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Best questions for elementary school student survey about physical education

Adam Sabla

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Aug 19, 2025

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Here are some of the best questions for an elementary school student survey about physical education, plus tips to help you build engaging, effective surveys. We can help you generate these in seconds with Specific.

Best open-ended questions for student surveys on physical education

Open-ended questions are powerful when we want to understand real student perspectives—what kids actually think, enjoy, or struggle with in physical education. When students are free to explain in their own words, we gain insight into motivation, barriers, and personal experiences that fixed answers just can't reveal. This context is vital, especially as research shows only 24% of kids are getting recommended daily activity, so we really need to listen and learn why that is. [1]

  1. What do you like most about your physical education class?

  2. Is there anything you find difficult or not fun in PE? Why?

  3. Can you tell me about your favorite activity or game in gym class?

  4. Describe a time you felt proud of yourself during PE. What happened?

  5. If you could change one thing about PE at your school, what would it be?

  6. How do you feel in your body after PE class?

  7. What do you wish you could do more of in PE?

  8. Do you ever feel left out or unsure what to do during PE? Can you tell me more?

  9. What do you do during recess, and how does it make you feel?

  10. Is there any sport or activity you want to try but haven’t yet? Why?

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for physical education surveys

Single-select multiple-choice questions help us quantify student preferences and experiences at scale. These are ideal if we want to start a conversation or quickly gather which activities or barriers are most common. Kids often find it easier to choose an option rather than writing a full response—this lowers friction, encourages participation, and gives us a launching point for deeper follow-up questions.

Question: Which activity do you enjoy most during PE?

  • Running or relay races

  • Team sports (e.g., soccer, basketball)

  • Games (e.g., tag, dodgeball)

  • Individual exercises (e.g., jumping rope, yoga)

  • Other

Question: How often do you participate in PE each week?

  • Once

  • Twice

  • Three times or more

  • Never

Question: How do you feel before PE class?

  • Excited

  • Nervous

  • Okay

  • Prefer not to say

When to follow up with "why?" Follow up with "why?" when a response is interesting, unclear, or reveals emotion—this helps us understand motivations and address real issues. If a student says their favorite activity is “games,” a follow-up like “What do you like about games in PE?” gives actionable insights for improving curriculum.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Sometimes, answer options can't cover every experience or preference. Adding "Other" with follow-up (“Can you tell us more?”) often uncovers surprising new ideas students have, leading to valuable, unexpected insights.

NPS-style feedback for student PE surveys

NPS (Net Promoter Score) is a classic method in customer feedback, but it also fits education. When we ask students something like, “How likely are you to recommend PE to a friend?” (on a scale from 0–10), we gain a quick pulse of overall program satisfaction. This single question is a great benchmark and can help identify both enthusiastic “promoters” and students who feel left out or disengaged. You can quickly generate an NPS question for PE and pair it with open follow-ups for true insights.

The power of follow-up questions

Follow-up questions anchor every great conversational survey. When we use automated follow-up questions, we capture what students mean—not just what they select. Specific’s AI asks targeted, real-time follow-ups based on prior answers, probing like an expert teacher: “What made you choose that?” or “Can you give an example?” This smart back-and-forth saves time compared to emailing for clarification, and it feels natural rather than like an interrogation.

  • Student: “PE is okay; sometimes it’s boring.”

  • AI follow-up: “What activity makes you feel bored? What would make it more fun?”

How many followups to ask? We usually find that 2–3 thoughtful follow-ups are enough to get clear, actionable input without overwhelming students. Specific makes it easy: set the max follow-up depth or let the AI skip ahead once relevant info is collected.

This makes it a conversational survey—it feels like a real dialogue, so kids are more comfortable and authentic.

AI analysis of open-ended survey responses is seamless. Even if you gather hundreds of stories or comments, AI can quickly summarize core themes and surface key feedback for you to share with staff or administration.

These automated follow-ups are still a new idea—try generating a survey with them and see for yourself how naturally kids engage and how much richer the data becomes.

Prompting ChatGPT for better PE survey questions

If you want AI like ChatGPT to brainstorm questions, start with a simple prompt:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for elementary school student survey about physical education.

But AI always does better with context—give it key details about your school, students, and survey goals for better results.

We’re surveying grades 3–5. Our school wants to boost engagement in physical education, especially for shy kids and those who dislike group sports. Suggest 10 open-ended questions that help us discover barriers, motivators, and new activity ideas from students’ perspectives.

Once you have a list of questions, prompt AI to sort them by focus for clarity:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Finally, pick categories you care about—maybe “barriers” and “new activity ideas”—and ask:

Generate 10 questions for categories Barriers and New Activity Ideas.

What is a conversational survey?

A conversational survey feels like an open chat—not a test. Respondents answer questions in a familiar, friendly messaging style, and the AI dynamically adapts with tailored probes and supportive tone. This method boosts participation and honesty, especially with younger students or those who freeze up with paper forms.

Manual Survey Creation

AI-generated Survey (Specific)

Write each question yourself, edit for clarity

Describe what you want—AI suggests & improves questions instantly

No dynamic follow-ups (unless emailing after)

Automatic, smart follow-ups tailored to each response

Results hard to summarize—lots of reading and tallying

AI summarizes, categorizes, and visualizes key insights for you

One-size-fits-most, slow for big surveys

Flexible, responsive, and scalable—feels personal for everyone

Why use AI for elementary school student surveys? With an AI survey builder, you spend less time writing and more time learning. AI-powered, conversational survey examples help you keep kids interested, prompt for details, and get to the real issues quickly—the kind that drive real program improvements.

Specific delivers a best-in-class experience, letting you launch conversational surveys in minutes. Students are more honest, and you get the depth of a true interview, but with AI speed and convenience.

See this physical education survey example now

Start using the most effective conversational survey questions for PE today and quickly uncover what motivates your students. Create your own survey now and see just how much deeper and clearer feedback can be with Specific’s AI-driven approach.

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Sources

  1. CDC. Physical Activity Facts: Only 24% of children meet recommended physical activity guidelines

  2. NIH/National Library of Medicine. Effects of Physical Education and Activity Levels on Academic Achievement

  3. TIME. Why Recess Is So Good for Kids

Adam Sabla

Adam Sabla is an entrepreneur with experience building startups that serve over 1M customers, including Disney, Netflix, and BBC, with a strong passion for automation.

Adam Sabla

Adam Sabla is an entrepreneur with experience building startups that serve over 1M customers, including Disney, Netflix, and BBC, with a strong passion for automation.

Adam Sabla

Adam Sabla is an entrepreneur with experience building startups that serve over 1M customers, including Disney, Netflix, and BBC, with a strong passion for automation.