Using entrance tickets for a class

This semester, I’ve asked my students to fill out an “entrance ticket” questionnaire before the start of class. I’ve learned some technical things with regard to the use of qualtrics forms(and I noticed I received 34 responses for the 23 students enrolled in the class, so I need to find a way to obtain unique responses).

The questions I asked were:
– How many courses are you taking this semester?
– How many hours per week are you planning to study this semester?
– How many hours per week are you planning to study for Reinforced Concrete 2?
– Select all the tools that you have available for studying.
– Select your preferred tool for studying.
– Which software packages do you have?
– My preferred learning method is…
– My learning type is…

I learned a number of things from running this survey:
– The rule of thumb of 4 hours outside of class per hour in class is not commonly known. Learning this gave me the opportunity to mention clearly that I designed the class for 4 hours of study per hour in class.
– Students are taking a high course load, even though it is the summer semester.
– All students have a laptop to work on, but most prefer to learn with pencil and paper.
– None of the students have the software that I plan to use (Scia Engineer). With this result, I could explain them how to get their student license for this semester and where to find the software.
– Most students prefer class instruction. I’m curious to see how the other learning methods this semester will be received.
– In the VARK categories, the reading/writing is the most popular learning style, followed by visual. I think the design of the class is in line with this, but the audiovisual material tailors to the auditory learners. We won’t be testing things in the lab, so the kinesthetic learners may feel a bit left out this semester. I hope the design examples will cater to their needs.