Gathering Student Feedback

Traditionally, student evaluations are administered at the end of a course, when it is too late for the teacher to change anything. Gathering student feedback early in the semester, however, gives you time to make adjustments in the structure of your course or your teaching methods. Gathering student feedback also is an excellent strategy for documenting your teaching. Combined with your end-of-semester evaluations, mid-semester feedback can illustrate teaching improvement.

The best time to gather student feedback is about one-third of the way into the semester, when both you and your students have settled into the course routine.

There are various methods for collecting feedback from students during the semester. Your choices will depend on what kind of feedback you need and what you plan to do with it. If you want a general picture of your teaching skills and areas for improvement, you might begin with the Teaching Analysis By Students (TABS) survey. This survey is good if you're new to teaching and unsure about what questions to ask. It is especially useful if you are teaching large classes and want a quick gauge of how the class is going.

Using a technique called the Small Group Instructional Diagnosis (SGID), we can gather information from students in a format that permits interaction and consensus.

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Small Group Instructional Diagnosis

The Small Group Instructional Diagnosis (SGID) process entails setting aside at least 20 minutes of class time to allow an instructional consultant to talk with your students while you aren't present.

We ask students to address three questions: What do you like best about this course? What do you like least? and What suggestions for change do you have for the instructor? Following the session, we report back to you on the information that was gathered and discuss students' perceptions within the context of development. We encourage the use of class interviews at midterm so that you can respond to student suggestions for change during the remainder of the course.

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Teaching Analysis by Students (TABS)

The Teaching Analysis by Students (TABS) instrument is also useful for gathering student feedback regarding your class. The TABS can be used alone or in conjunction with an in-class observation. To learn more about the TABS instrument and how you can use it to document your teaching, contact Dr. Laurie Bellows.

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Classroom Assessment Links

Classroom Assessment
Courtsey of the Grayson H. Walker Teaching Resource Center
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Classroom Assessment Techniques
Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching
The Pennsylvania State University

Classroom Techniques that Promote Enhanced Student Learning
Courtesy of College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University

Classroom Assessment Technique Examples
Courtesy of Honolulu Community College

Classroom Assessment Techniques
Courtesy of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville

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Using Blackboard to Collect Midterm Feedback from Students

Blackboard's Survey feature offers instructors the opportunity to gather anonymous feedback from students. The Teaching Effectiveness Program encourages you to take advantage of this opportunity to receive course feedback which allows you to make changes and improvements that may significantly enhance student learning.

Additionally, consider using this feature to gather feedback at multiple points throughout the term.

The following sections contain step-by-step instructions that explain how you can create your survey, make it available to your students and access the results.

Building a Survey on Blackboard

You can use multiple-choice or short answer/essay to gather student feedback via Blackboard.

1. Go to http://blackboard.unl.edu or http://my.unl.edu.
2. Click the Login button and type your username and password in the designated text boxes. You will enter a page entitled MyUNL.
3. Locate the section entitled My Courses and click on the name of the course you want to develop the survey for.
4. Click on the Control Panel button, located at the bottom left of your screen.
5. Under the Assessment section, click on Survey Manager to develop the survey questions. The Survey Manager is used to create, add, preview, modify, and remove Surveys.
6. Click on the Add Survey button, located in the gray bar near the top third of the screen.
7. Type a name for the survey in the Name textbox (Midterm Assessment of Teaching, for example).
8. Enter the appropriate text in the Description textbox. (For example: This is an anonymous survey to gather your thoughts on this course thus far, including your ideas for improvements.)
9. Enter the appropriate text in the Instructions textbox. (For example: Respond with an answer that best describes your assessment of the course.)
10. Click the Submit button. You now have a blank survey, ready for you to add questions.
11. Repeat this process for each question:
    1. On the Survey Canvas page, locate the Add Question drop down menu.
    2. Select Essay and click the Go button.
    3. Enter your question in the Question Text box. (Examples: What's going well in this course and why? What suggestions do you have for improvements in this course?)
    4. Click the Submit button.
12. When you have finished adding your survey questions, click the OK button.