Student Feedback Throughout the Semester

Collecting feedback from students at critical points in the semester is a valuable source of information that can inform your teaching and promote student learning. You can elicit feedback that tells you how well students are understanding concepts, how well they feel they are learning, or to inform you of aspects of the course that are contributing to their success or hindering their success. While instructors can use the information to make course adjustments that impact student learning, the feedback process is also an opportunity for students to reflect on their contributions to the learning process and for self-assessment.

Gathering, Analyzing, and Responding to Feedback

1. Discuss the importance of gathering feedback with students and how it contributes to an effective learning environment.
2. Determine times during the semester when feedback would be most useful for you as the instructor and for them as learners (e.g. after the first exam, while teaching a particularly difficult concept, and mid-semester are common).

3. Create a survey, using any of these are tools for gathering feedback:

   • The Canvas Classic Quizzes tool can be used to make an anonymous survey (learn more)

   • Zoom poll tool: for multiple choice questions only during synchronous sessions

   • Microsoft Forms: an easy to use tool available via Office365 campus license

   • Qualtrics: your favorite research tool can be used for teaching

4. Analyze the feedback. Discuss it with a colleague or make an appointment with one of the Center for Integrated Professional Development coordinators to review and discuss your findings.
5. Follow-up with the class to let them know what you heard and how you plan to use the feedback as you move through the semester.

The Center can help you

• plan your formative feedback processes, selecting your methods, tools and questions, and determining times in the semester for gathering data
• develop a tool and add it to your Canvas site
• analyze your feedback and helping you determine your next steps

Additional Resources

Resources for evidence-based methodologies you can use to collect feedback from students include:

1. Delta Plus (Helminski & Koberna, 1995)
2. Critical Incident Questions (Brookfield, 2017)
3. Start-Stop-Continue (Hoon et al., 2015)
4. Tips from George Washington University Teaching and Learning Center

References

Brookfield, S. (2017). Becoming a critically reflective teacher (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Helminski, L., & Koberna, S. (1995). Total quality in instruction: A systems approach. In H. V. Roberts (Ed.), Academic initiatives in total quality for higher education (pp. 309–362). Milwaukee, WI: ASQC Quality Press.

Hoon, A., Oliver, E., Szpakowska, K., & Newton, P. (2015). Use of the ‘Stop, Start, Continue’ method is associated with the production of constructive qualitative feedback by students in higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 40(5), 755–767. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2014.956282