There may not be a formal Spring Break this year, but there is always an opportunity to pause and collect feedback in your courses. You’ve read about the importance of mid-semester feedback on our site before, but we’ve compiled our best tips and reframed them for our current teaching moment.
Stop. Start. Continue (Eventually).
- Try the classic technique “Stop, Start, Continue” to get quick feedback from your students. We’ve got a video tutorial to walk you through the process, and a quick-reference InfoGraphic too.
This year, you might find that there’s no natural point in the semester to collect or analyze this information. That’s OK. Collecting it and reflecting on the student feedback at the end of the semester may also be a good way to consider changes to future iterations of a course.
Survey your students (again).
- If you used a pre-class survey to assess student’s prior knowledge, experiences, or overall state of mind and orientation to learning, you may want to send that same survey out again mid-way through the semester. This will give you some insights into both how students are progressing, and when (and how) you may want to add in more purposeful pauses or refreshers.
For this year, consider how this information may be useful in documenting your teaching. You’ve worked hard to provide students with avenues to provide YOU with feedback– how does that feedback lead to concrete changes in your courses, or your approach to teaching? Collecting and discussing student feedback like this demonstrates your responsiveness and flexibility.
#PairedTexts
- Consider your mid-semester feedback as a complement or supplement to your end-of-semester course evaluations. Pairing these two groups of student feedback data provides a fuller picture of your course, and will give you concrete action items to consider the next time you teach this course.
This year, consider specific questions about technology in your teaching both in mid-semester and end-of-semester feedback. We’ve all made a rapid shift to a new teaching and learning mode, and students will have had different levels of success and challenge. Some good questions to consider include:
-
- Which resources/tools do you use the most frequently?
- Have you been able to meet/connect with other students in this class?
- Have you had significant issues with internet bandwidth, access to a computer, or other technology that has impeded your ability to be successful so far?
Need more help? Schedule a consult.
Need help thinking about or processing mid- or end-of-semester student feedback? Schedule a consultation with CTAL.
