Best questions for high school freshman student survey about homework load

Here are some of the best questions for a high school freshman student survey about homework load, plus key tips for crafting your own. You can quickly generate a fully structured survey in seconds with Specific and dive right into collecting rich student insights.

Best open-ended questions for a high school freshman student survey about homework load

Open-ended questions are powerful when you want honest opinions and deeper stories. They invite students to reflect on their homework experiences, share feelings, and mention details you might not expect. Use them when your goal is to discover unfiltered perspectives or nuance that simple checkboxes miss.

Given that 56% of students cite homework as a top source of stress—and that excessive homework can impact well-being and sleep quality [1]—open-ended feedback really matters. The best questions surface the “why” behind students’ experiences and go beyond just numbers.

1. How much time do you typically spend on homework each night? Can you describe your routine?

2. What homework assignments, if any, make you feel the most stressed or overwhelmed?

3. Describe a time when homework affected your sleep or ability to relax.

4. Are there specific subjects or classes that assign more homework than others?

5. What strategies help you manage your homework load on busy days?

6. Have you ever had to skip other important activities because of homework? Tell us more.

7. How do you feel about the amount of homework given at your school?

8. What would help you handle homework assignments more efficiently?

9. Have you talked to anyone (like teachers or parents) about your homework load? What was that experience like?

10. What changes, if any, would you suggest to improve the homework experience for freshmen?

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for a high school freshman student survey about homework load

Single-select multiple-choice questions are ideal for quantifying trends and making response patterns clear at a glance. They work best when you want structured data, easily filter results, or start a conversation—sometimes offering selections makes it easier for students to respond without overthinking.

Question: On average, how many hours per night do you spend on homework?

• Less than 1 hour

• 1–2 hours

• 2–3 hours

• More than 3 hours

Question: Which subject assigns the most homework, in your experience?

• Math

• English

• Science

• Social Studies

• Other

Question: How manageable do you find your current homework load overall?

• Very manageable

• Somewhat manageable

• Not very manageable

• Overwhelming

When to followup with “why?” Follow up with “why?” when someone selects an extreme or unclear response (like “Overwhelming” or “Other”). This opens the door for important context—students may reveal specific pain points or circumstances that a simple choice doesn’t capture. Example: if a student chooses “Not very manageable,” ask, “Can you share what makes your homework difficult to manage?”

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Add “Other” when your options might not cover every student’s real situation. This allows their unique circumstances to emerge—and a follow-up question (“Please tell us which subject and why”) can reveal insights you’d otherwise miss.

NPS-type question for high school freshman student survey about homework load

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is typically used to measure satisfaction and loyalty. In the context of a high school freshman student survey about homework load, it helps you quantify how students feel about recommending the school’s homework policies or environment to their peers. It’s a simple yet effective way to capture the overall sentiment—particularly valuable when paired with open-ended follow-ups to explore the reasons behind a student’s score. If you’re looking to try this out, you can instantly launch an NPS survey tailored to this context using Specific's NPS survey builder.

The power of follow-up questions

The real magic happens when you dig deeper with follow-up questions. Automated follow-ups, like those powered by Specific’s AI, react to each student’s reply—clarifying vague statements, exploring unique struggles, and surfacing actionable ideas. Instead of relying on long email threads or guesswork, these real-time follow-ups unlock context that’s simply unattainable with static surveys.

• Student: “I find my homework stressful.”

• AI follow-up: “Can you share which types of assignments make you feel most stressed or why?”

A simple answer transforms into a whole story about which subjects or situations cause the greatest struggle, whether it’s the time commitment, unclear instructions, or balancing extracurriculars.

How many followups to ask? Generally, two to three follow-up questions will surface the most valuable context. With Specific, you can enable logic to skip to the next question when your criteria are met—no need to overwhelm, just stay curious.

This makes it a conversational survey: Each answer sparks a relevant next question, so the survey feels more like a true conversation than a checklist.

AI response analysis, survey results: Even with lots of unstructured text, the AI makes analysis possible—and even easy. See tips in this guide to AI survey response analysis.

Try generating a survey and see the experience for yourself—it’s a surprisingly intuitive and efficient way to collect richer insight.

How to prompt AI for better high school freshman student survey questions about homework load

If you want to use ChatGPT (or any GPT model) to create survey questions, you’ll get the best results by asking for open-ended questions and providing some context.

Start with:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for High School Freshman Student survey about Homework Load.

If you give more context about your goal or situation, you often get an even better result. For example:

I am surveying high school freshmen to understand how their homework load affects their daily lives, sleep, and stress levels. Suggest 10 open-ended questions.

Now, group your questions with another prompt:

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

Once you have some categories, drill down where it matters:

Generate 10 questions for categories “Impact on Sleep” and “Strategies to Manage Homework.”

This approach, used together with Specific’s AI survey builder and editor, lets you refine and iterate even faster.

What is a conversational survey?

Conversational surveys are designed to feel like a real chat—dynamic, personalized, and human. Instead of just clicking boxes or typing into cold forms, students answer questions tailored to their previous replies. The survey follows up intelligently and keeps the conversation flowing, making it less intimidating and more engaging.

Here's a quick comparison:

Why use AI for high school freshman student surveys? AI-generated surveys, like those from Specific, save a tremendous amount of time—both for the person creating the survey and for those analyzing the results. Because AI can ask relevant follow-up questions in real time, you gain context and perspective that traditional surveys struggle to capture. For an AI survey example, check out how we build freshman homework load surveys with Specific.

Not only do we make the survey creation process smoother, but Specific also delivers a best-in-class experience for respondents. By making surveys feel like engaging conversations, you get higher quality data—and a more positive experience for everyone involved.

If you want to learn more, read our detailed tutorial on creating a high school freshman student survey on homework load.

See this homework load survey example now

Experience how fast and powerful it is to build your own AI-driven homework load survey and start discovering actionable feedback from freshmen today—rich context, better engagement, instant analysis. Try it now to get a head start.