needed a clearer explanation. They are easy to answer in a sentence and easy to group into themes later. Should course evaluations be anonymous? Yes, in almost all cases. Students are more honest when they know the instructor cannot link a comment to a name. If you need to follow up, add an optional question that asks whether they would be willing to talk about their feedback. When should I run a course evaluation? Run a short mid-course check around the halfway point, so you can still change something, and the full evaluation in the last week or two. The mid-course check can be just three questions: what is working, what is not, and one suggestion.