--- url: "https://questionstar.com/use-cases/course-evaluation/" title: "Course evaluation software: central setup, campus-wide use" description: "Course evaluation software: one online survey for all courses, replacing Excel lists and email rounds, with a live report per instructor shared by link." lastmod: "2026-10-26" type: "marketing" --- # Course evaluation at universities: managed centrally, used campus-wide. QUESTIONSTAR is software for online course evaluation at universities: one survey for all courses, replacing Excel lists and email rounds by hand. The quality assurance office or dean's office schedules invitations and reminders that go out automatically on fixed dates. Each instructor sees their report live by link. - [Start for free](/order/?code=free) - [See templates](/templates/#kat-forschung) *Free, no time limit, no credit card.* ## Everyone wants the evaluation. Getting there is manual work. An Excel list with 80 courses. One questionnaire, copied 80 times. Links sent by email, reminders by hand. And at the end, every report put together one by one. ## Four mechanics, not four promises. ### One course list, many courses You upload the course list once. Students pick their course, or each course gets its own link. ### Live in the lecture QR code on the slide, answers on smartphones. The results appear on the screen while everyone is still in the room. ### Report by link You set up the report per instructor once. The instructor sees their results live in the browser. ### Answer once, stay anonymous Personal links secure one response per person. With "Anonymize IDs", no response can be linked to anyone, and results appear from 10 complete responses. ## One survey. Many courses. You start with the lecture or tutorial template, adapt it to your evaluation policy and build the questionnaire once for all courses. Students pick their course from the uploaded course list via a search field, or each course gets its own link, as a QR code if you like. With several instructors, a loop repeats the same question block for each person. [Loops for seminars and events](/use-cases/seminars-events/) ## Invitations and reminders on fixed dates. You schedule the email invitation and reminders in advance, with date and time. Personal links make sure each person responds only once. With the "Anonymize IDs" setting, the response still stays anonymous. Without email, it works with a QR code in class, with a personal code if you like. ## Responses in the lecture: the last ten minutes. An email at the end of the semester is easy to miss between exams. So show the QR code in the last ten minutes of class: students answer on their phones, the results appear live on the screen, and you talk about them right away. With a personal code and "Anonymize IDs", each person responds only once and still stays anonymous. Up to about 2,000 people vote at the same time, and the screen refreshes every 3 seconds. For larger events, please coordinate the number of participants with us in advance. ## One report per instructor, live by link. You set up the report per course or per instructor with filters, even before the start, and send the link once yourself. The instructor sees their results live in the browser. There is no automatic report delivery. In the overall report, the quality assurance office and dean's office see all courses, filtered by course, instructor or semester. There is no dashboard for trends across several semesters. Export as editable Word, PowerPoint and Excel files or PDF, raw data as SPSS with labels. You analyze free-text answers through the [MCP server](/help/integrations/mcp-ai/) with the AI of your choice, in agreement with your data protection officer. [Alternative to evasys, compared](/alternatives/evasys/) ## One vote per person. And still anonymous. **Answer once, stay anonymous:** Personal links or codes make sure each person responds only once. With "Anonymize IDs" active, no response can be linked to a person, not even by you. **Minimum group size:** With "Anonymize IDs", the report shows results only from 10 fully completed questionnaires. Courses with fewer responses stay empty in the report. **Private questions:** Answers to questions you mark as private are visible only to authorized persons, such as data protection officers. They are stored separately. **Once anonymous, always anonymous:** "Store personal data separately" and "Anonymize IDs" can't be undone once applied. **GDPR-compliant EU hosting** in IONOS data centers in Germany (EU), DPA [as a PDF](/legal/DPA-QUESTIONSTAR-EN.pdf). You decide who sees which report through the link: whoever has it sees the report. Agree on access and purpose with your data protection officer and staff representatives. [Security and data protection](/security/) ## Four evaluation scenarios where it really helps. ### Semester evaluation of all lectures The quality assurance office sets up one survey for all courses. Each instructor gets their report by link. ### Mid-term evaluation Three to five questions in class, results live. That leaves time to change something during the semester. ### Tutorials and seminars with several instructors One question block repeats for each instructor. Each rating stays separately analyzable. ### Instructors with their own evaluation If you want to evaluate your own course on top, start for free with the template and the QR code in the lecture hall, without a central process. ## What you should know upfront. **What is an alternative to course evaluations with Excel and email?** A single online survey for all courses. Students pick their course from a course list or arrive through a link or QR code per course. Invitations and reminders go out on fixed dates, and you share the report for each course by link. **How can course evaluation be managed centrally and used campus-wide?** Centrally, the quality assurance office or dean's office sets up one survey, the course list and the sending schedule. Invitations and reminders then go out automatically on fixed dates. Across the campus, each instructor sees their own report live in the browser, through a link the central office shares once. The central office keeps the overall view with filters. **Which software works for course evaluation?** For a fully digital course evaluation, online survey software like QUESTIONSTAR works well: templates, one survey for many courses, access codes, reports per instructor by link and Office export. If paper forms with scanning, course import from your student information system or automatic report delivery to instructors are part of your process, evasys is designed for that. **Does course evaluation stay anonymous in small courses?** Yes, with the "Anonymize IDs" setting: the report shows results per course only from 10 fully completed questionnaires, and courses with fewer responses stay empty. Answers to questions you mark as private are visible only to authorized persons, such as data protection officers; they are stored separately. You don't have to ask for personal details at all, and in very small courses it's better to skip demographic questions too. Agree on access and purpose with your data protection officer and staff representatives. **Can each person respond only once and still stay anonymous?** Yes. Students receive personal links or enter a personal code at the QR code, so each person responds only once. With the "Anonymize IDs" setting, no response can be linked to a person, not even by the university. The setting can't be reversed once applied. **Do instructors receive their report automatically?** Not by email. In QUESTIONSTAR, you set up the report per course once, even before the start, and share it by link. The instructor then sees their results live in the browser as soon as responses come in. If needed, you export the report centrally as Word, PowerPoint, Excel or PDF. **Does course evaluation work with paper forms?** Not directly. QUESTIONSTAR collects responses online, on smartphones and by QR code, with no scanning process. You can photograph individual paper forms, for example from a small seminar, and have your own AI transfer them into the survey through the MCP server. With a few dozen forms, that becomes a cost question for your AI usage; with hundreds, it isn't worth it. Check with your data protection officer in advance whether scans may be sent to an AI service. If paper forms are a fixed part of your process, evasys is the right solution. **Can QUESTIONSTAR connect to our student information system or to Moodle, Canvas or Blackboard?** Not through a ready-made connector. You upload course lists as a file, for example as an export from your student information system. You pass data on via REST API, webhooks, n8n, Zapier or file export. Single sign-on (university SSO or SAML) is available for the QUESTIONSTAR user accounts of survey authors, not for respondents; university SSO (eduGAIN) is available from CHAIR on request and included in CAMPUS. **When is evasys the better fit?** In three cases: for paper and hybrid forms with scanning, for automatic report delivery to instructors and deans' offices, and for connecting student information systems and learning platforms (course import via CSV, XML or from the student information system, Moodle, Canvas and Blackboard via LTI). evasys has been used for course evaluation at many universities for decades. QUESTIONSTAR collects responses online only and shares reports by link. Some universities run both tools side by side: evasys for central course evaluation, QUESTIONSTAR for research, mid-term evaluations and live voting. For the point-by-point comparison, see [Alternative to evasys](/alternatives/evasys/). **How much does course evaluation with QUESTIONSTAR cost?** All survey and analysis features are included in every plan, including FREE, the free plan with 50 responses per survey. Paid plans have unlimited responses. Plans differ in organizational features such as Whitelabel, user management and SSO, and in the monthly email quota. You can extend the quota for a fee, or send the personal links with your own mailing tool. One survey with filters for all courses counts as one active survey. Universities can run course evaluation on any Academic plan (STUDENT, RESEARCHER, CHAIR, CAMPUS) or on the FREE plan. Prices and eligibility are on the [pricing page](/pricing/?tab=academic). Planning the switch for a whole faculty? [Write to us](/contact/). ## Ready for course evaluation without Excel lists? You can start right away. No contract, no commitment. Stop whenever you like. - [Start for free](/order/?code=free) - [See templates](/templates/#kat-forschung) *Free, no time limit, no credit card.* - [Template: Course evaluation lecture, per semester](https://survey.questionstar.com/ebce7dc0) - [Template: Course evaluation seminar, per semester](https://survey.questionstar.com/b5de5aa4) *Last updated: October 26, 2026*