Prior to completing the surveys, all students were informed that their
responses were completely confidential and would not be linked to their
individual identities. They were told that the survey results would only be
viewed by their professors after items tying students’ responses to their
identities were removed. ENGR 106 students were surveyed two weeks after
their first (of three) course exam, while surveys were administered to CHE 205
students in the week following their second (of four) course exam. In both
cases, the survey was administered approximately two-thirds of the way into the
semester. This timeframe was used to ensure that students would have some
experience with the course environments, assignments, and exams on which to
base their confidence. However, the semester had not progressed far enough
that students were able to make concrete predictions concerning their final
course grades.