If you are not familiar with Google Forms then it is to be noted that it is a web-based app used to create forms for data collection purposes. Just like other professionals, students and teachers can also take advantage of Google forms to create amazing surveys, quizzes, or event registration sheets. It is very easy to share this web-based form by sending a link, emailing a message, or embedding it into a web page or blog post to the respondents. The data is typically stored in spreadsheets for quick analysis. Right now Google form is the best free option available online.
Here are the top advantages of using Google forms for students.
1. Create Effective Surveys to Meet Curriculum Objectives
If you are a research student then you are likely required to take surveys for different purposes. For example in mathematics, there can be many earning objectives like research design, data collection, data analysis, and reporting outcomes (often these appear in the data management, statistic, and/or probability section). And for science subjects the scientific inquiry should be listed as a learning objective, which includes asking questions, collecting data, organizing findings, analyzing and interpreting data, and communicating results.
In all these scenarios, Google Forms can help the students meet curriculum requirements. They can conduct a meaningful research question, select a sample group from the population using an appropriate sampling technique, design a questionnaire without question bias, administer the survey, analyze the data using graphs, data tables, and pivot charts, and draw conclusions from the data.
If you need specific files from the respondents then you can use Google Forms with File uploads to get your job done. There are tons of possibilities to meet your objectives.
2. Ask Various Types of Questions
Google Forms cover both open-ended and closed-ended types of questions. It allows you to use drop-down menus, multiple-choice, checklists, rating scales, and short answers text boxes to gather data. Here are some of the types of questions you can use in a Google Form:
- Text
- Paragraph Text
- Multiple Choice
- Checkboxes
- Choose from a list
- Scale
- Grid
- Date
- Time
3. Apply Validation Options to Control Data Entry
Only data collection is not enough to meet the student’s objectives but also it is very important to validate the correctness of the data. The good news is that Google Forms offer multiple options for controlling and validating the answers sent by the respondents. You have the options like preventing the respondents to skip the questions. Similarly, you can limit the length of an open-ended question. Such validation options improve the quality of the data collected.
4. Create Professional Looking Forms using Themes
You can create visually appealing and user-friendly forms using Google Forms. There are tons of themes are available allowing you to select from over twenty pre-set designs. It also allows you to further customize the themes by editing header, text, form background, and page background.
You also have the option to upload a picture, take a snapshot, or load an image from a URL or Google Drive to create a custom look.
5. Multiple Ways to Administer Forms
The beauty of Google Forms is that they allow you to collect data using multiple methods. You can include the form in the body of an email allowing a respondent to submit their responses from their Inbox. The second option is sending a link allowing respondents to answer the questions using a web-based form. Thirdly, the code can be generated and then embedded into a blog or web page as another option for data collection. The last but not the least, if you prefer a paper/pencil method, then the form can be converted into a PDF file using Google Chrome.
Have you ever used Google Forms and for what purpose? Do let us know in the comments section below.
