Online Course Student survey about course difficulty

Building a truly effective Online Course Student survey about course difficulty is tough—unless you try generating a high-quality, AI-powered survey right here with Specific. You can generate yours instantly, for free—just click to get started.

Why run a Course Difficulty survey for online course students?

Collecting feedback from online course students about course difficulty is essential for improving learning outcomes and satisfaction. If you’re not running these surveys, you’re missing out on insights that can dramatically impact your students’ success and your course’s reputation.

Did you know? Online learners are statistically less likely to pass and often receive lower grades compared to face-to-face students. Adult learners, in particular, find online settings notably challenging [1]. This isn’t just a minor issue—it signals real missed opportunities for course improvement if you’re not capturing genuine student feedback.

• Students regularly report distractions at home as a major challenge in online courses, affecting their learning effectiveness [2].

• In a recent survey, many students found their courses felt “easier” online—but this perception often masks deeper issues around engagement and skill development [3].

• Self-efficacy—students’ confidence in their own abilities—is strongly linked to online learning satisfaction, giving you a key area to probe in your Course Difficulty survey [4].

• Challenges like lack of hands-on training and reduced peer interaction are rampant in online learning, and you’ll miss them entirely if you’re not asking the right questions [5].

Without understanding these pain points directly from your students, you’re likely overlooking learning barriers, drop-off risks, and improvement opportunities. For more ideas, see our guide to the best questions for an Online Course Student Course Difficulty survey.

Why use an AI survey generator instead of building manual surveys?

Traditional survey creation can be a real chore. You need to brainstorm questions, avoid bias, and make sure nothing important slips through the cracks. With an AI survey generator like Specific, the entire process becomes much easier—and smarter.

Manual vs. AI-generated surveys:

Why use AI for Online Course Student surveys?

• It takes the guesswork out of question writing, so you get meaningful, focused student feedback.

• Specific’s AI-driven surveys are conversational and engaging—students are more likely to respond thoughtfully when it feels like a real conversation instead of another form.

• You can adapt your survey instantly and let the AI handle all the “hard parts”—even for complex topics like online learning challenges or course difficulty perception.

Specific’s user experience is designed for both course admins and students: it feels friendly, natural, and interactive, making the survey frictionless for everyone involved.

If you want to learn how to set these up step-by-step, check our how-to guide on creating surveys for Online Course Student Course Difficulty.

Designing questions that drive real insight

A good Course Difficulty survey digs beneath the surface—using clear, unbiased questions. Many manual surveys fall short, for example:

• Bad: “Was the course hard?” (Leaves too much up to interpretation, provides limited insight.)

• Good: “Which aspects of the course did you find most challenging, and why?” (Invites detailed, actionable feedback.)

With Specific, you generate questions that are smart from the start. The AI understands what makes a question actionable or biased and avoids traps like double-barreled or leading questions. It uses its knowledge of online learning research to help you get to the root of issues like concentration challenges, lack of motivation, or poor peer interaction—all commonly reported by students [2][5].

Pro tip: For deeper insight, always couple quantitative (“Rate the difficulty of this course from 1 to 10”) with open-ended follow-up (“Please explain what made it difficult or easy for you”). This dual approach surfaces both patterns and nuances in student experience. See more on effective survey question design in our detailed article: best questions for an Online Course Student Course Difficulty survey.

If you want to skip the guesswork, try Specific’s AI survey editor—just describe what insights you’re seeking, and the AI will generate OR refine your survey instantly.

Automatic follow-up questions based on previous reply

The right follow-up question unlocks deeper understanding. Instead of letting valuable context slip by, Specific’s AI-powered surveys ask smart, real-time follow-ups—just like a skilled human interviewer. This not only saves you the trouble of reaching out for clarification, but also ensures you get the full story behind each answer.

• Online Course Student: “Some assignments were hard.”

• AI follow-up: “Which assignments in particular did you find difficult, and what about them was challenging?”

Without follow-ups, responses can remain vague, leaving you to wonder what students really meant. With Specific, every survey response gets the attention it deserves, right as the student answers—not days later over email. Learn more on our automatic AI follow-up questions feature page.

Followups turn the survey into a genuine conversation—a true conversational survey—making both you and your respondents feel heard.

Delivering your Course Difficulty survey: flexible sharing options

Getting your survey in front of the right Online Course Students is just as crucial as designing great questions. With Specific, you have two main delivery options tailored for course feedback:

• Sharable landing page surveys: Perfect for emailing to a list of students or sharing in a learning management system. Example: send a Course Difficulty survey link at the end of the term so students can give feedback at their own pace.

• In-product surveys: Great for embedding directly into your online course platform. This way, students receive the survey instantly after a module or assignment, capturing their experience while it’s fresh. Also ideal for periodic check-ins with cohorts during an active course.

For Online Course Student feedback about Course Difficulty, in-product surveys are especially powerful—they meet students where they already are and boost completion rates. Still, if your course platform doesn’t support in-app widgets, a sharable landing page keeps data collection easy.

AI-powered survey analysis: easier than ever

With Specific, AI survey analysis happens instantly—summaries, trends, and actionable recommendations are generated as soon as responses start coming in. Automatic theme detection and the ability to chat with AI about survey results means you’ll spend less time wrangling spreadsheets and more time acting on genuine insight. See our guide on how to analyze Online Course Student Course Difficulty survey responses with AI for a deep dive on getting the most from your data.

Create your Course Difficulty survey now

Generate a high-quality, conversational Course Difficulty survey for Online Course Students in seconds—click to start and see better results with zero hassle, powered by Specific’s AI expertise.