Getting feedback from students

After a couple of weeks, you will have some sense of how your students are doing and whether your approach is working, but don’t wait for the end-of-course student evaluations to confirm or contradict your own impressions.  The formal or informal approaches described below can ‘take the pulse’ of your class and uncover what students think you are doing well and what you might consider changing.  

Why gather feedback?

• to proactively check-in with students about how well the course is going for them
• to make any mid-course revisions to teaching style, clarity of instructions, etc.
• tp help manage learner expectations or clarify the instructor’s expectations about the course and the instructor’s approach to teaching the course
• to authentically demonstrate to students that the instructor cares about their perspectives and learning experiences

You can ask about how you are doing and what parts of the course are working or not working.  Balance this with asking students to consider what changes they can make themselves to better support their learning.

Feedback tools and approaches

• The “Choice” tool in Moodle is easy to set up and can give you a very quick glimpse of how students are feeling.  
• The “Feedback” tool in Moodle can elicit more in-depth feedback.  
• Survey Monkey, Google Forms or MS Forms are all user-friendly options for gathering even more detailed feedback. 
• Informal discussions with several students, either online or in-person can uncover unforeseen feedback.
• A suggestion/comment box is a good way to elicit anonymous feedback from students. 

• How to Ask Your Students for Meaningful Feedback, Jordan DeWilde.
• Obtaining Feedback from Students, from the Teaching Commons @ York University
• An example of a mid-point survey, from Boston University’s Center for Excellence & Innovation in Teaching