Who's in Class? survey

The Who’s in Class? survey is a practical tool that helps lecturers get to know their students at the start of the semester, fostering more inclusive and responsive learning environments. By offering insights into students’ diverse backgrounds, experiences, and identities, the survey enables lecturers to adapt their teaching practices to better support all learners.

Originally developed by Tracie Addy and colleagues in What Inclusive Instructors Do: Principles and Practices for Excellence in College Teaching (2021), this tool has been used across a range of modules with positive results. A study (Addy et al. 2021) shows that both faculty and students benefit from its use—particularly by creating space for students to share information they might not otherwise feel comfortable disclosing.

The Inclusive Practice Group in AHSS has adapted this survey for use in Brightspace, making it easily accessible for lecturers across the Faculty.

AHSS lecturers can import the Who's in Class survey to their own Brightspace site using these instructions.

I'd like to share my experience of using this survey in a 3rd year module this Spring. I was blown away by the response I got within the first hour of sending out the invite. Students were extremely open and shared quite personal things in the survey. About 2/3 of the class filled it out. I noticed that the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly in Week 1.

Maria Hickey

"I got greater insight into who was present in the module. There were some notable findings. Almost 75% of students were working, 41% of students were the first member of their families to go to college; 36% indicated that they would not be financially capable of purchasing materials for class were they needed; almost 70% considered themselves to be ‘quiet’ students. I was most surprised at the numbers who were the first in their family to go to college and believe that this can have significant impact on student confidence and resilience."

Chris McInerney

References:

Addy, T.M. (2021) , First edition., New York, New York ; Routledge.

Addy T.M., Mitchell K.A., Dube D., (2021) . J Microbiol Biol Educ.22:e00183-21.

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