FLEX: Feedback on the Learning Experience Survey

What is FLEX?

Feedback on the Learning Experience (FLEX) is the university’s student end-of-course feedback system. FLEX is a web-based system used to administer course feedback questionnaires. Through the FLEX system, students complete questionnaires and instructors and departments can access the reports.

What does FLEX look like?

FLEX has nine core Likert scale ratings for feedback, four questions about students’ engagement, and three open-ended questions for students’ comments.

Questions about course design (4-point Likert scales)

1. The instructor clearly described learning objectives for the course.
2. The activities and materials provided to support my learning were closely aligned with the graded assignments/assessments of learning.
3. Based on the course description, I gained the knowledge/skills that I expected to gain from participating in this course. 

Questions about course delivery (4-point Likert scales)

1. I received useful feedback on my performance in this course.
2. I felt that there was sufficient instructor support to achieve the course learning goals.
3. There were plenty of opportunities (i.e., activities, assignments, projects) to practice and apply the knowledge/skills learned in this course.

Questions about whether the course was inclusive and ethical (4-point Likert scales)

1. Assignments were graded in alignment with rubrics/assignment descriptions.
2. I knew where to look for course materials when I needed them.
3. The instructor facilitated a welcoming classroom environment.

Questions about course engagement

1. Adding together both time spent in class and time spent out of class, what was the average number of hours per week you spent on this course? (Choices: <5, 6-10, 11-15, 16s20, 21+)
2. About what percentage of classes or recordings of classes did you attend or view? (Choices: <20%, 20-40%, 41-60%, 61-80%, 80%+)
3. Did you take this course to fulfill a general education requirement? (Choices: Yes, No, Unsure)
4. What requirement did this course fulfill for your degree? (Choices: Elective, Required but a Choice, Required)

Open-ended items

1. What aspects of the course design and/or delivery most benefitted your learning?
2. What change to the course design or delivery would most benefit your learning?
3. What recommendations would you give to future students of this course?

How will FLEX be administered?

FLEX is administered online through the Explorance Blue platform by the Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning (CITL).

How long are FLEX forms available to students to complete?

For full-length 16-week courses, the final feedback form is available for 14 days with the period set to end on Reading Day by default. However, to avoid conflicting with the Thanksgiving holiday, the period for 16-week fall sections lasts 12 days and begins on the Saturday after Thanksgiving Day.

For 8-week courses, the feedback period is 10 days long by default, and it generally begins four days before the last day of the term. Please note that departments and instructors may choose to adjust the evaluation start and end dates.

Are FLEX responses confidential?

Yes, FLEX responses are confidential. Instructors cannot associate student ratings with any particular student unless the student openly identifies themselves within the open-ended comment section.

How will FLEX results be used?

FLEX results should be used as part of a holistic approach to teaching feedback and evaluation (see the Office of the Provost website for teaching feedback and evaluation for additional information and guidance). For example, a department might combine FLEX results with peer observations of teaching and an instructor’s own reflections on their teaching to help an instructor’s mentor recommend areas of improvement to an instructor. FLEX results should not be used as a stand-alone evaluation of teaching.

A campus task force is being formed by the provost to recommend other potential uses for FLEX results such as providing summaries of student ratings to students during registration.

Why did the university transition from the previous Instructor and Course Evaluation system and survey (ICES)?

As the university moves toward more holistic feedback and evaluation processes, we have transitioned from the previous Instructor and Course Evaluation system and survey (ICES) to a new software system, Explorance Blue, and a new student feedback survey, Feedback on the Learning Experience (FLEX). This transition was initiated in response to a 2020 report by a provost task force on teaching evaluation based on scholarly literature on student ratings of instruction, best practices from peer institutions, and feedback from Illinois faculty. This report noted that the design of ICES’s global items (i.e., “rate the overall quality of this course” and “rate the overall effectiveness of this instructor”) did not align with best practices for reducing bias in survey responses and providing useful feedback to instructors. Additionally, ICES online was no longer supported by the vendor, necessitating a change in software.

What was the timeline for developing FLEX and for deploying Blue?

• Fall 2021: Task force recommends replacing ICES platform and proposes initial new survey based on faculty input and student focus groups.
• 2022-2024: Task force and CITL identify requirements for ICES online replacement and contract with Explorance Blue to administer the new survey. Continued iteration on initial survey design with faculty feedback and student focus groups.
• Fall 2024: Contract with Explorance Blue finalized. Initial draft of FLEX piloted with student focus groups administration in 30 courses.
• Spring 2025: Onboarding with Explorance Blue. Second draft of FLEX survey piloted with student focus groups and administration in 100 courses.
• Summer 2025: Pilot FLEX and Blue. Half of summer courses randomly selected to use FLEX and Blue.
• Fall 2025: Launch FLEX and Blue. FLEX and Blue fully replace ICES.

How was Explorance Blue chosen?

Explorance Blue is used by many of our peer institutions because it enables integration with Canvas and other software, uses modern web-design practices, allows for more question types, facilitates better security and access control for data, and facilitates better reporting of results to instructors.

How is FLEX different than ICES?

FLEX’s nine core items are organized into three rating scales: well-designed, well-delivered, and inclusive and ethical. An average rating per scale (three aggregate ratings) may be used as replacements for ICES’s global item ratings. Units have the option to continue using ICES’s global item ratings as part of FLEX for the next few years during the transition.

The new scales focus on attributes of the student learning experience that students can validly rate such as their learning experience. FLEX does not ask students to rate the overall quality of a course or the overall effectiveness of the instructor as students are not well positioned to rate all aspects of teaching such as the quality or appropriateness of a course’s learning objectives. FLEX aims to reduce bias by removing rate-the-overall-quality ratings and replacing them with items that follow best practices for reducing bias. Survey items focus on specific aspects of excellent teaching along with specific criteria to guide the rating.

Has ICES been fully retired?

While ICES was retired at the end of summer 2025, units and instructors can still elect to include the global items from ICES (e.g., rate the overall quality of this course and rate the instructors’ overall teaching effectiveness) alongside the FLEX survey for a few more years to ease the transition. Instructors can still access their historic ICES data for the foreseeable future.

Will I be able to use FLEX for my course?

CITL will automatically schedule a FLEX survey on Explorance Blue for all eligible courses. By default, the set of eligible courses excludes Independent Study (IND) sections, Research (RES) sections, internship and study abroad sections without a classroom component, and sections consisting only of a series of speakers. Please contact CITL at flex@illinois.edu if a FLEX survey has not been scheduled for your course when it should have been.

Only individuals regularly interacting with all of the students registered in a section in a teaching capacity are eligible to have students complete FLEX questionnaires. Those who are only grading, staffing office hours, or providing other forms of administrative support are not eligible. A FLEX survey will be scheduled in the Blue system for any instructor who has greater than 0% responsibility for a course (as listed in Banner). Your departmental scheduler is responsible for ensuring this information is accurate in Banner.

Is it mandatory for instructors to use FLEX in their courses?

Instructors should follow the procedures for collecting student feedback established by their academic units. While all units are required to collect and use student feedback as part of broader teaching evaluation processes, the FLEX system may not be appropriate for some instructors or some units.

Can I opt out of having my students complete FLEX surveys? If so, how?

The campus guidelines for teaching feedback and evaluation state that instructors must gather student feedback on their teaching, not that they administer FLEX. If you believe that FLEX is not appropriate for your course, work with your unit executive officer (i.e., chair, head, director) to identify an acceptable alternate source of student feedback. You can opt out of having students complete FLEX on a per course basis or for all courses. Discuss your intention to opt out of administering FLEX with your unit executive officer (i.e., chair, head, director). If they support your decision, your UEO will need to send an email to flex@illinois.edu by the day before the questionnaires become available to students to request your opt out. The UEO should indicate whether this opt out is for a specific course(s) for a specific instructor, all courses for a specific instructor, or all instructors for a specific course. If an instructor changes their mind, their unit will need to send an email to flex@illinois.edu to opt the instructor or course back into the FLEX survey.

What is the minimum number of students enrolled in a course to be eligible to administer FLEX for that course?

At least three students need to be enrolled in a section for it to administer FLEX. This helps preserve the confidentiality of student responses.

Can instructors in a team-taught section share a single FLEX questionnaire?

Within FLEX, each instructor has their own separate questionnaire. A single questionnaire cannot be shared among more than one instructor. There is not a single evaluation form that covers the team instructors. It would be wise to consult with your co-instructor(s) about questions you ask on your form, so you don’t overburden your students with questions. You may wish to release results to your co- instructor(s) as well (add their NetID in FLEX to receive results).

My co-instructors and I are sequentially team teaching a section, and I finish teaching before the semester’s end date. Can I administer FLEX when I finish teaching, or do I have to wait until the end of the semester?

Yes, you can administer FLEX when you are finished teaching. You will need to contact flex@illinois.edu in a timely manner to let us know when you will be finished teaching so that we can set up FLEX accordingly for you. We encourage you to reach out to us if your class is taught this way. Administering FLEX soon after an instructor finishes teaching allows students to provide higher-quality feedback. It also reduces the number of FLEX questionnaires students need to complete at the end of the semester, which reduces survey fatigue.

Is it mandatory for students to participate in FLEX surveys?

It is not mandatory for students to participate in FLEX surveys. A provost’s task force is being charged to explore mechanisms to encourage higher student participation or whether to make it mandatory.

How will my students be notified that they have FLEX questionnaires to complete?

The system will send your students an email on the first day the evaluation form becomes available to them. They will also receive up to four reminder emails before the system closes the evaluation form. Reminder emails are only sent to students who have not yet completed an evaluation. Instructors also receive a copy of the emails sent to students. We encourage you to remind your students to fill out their FLEX questionnaires. It would be beneficial to explain why the feedback is valued and how the course has changed based on past course feedback.

Can students complete FLEX surveys during class?

Yes, we recommend providing students with about 10-15 minutes at the beginning (not the end) of class to complete their FLEX questionnaire. FLEX is a mobile-friendly website, so students can access it from their smartphones or laptops.

How can I increase my students’ response rate in FLEX?

Two practices that can significantly increase the response rate are the following:

• Add the completion of FLEX questionnaires as a task to be completed on your course website. Note: Completion of questionnaires by students cannot be required. All users, including students, use go.illinois.edu/flex to access the system.
• Instructors can allocate time (10-15 minutes should be adequate) at the beginning, not the end, of one of their classes for students to complete the forms. The instructor should leave the room while students are completing the forms and resume class later.

Will I be able to see what percentage of students have completed the FLEX survey for my courses?

Instructors are able to see the percentage of students that have completed the FLEX survey, both while students are still able to complete the survey and after formal reports are released to instructors.

Will students’ geographical location impact whether they can access a FLEX feedback form?

Due to certain international laws, some students may be blocked from accessing the FLEX website. Students who are currently geographically located in the EU, EEA, UK, or Switzerland should contact flex@illinois.edu for further information.

Can I use FLEX for mid-semester feedback?

No. FLEX should be used only for official end-of-course feedback from students. We value and encourage mid-semester feedback, but do not want to confuse students by offering FLEX for both informal and formal feedback. Guidance for collecting informal early feedback can be found on CITL’s website.

Will FLEX continue to inform the List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their students?

Because FLEX is student feedback, the Illinois Student Council has been charged with creating an award similar to the List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent based on FLEX. ISC has named this new award the Facilitating Learning Excellence (FLEX) Award. Instructors will be given this award based on their average rating across the three major scales of the survey. This new award will be criterion based: instructors who meet the award criteria, will receive it. The List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent will no longer be published by CITL as the FLEX award replaces its purpose of recognizing instructors who had strongly positive student ratings.

Who will have access to the results from FLEX surveys for courses?

Instructors and their unit executive officers by default have access to FLEX results. A provost’s task force is being charged to address questions such as whether students should have access to some type of access to FLEX results (i.e., raw or summary data) and whether access to FLEX results can be used as an incentive to boost response rates to FLEX (a practice some peer institutions have used to boost response rates over 70%). There currently are not any plans to release FLEX data to students. The task force will submit recommendations to the provost, and more announcements will follow about access to the FLEX data.

Who collects the feedback from the survey? Who is Explorance Blue?

CITL administers FLEX via the Explorance Blue system. Explorance Blue is a feedback analytics and insights platform that streamlines collection and analysis of surveys. Learn more about Blue.

Why use Explorance Blue as a third-party survey provider?

Explorance Blue is the software that best satisfies our campus’ requirements for access control, security, FEPA compliance, and that best accommodates the variety of our course models and structure.

What information will be shared with Explorance Blue?

The university will share instructor’s name, NetID, title/role (e.g., TA vs. faculty), and UIN; course information (e.g., CRN, subject code, course number, course title, section identifier); course registration (e.g., students’ NetID, class status); and other university staff contact information such as unit executive officers’ name, NetID, and UIN and their designees. This data will be stored by Explorance on their servers in Montreal, Quebec, CA.

Can I add instructor-specific questions to my FLEX survey?

Not yet. Starting as soon as we establish support by the vendor, a catalog of survey items that instructors may choose from will be provided. Instructors will be able to add up to three items from the catalog to their survey. You will be notified by the FLEX system when you are able to add your chosen items to the survey. You will add those items through the FLEX system. Note: We are working with units to identify “departmental cores:” a set of six items that colleges, schools, and departments can add to the FLEX survey for their courses. Instructors will be able to add select additional items after the departmental cores have been finalized.

How was the catalog of survey items constructed?

The most commonly used items from ICES Online were identified. A team of survey designers refined that set of items to follow current best practices for survey design.

Can I add items that are not in the provided survey item catalog?

Not yet. We want to make sure the ability to add pre-written questions works smoothly before providing support for faculty to suggest new items to add to the catalog. We will provide mechanisms for instructors to suggest items after fall 2026 at the earliest.

I am going up for promotion soon, what will happen if I have both ICES and FLEX data?

Units and instructors have the option to retain the old ICES global items (rate the overall quality of this course, rate the overall effectiveness of this instructor) as we transition from ICES to FLEX. This option will enable units/instructors that want continuity of ICES scores in a promotion case to have it.

Department/schools have always used ICES scores in different ways during promotion/review processes, so instructors are encouraged to have a discussion with their leadership about ICES and FLEX data will be used during their promotion/review processes.

How has the FLEX survey been validated?

FLEX was developed following evidence-based practices for survey design. The scales for the survey were chosen to align with the campus definition of teaching excellence. Initial survey items were drafted and circulated for faculty feedback for importance and applicability. An initial set of items were selected based on faculty feedback. These items were taken to student focus groups to refine their wording to improve students’ comprehension of the items. In parallel, we ran two pilot administrations of the survey in over 100 courses over fall 2024 and spring 2025. Pilot administrations took place in over 100 courses across 30 units spanning ACES, AHS, BUS, EDUC, ENG, FAA, LAS, CIMED, SSW, and LER.

Psychometric evaluations of these pilot administrations were evaluated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. These factor analyses demonstrated strong model fit and strong factor loadings for the three-scale structure. Course-design items were found to have low loading across factors. Inclusive and ethical items were found to have cross loadings with other factors, which is appropriate given that students will experience a course as inclusive and ethical through the design and delivery of the course.

The final set of items were chosen to optimize for the items identified by the survey development team as best aligning with the definition of teaching excellence while collectively having strong psychometric properties.

Who oversaw/implemented the transition to the new system?

The transition to the new platform (Blue) and survey (FLEX) was overseen by a provost’s task force in consultation with representatives from tenure-track and specialized faculty across disciplines. The task force engaged stakeholders including faculty senate subcommittees (e.g., General University Policy, Education Policy, IT), Illinois Student Council, and CITL. CITL is executing the transition to Blue.

Is it mandatory for instructors to use FLEX in their courses?

Instructors should follow the procedures for collecting student feedback established by their academic units. While all units are required to collect and use student feedback as part of broader teaching evaluation processes, the FLEX system may not be appropriate for some instructors or some units.

Can instructors in my unit opt out of having their students complete FLEX surveys? Is so, how?

The campus guidelines for teaching feedback and evaluation state that instructors must gather student feedback on their teaching, not that they administer FLEX. If you believe that FLEX is not appropriate for courses in your unit, work with your faculty to identify an acceptable alternate source of student feedback that your unit would value during teaching evaluations.

Once you have identified an alternate source of student feedback for your instructor(s), send an email to flex@illinois.edu by the day before the questionnaires become available to students to request the opt out for your instructors. Be sure to specify whether the opt out is for a specific course(s) for a specific instructor, all courses for a specific instructor, all instructors for a specific course. Opt-outs for multiple courses or even entire programs can be submitted in one message. If a unit changes their mind, they will need to send an email to flex@illinois.edu to opt the instructor or course back into the FLEX survey.

Is it mandatory for students to participate in FLEX surveys?

It is not mandatory for students to participate in FLEX surveys. A provost’s task force is being charged to explore mechanisms to encourage higher student participation or whether to make it mandatory.

Will FLEX continue to inform the List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their students?

Because FLEX is student feedback, the Illinois Student Council has been charged with creating an award similar to the List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent based on FLEX. ISC has named this new award the Facilitating Learning Excellence (FLEX) Award. Instructors will be given this award based on their average rating across the three major scales of the survey. This new award will be criterion based: instructors who meet the award criteria, will receive it. The List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent will no longer be published by CITL as the FLEX award replaces its purpose of recognizing instructors who had strongly positive student ratings.

Who will have access to the results from FLEX surveys for courses?

Instructors and their unit executive officers by default have access to FLEX results. A provost’s task force is being charged to address questions such as whether students should have access to some type of access to FLEX results (i.e., raw or summary data) and whether access to FLEX results can be used as an incentive to boost response rates to FLEX (a practice some peer institutions have used to boost response rates over 70%). There currently are not any plans to release FLEX data to students. The task force will submit recommendations to the provost, and more announcements will follow about access to the FLEX data.

Who collects the feedback from the survey? Who is Explorance Blue?

CITL administers FLEX via the Explorance Blue system. Explorance Blue is a feedback analytics and insights platform that streamlines collection and analysis of surveys. Learn more about Blue.

Why use Explorance Blue as a third-party survey provider?

Explorance Blue is the software that best satisfies our campus’ requirements for access control, security, FEPA compliance, and that best accommodates the variety of our course models and structure.

What information will be shared with Explorance Blue?

The university will share instructor’s name, NetID, title/role (e.g., TA vs. faculty), and UIN; course information (e.g., CRN, subject code, course number, course title, section identifier); course registration (e.g., students’ NetID, class status); and other university staff contact information such as unit executive officers’ name, NetID, and UIN and their designees. This data will be stored by Explorance on their servers in Montreal, Quebec, CA.

Can my unit add a set of survey items to all of our courses (i.e., create a departmental core)?

Soon. CITL will contact UEOs in spring 2026 with a catalog of survey items that they can use to construct their departmental core. A departmental core can have up to a total of six rated  items, and colleges may mandate up to three of those items. For example, if a college mandates that two items should be included in a departmental core, then units could include an additional four items in their departmental core. Units will need to construct their initial departmental core in consultation with their colleges and submit to their college’s designee for approval. Each college’s dean or designee should submit departmental cores by June 15, 2026 (CITL will provide a form to college designees). Colleges may set their own internal deadlines. This departmental core will be included on all unit FLEX surveys starting fall 2026 and onward. Units will not be able to propose new questions that are not on the catalog of survey items during this initial phase.

How do we change our departmental core?

After initial departmental cores are set, UEOs should work with their colleges to approve changes to their departmental core. The college’s dean or designee should send an email to flex@illinois.edu once changes have been approved. Changes must be submitted by the last day of instruction of the term preceding when the unit wants the change to go into effect. For example, if a unit wants to change their core for spring 2027, they must make the desired change by the last day of instruction of fall 2026. Colleges may set their own internal deadlines.

Can we add items to our core that are not in the provided catalog of survey items?

Not yet. We want to make sure the ability to add pre-written questions works smoothly before providing support for faculty to suggest new items to add to the catalog of survey items. We will provide mechanisms for units to suggest their own survey items after fall 2026 at the earliest.

How was the catalog of survey items constructed?

The most commonly used items from ICES Online were identified. A team of survey designers refined that set of items to follow current best practices for survey design.

Can instructors add their own questions to their FLEX survey?

Not yet. Starting as soon as we establish support by the vendor, we will provide a catalog of survey items that instructors may choose to add to their survey. Instructors will be able to add up to three items to their survey. They will be notified by the FLEX system when they are able to add their chosen items to the survey. They will add those items through the FLEX system.

How has the FLEX survey been validated?

FLEX was developed following evidence-based practices for survey design. The scales for the survey were chosen to align with the campus definition of teaching excellence. Initial survey items were drafted and circulated for faculty feedback for importance and applicability. An initial set of items were selected based on faculty feedback. These items were taken to student focus groups to refine their wording to improve students’ comprehension of the items. In parallel, we ran two pilot administrations of the survey in over 100 courses over fall 2024 and spring 2025. Pilot administrations took place in over 100 courses across 30 units spanning ACES, AHS, BUS, EDUC, ENG, FAA, LAS, CIMED, SSW, and LER.

Psychometric evaluations of these pilot administrations were evaluated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. These factor analyses demonstrated strong model fit and strong factor loadings for the three-scale structure. Course-design items were found to have low loading across factors. Inclusive and ethical items were found to have cross loadings with other factors, which is appropriate given that students will experience a course as inclusive and ethical through the design and delivery of the course.

The final set of items were chosen to optimize for the items identified by the survey development team as best aligning with the definition of teaching excellence while collectively having strong psychometric properties.

Who oversaw/implemented the transition to the new system?

The transition to the new platform (Blue) and survey (FLEX) was overseen by a provost’s task force in consultation with representatives from tenure-track and specialized faculty across disciplines. The task force engaged stakeholders including faculty senate subcommittees (e.g., General University Policy, Education Policy, IT), Illinois Student Council, and CITL. CITL is executing the transition to Blue.

How should our unit combine data from ICES and FLEX data in promotion cases?

Units have discretion to use ICES/FLEX data in a variety of ways to support holistic teaching feedback and evaluation. Student feedback should be used holistically with other sources of data (i.e., peer feedback and instructor documentation). Units can choose to focus on only FLEX data (e.g., for faculty who started or were promoted around 2025), include a mix of FLEX and ICES data, or they can choose to maintain continuity with ICES (e.g., for faculty who already have several years of ICES data).

Units have the option to retain the old ICES global items (rate the overall quality of this course, rate the overall effectiveness of this instructor) as we transition from ICES to FLEX. This option will enable units that want continuity of ICES scores in a promotion case to have it. We expect this option to be retired around 2030.

Units should decide on a policy for how ICES/FLEX data will be used and communicate that policy with instructors.