Here are some of the best questions for an online course student survey about overall course satisfaction, plus practical tips for crafting them. With Specific, you can generate a tailored, conversational survey in seconds—set up, share, and gain insights faster than ever.
Best open-ended questions for student satisfaction surveys
Open-ended questions give students the freedom to express what matters to them—often surfacing details that checkboxes miss. They’re best when you want depth, nuance, or fresh ideas and they help identify gaps in learning or unmet expectations. Online learner satisfaction isn’t always reflected in scores alone—a recent study on Coursera courses showed a mean learner satisfaction of just 2.39 out of 6.0, despite high enrollments [1]. That’s why open questions provide real context.
What was the most valuable takeaway from this course for you?
How could the course material be improved to better support your learning?
Can you describe a moment when you felt particularly engaged or motivated?
Were there any parts of the course you found confusing or unclear? Please explain.
How did the instructor’s feedback or responsiveness affect your learning experience?
What factors made it easier or harder for you to complete the course?
Is there anything you wish had been included in the course but wasn’t?
How would you describe your overall satisfaction with this course, in your own words?
If you could change one thing about the course, what would it be and why?
What advice would you give future students taking this course?
Best single-select multiple-choice questions for measuring satisfaction
Single-select multiple-choice questions help quantify experience and satisfaction. They’re ideal when you’re looking for an at-a-glance summary (trends, quick ratios) or want to break the ice before going deeper. Sometimes it’s easier for students to select from a set of concise options, especially early in a survey—and you can always follow up for more detail:
Question: Overall, how satisfied are you with this online course?
Very satisfied
Satisfied
Neutral
Dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
Question: How helpful did you find the instructor’s feedback?
Extremely helpful
Somewhat helpful
Not helpful
Did not receive feedback
Question: What was the primary reason for enrolling in this course?
To gain new skills
Required for work or school
Personal interest
Other
When to follow up with "why?" Often after a respondent selects a negative or neutral choice—or gives a surprising answer—ask "why" as a follow-up. This uncovers root causes. For instance, if a student marks "Dissatisfied," prompt: “Can you share what made your experience less satisfying?” Follow-ups are essential because over half of online learners say instructor responsiveness impacts satisfaction [1].
When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always include "Other" when there’s a chance a student’s answer doesn’t fit your options. This shows respect for unique perspectives—and with a follow-up, it can surface insights you hadn’t considered (like unexpected motivations for enrolling or challenges with the course format).
Using NPS to measure online course loyalty
Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a simple and powerful way to measure student loyalty and predict program growth. For online courses, it gets at the heart of advocacy—how likely are your students to recommend the course to others? This is tightly connected to both satisfaction and the health of your enrollment pipeline. In fact, learning platforms that foster strong customer experiences see more loyalty and retention—73% of learners say customer service influences their platform loyalty [1]. NPS questions work especially well in course surveys, and with Specific, you can launch an NPS survey in one click.
The power of follow-up questions
Follow-up questions let you turn a generic response into genuine, actionable insight. Automated follow-ups—like those from Specific’s AI-powered survey builder—ask clarifying questions in real time, just like a skilled interviewer. These dynamic conversations are key: they boost response rates, deliver context, and allow you to uncover hidden motivators behind satisfaction scores. Research shows that effective follow-up surveys can increase retention rates by up to 20% [1]. And personalized follow-ups, such as using the respondent’s name, have been shown to deliver up to a 22% higher response rate [1].
Student: “The material was okay.”
AI follow-up: “Can you explain which parts felt just ‘okay’ and what could have made them better?”
Student: “I didn’t finish the course.”
AI follow-up: “Was there something specific that made it difficult to complete the course?”
How many followups to ask? In most cases, 2–3 thoughtfully crafted follow-ups are enough for depth, without overwhelming the respondent. Specific lets you set a maximum follow-up depth and also allows students to skip to the next question once you’ve gathered the insights you need.
This makes it a conversational survey: With back-and-forth probing, surveys become a true conversation—students engage more and answers gain meaningful nuance. It’s the opposite of a dry, one-way form.
AI analysis, qualitative insights: You might worry that all these open-ended answers would be difficult to analyze. Not with AI—read about how to analyze conversational survey responses quickly, even at scale. Results are instantly summarized and themes are highlighted, removing manual work.
Automated follow-up questions are a new approach—try creating your own survey and see how this conversational method changes the feedback experience.
How to prompt ChatGPT for even better survey questions
If you want to use GPT models (ChatGPT or others) to ideate survey questions, providing context is key. A simple baseline prompt works, but the more detail you give about your needs, the better the questions you'll get.
Start with:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for online course student survey about overall course satisfaction.
Want better results? Add details: your role, course context, student demographics, and what exactly you hope to learn. For example:
I’m an online course manager seeking feedback from adult learners who completed a 6-week professional skills course. Suggest 10 open-ended questions targeting overall course satisfaction, with a focus on instructor engagement and support resources.
After generating question ideas, try this prompt:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Once you see the categories, pick those you want to explore, and go even deeper:
Generate 10 questions about course content clarity, real-world applicability, and instructor support.
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey is a dynamic interview-style questionnaire. Instead of a static list of questions, the survey adapts to each student’s responses—digging deeper for clarity, asking personalized follow-ups, and making the experience feel more like a chat than an exam. This is a big shift from traditional survey forms: students engage longer, give richer feedback, and are less likely to abandon the survey partway.
Let’s compare how traditional manual surveys differ from AI-generated conversational surveys:
Manual Survey Creation | AI-Generated Survey (with Specific) |
|---|---|
Requires research and manual drafting | Easy: just describe your goal—the AI builds your survey instantly |
No dynamic follow-up for unclear answers | Automatic, context-aware follow-up questions |
Time-consuming to analyze open responses | AI summarizes and extracts insights, ready to use |
Static, impersonal experience | Feels like a natural chat—higher engagement and completion rates |
Why use AI for online course student surveys? AI surveys adapt to individual responses, making students feel heard. Completion rates for paid courses can reach 70–80% versus just 15% for MOOCs—showing how engagement and quality touchpoints (like responsive surveys) can make a huge difference [1]. Curious about building one? Read our step-by-step guide to making a course survey with AI and try it for yourself.
Specific offers the best-in-class experience for both survey creators and students. With expert-designed templates, a chat-driven builder, and advanced features like customizable multilingual support, Specific makes feedback collection effortless and insightful. It’s a new standard in conversational surveys.
See this overall course satisfaction survey example now
Capture actionable feedback the smart way—see firsthand how conversational, AI-powered surveys uncover deeper course insights and deliver a better experience for your students and your team.