Survey in Content Library

Last updated 6 days ago

Welcome to the Survey Interface

This is where you'll create surveys that appear after learners complete your module, gathering valuable feedback about their learning experience and the content itself.

🔍 The Question System in AliveSim: AliveSim Studio has three separate question tools that share similar components but serve different purposes. You're currently in the Survey interface, which creates post-module feedback surveys. The other two tools are Questions (for assessment and opinion questions in pretests and scenarios), and Profile Questions (for gathering learner information at the Group level). We'll point out the key differences as we go.

Why Surveys Happen After the Module

Unlike questions that appear before or during scenarios, surveys occur after module completion. They're your opportunity to gather learner feedback about the experience, assess satisfaction, collect evaluation data, and understand how the module impacted their perspectives.

⚠️ Credit Requirement: Surveys only appear if your module is worth more than 0 credit. You'll set the credit amount in the Module Information section of the Content Library. If you haven't set a credit value, you'll be prompted to do so before you can add Survey components.

🔍 Measuring Opinion Changes? If you want to assess shifts in learner perspectives before and after the module, use the pretest/posttest pattern in the Questions system instead. Surveys occur outside the scenario experience, and Survey responses are reported in their own section of AliveSim Analytics, so they're not the best tool for evaluating changes from pretest responses.

The Survey Interface Overview

When you open the Survey section of the Content Library, you'll see eight blue component buttons that let you create different types of feedback questions.

Important: None of the survey components can be used for knowledge assessment. You cannot mark any responses as "correct" in surveys - all survey questions gather opinions and feedback only.

Each component serves a specific purpose:

Multiple Choice: Standard questions with 2-8 response options.
Table: Matrix-style questions where multiple items are rated using the same scale.
Freeform: Open text responses from learners.
Name: Pre-formatted fields for capturing learner names.
Address: Pre-formatted fields for capturing mailing addresses.
Dropdown: Selection from longer lists (3+ options).
Month/Day Dropdown: Pre-formatted dropdowns for birth month and day.
Text: Static labels, headings, or instructions (not a question).

You can add as many of most components as you need, though Name and Address components can only be used once per survey. Rearrange components by dragging the six-dot icon on the left edge of each component's blue name bar.

Multiple Choice Questions

Multiple Choice questions in surveys gather learner opinions and feedback about their experience. Unlike the Questions interface, survey questions cannot have correct answers or rationales.

⚠️ Always Opinion Questions: If you're coming from the Questions interface, note that Multiple Choice questions in surveys are always opinion-based. You cannot mark answers as correct or provide rationales. This tool is for gathering feedback, not assessing knowledge.

When to Use Multiple Choice

Multiple Choice questions work best for:

Course evaluation: "How would you rate the overall quality of this module?"
Content feedback: "Which topics were most valuable to your work?"
Satisfaction assessment: "How likely are you to recommend this training to colleagues?"
Learning impact: "To what extent has this module changed your approach to [topic]?"

Required Fields

Question Name: The name that appears in the blue component bar and in Analytics (this is the full name)
Short Name: An abbreviated version used in Analytics tables where space is limited (keep it brief)
Prompt: The actual question learners will see

The Name Relationship: Question Name is your component's full identifier - it appears in the blue bar at the top of the component and throughout Analytics. Short Name is a condensed version for Analytics tables and reports where the full name wouldn't fit. Both are required, both appear in Analytics, but they serve different purposes.

Optional Fields

Panel Title: A header that appears above the prompt (use sparingly)
Instruction: Additional guidance for learners, formatted to stand out from the prompt

Adding Choices

Click the "+Add Choice" button to create response options. You need at least 2 choices, but 3-6 typically works best for survey questions.

For each choice, you'll enter the choice text that learners will see.

Layout Options

Choose whether choices appear vertically (stacked) or horizontally (side-by-side). Vertical works better for longer choice text, horizontal for short phrases or single words.

Analytics Options

Two toggle buttons control how this question's data appears in analytics:

Allow filtering by this question: Turn this ON to use responses as a filter in analytics (to segment aggregated learner performance data by responses to this question).

Display as Likert: Turn this ON when choices represent a scale (i.e., "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree"). You can configure Likert data to display as either an ascending or descending scale in Analytics, as well as exclude specific choices from the scale.

Survey-Specific Option

Make Optional Question: Turn this ON to allow learners to skip this question without answering. Use this for questions that may not apply to all learners or when you want to reduce survey friction.

💡 Required Questions Need an Out: If you make a Multiple Choice question required (not optional), always include a choice like "Not Applicable" or "I prefer not to answer." This prevents learners from selecting random answers just to move forward, which would skew your analytics with meaningless data. Give learners a legitimate way to skip questions that don't apply to them while still completing the survey.

Table Questions

Table questions (also called matrix questions) let you ask multiple related questions using the same response scale. This is perfect for rating multiple aspects of the module efficiently.

When to Use Table Questions

Table questions work best for:

Rating multiple topics: "Rate how well the module covered each of these areas..."
Multi-item satisfaction: "How satisfied were you with these aspects of the course?"
Comparative feedback: "How valuable were each of these learning activities?"
Consistent evaluation: Any time multiple items need the same rating scale

Required Fields

Question Name: The name that appears in the blue component bar and in Analytics.
Short Name: An abbreviated version used in Analytics tables where space is limited (keep it brief).
Prompt: How the overall table is framed and explained to learners.

Optional Fields

Instruction: Additional guidance for learners on how to complete the table.

Creating the Table Structure

Add Questions (Rows): Click "+Add Question" to create the items being rated. Each becomes a row in the table.

Add Choices (Columns): Click "+Add Choice" to create the rating scale. Each becomes a column header in the table.

Analytics Options

Display as Likert: Turn this ON to have Analytics display the data on a Likert scale. You can configure ascending or descending display, and exclude specific choices from the scale.

💡 Efficient Feedback: Table questions are excellent for gathering consistent feedback across multiple, related, dimensions without overwhelming learners with individual questions for each item.

Since table questions are always required, consider including a "Not Applicable" or "N/A" choice for each row. This protects the quality of your analytics by offering learners a way to respond to questions that they cannot specifically answer: so they don't just make random selections to complete the survey.

Freeform Questions

Freeform questions let learners type their own responses, providing detailed feedback in their own words.

When to Use Freeform

Freeform questions work best for:

Open feedback: "What suggestions do you have for improving this module?"
Specific examples: "Describe a situation where you'll apply what you learned."
Detailed responses: "What was the most valuable aspect of this training?"
Qualitative data: Any time you need rich, descriptive feedback.

Required Fields

Question Name: The name that appears in the blue component bar and in Analytics.
Short Name: An abbreviated version used in Analytics tables where space is limited.
Prompt: The question learners will see.

Optional Fields

Panel Title: Header above the prompt
Default Text: Placeholder text that appears in the entry field before learners type (disappears when they start typing)

Response Length Toggle

Allow long, multi-line response: Turn this ON for detailed answers that need a sentence or more. Leave OFF for short responses like codes or brief phrases.

Survey-Specific Option

Make Optional Question: Turn this ON to allow learners to skip this question. Since freeform questions require more effort, making them optional can improve survey completion rates.

Name Component

The Name component provides pre-formatted fields for capturing learner names. It's often used for certificates or completion records.

When to Use Name

Use the Name component when you need to:

Generate completion certificates with learner names
Create official records of participation
Personalize any module documentation
Verify learner identity for awarding credit

Pre-Formatted Fields

The Name component automatically creates four text entry fields:

Honorific Prefix: (Dr., Mr., Ms., etc.)
First Name
Last Name
Honorific Suffix: (Jr., Ph.D., etc.)

Learners simply type their information into each field.
Note that the First and Last Name are always required fields when this component is included in a Survey.

💡 One Name Component Only: You can only use the Name component once in your survey. If you need additional name fields for other purposes, use Freeform questions instead.

Address Component

The Address component provides pre-formatted fields for capturing mailing addresses.

When to Use Address

Use the Address component when you need to:

Send physical certificates or completion documents
Verify learner location for compliance purposes
Mail course materials or resources
Collect address data for organizational records

Pre-Formatted Fields

The Address component automatically creates six text entry fields:

Address Line 1
Address Line 2
City / Town / Village / Locality
State / Province / Post Town / Canton
Zip/Postal Code
Country

Learners simply type their information into each field. Note that all fields except Address Line 2 are required when this component is included in a Survey.

Dropdown Questions

Dropdown questions present learners with a selection menu. They’re ideal for longer lists where displaying all options at once would be overwhelming.

When to Use Dropdown

Dropdown questions work best for:

Long lists: Professional roles, departments, regions, specialties.
Categorization: "Which department do you work in?"
Demographic information: "What is your country of residence?"
Reducing visual clutter: When you have 5+ options.

🔍 Dropdown vs. Multiple Choice: If you have 2-4 options, use Multiple Choice so learners can see all choices at once. Save Dropdown for 5+ options where scanning a list makes more sense than viewing everything simultaneously.

Required Fields

Optional Fields

Panel Title: Header above the prompt.
Default Text: Placeholder that appears at the top of the dropdown before learners make a selection (like "Select your department...").
Choices: The list of options learners can select from.

Creating the Choice List

Enter each choice on a separate line in the Choices field. You need at least 3 choices for a dropdown.

⚠️ Be Careful When Pasting Into the List: You can paste in your list from a word processor or text editor, but just be certain to use plain text when you do (i.e., right click and "Paste as plain text," or use Ctrl+Shift+V). That will remove code artifacts that could cause issues with the way your text is displayed.

Survey-Specific Option

Make Optional Question: Turn this ON to allow learners to skip this question without making a selection.

Month/Day Dropdown Component

This specialized component provides pre-formatted dropdowns for capturing birth month and day, commonly used for professional licensing or certification verification.

When to Use Month/Day Dropdown

Use this component when you need to:

Verify professional licensing (many systems use birth month/day as identifiers)
Confirm membership credentials
Match learner records to external databases
Validate eligibility for specific types of credit

Required Fields

Pre-Formatted Dropdowns

The component automatically creates two dropdown menus:

Month [Dropdown]: For selecting the month
Day [Dropdown]: For selecting the day

Survey-Specific Option

Make Optional: Turn this ON to allow learners to skip this question. Note that for licensing verification purposes, you'll typically want to leave this OFF to ensure you collect this required data.

⚠️ Privacy Consideration: This component intentionally does NOT collect birth year to protect learner privacy while still allowing for verification purposes.

Text Components

Text components aren't questions at all. They're labels, headers, or instructions you can insert into your survey.

When to Use Text

Text components work best for:

Section headers: "Questions About Course Content."
Instructions: "The following questions help us improve future modules."
Context: "Please share your honest feedback - all responses are anonymous."
Visual breaks: Separating different types or topics of questions.

The Text Field

Simply enter the text you want learners to see. The text field includes full formatting options:

You can format text with:

Various heading styles and text sizes
Bold, italic, underline, superscript, subscript
Text and highlight colors
Bulleted and numbered lists with multiple indent levels
Left, center, and right justification

💡 Organization Tip: Use Text components to group related questions together.

Clear headers like "Course Evaluation" or "Future Learning Interests" help learners understand the survey structure and purpose.

And don't forget that you can use emojis in the text field too. They're a great way to make surveys feel less formal and more engaging.

Organizing Your Survey

Rearranging Components

Drag any component using the six-dot icon on the left edge of the blue name bar to reorder your survey questions.

This lets you arrange questions in a logical flow that makes sense for learners completing the survey.

Deleting Components

Hover over a component's blue name bar to reveal the red trashcan icon. Click it to delete that component.

⚠️ Deletion is Permanent: Once you delete a survey component, you can't undo it. The question or text, along with all the features and formatting you set up for it, is removed from your survey.

How Surveys Reach Your Learners

Surveys appear automatically after learners complete your module, but only if certain conditions are met.

Survey Requirements

For a survey to appear to learners:

The Module must be worth credit: Set the credit value in Module Information (Content Library).
The Survey must have components: Add at least one question or component to your survey.
The learner must complete the module: A survey will only trigger after all scenarios have been completed.

🔍 Setting Module Credit: If you try to add survey components before setting a credit value, you'll be prompted to go to Module Information first. This ensures surveys only appear for modules that learners receive credit for completing.

The Learner Experience

If there is a survey for the module, all learners will have to submit their responses before they can receive credit for their participation.

💡 Survey Completion Rates: Making questions optional generally increases survey completion rates. However, if you need specific data for reporting or compliance, leave those questions required. Balance your data needs with learner experience.

Strategic Survey Design Tips

Keep It Focused and Brief

Survey fatigue is real. Every additional question reduces completion rates.

Better Practice: 5-10 well-chosen questions that provide actionable insights.
Avoid: 20+ questions that cover every possible aspect of the module.

Match Question Type to Purpose

Use Multiple Choice for: Quantifiable feedback you can track over time.
Use Table for: Rating multiple related items efficiently.
Use Freeform for: Detailed qualitative feedback that reveals insights.
Use Dropdown for: Demographic categorization from longer lists.

Strategic Use of Optional Questions

Consider making questions optional when:

The question may not apply to all learners.
You're asking for detailed written feedback.
The question is primarily for improvement rather than required reporting.
You want to maximize completion rates.

Consider making questions required when:

You need the data for compliance or certification.
The information is essential for proper credit assignment.
You're collecting contact information for certificates.

💡 Anonymous Feedback: If you want honest feedback, remind learners that their responses are anonymous. Use a Text component at the beginning of your survey to set this expectation.

Survey vs. The Other Question Tools

This article describes the Survey interface, but AliveSim has two other question tools. Here's when to use each:

Survey (you are here):
Post-module feedback and evaluation.
Appears after the module completion.
Used for course improvement and learner satisfaction data.

Questions:

Assessment and opinion questions for pretests and scenarios.
Can have correct answers and rationales.
Used for measuring knowledge and gathering perspectives during the learning experience.
Questions Article Link

Profile Questions:

Information about the learners themselves (not about module content).
Gathered at the Group level when learners first access modules.
Used for analytics filtering and personalization.
Profile Questions Article Link

🔍 Wrong Place? If you're trying to assess knowledge or measure learning gain, you want the Questions system instead. If you're trying to gather demographic information before the module begins, you want Profile Questions.

Ready to Create Your Survey?

You now understand how to use the Survey interface to gather valuable feedback after module completion.

Task List

Ensure your module is worth credit (set in Module Information).
Keep surveys focused on actionable feedback.
Use Table questions to efficiently rate multiple items.
Make questions optional strategically to balance data needs with completion rates.
Use Text components to organize and explain your survey sections.
Consider the learner experience - shorter surveys get more responses.
Test your survey by completing a module yourself before publishing.

Surveys are your opportunity to continuously improve your modules and understand learner experiences. Use them strategically to gather the insights that will make your next module even better.

Your survey is ready. Your feedback mechanism is in place. Let's learn from your learners.