Mid-semester Check-in with Students
Mid-semester feedback allows us to “check-in” with students with enough time to adjust
teaching strategy prior to the end of the term. Soliciting mid-semester feedback has the
additional benefit of allowing us to hear our students’ concerns while there is still time in the
semester to make appropriate changes.
In her book Tools for Teaching, Barbara Gross Davis offers a variety strategies for gathering
feedback from students in a chapter called Fast Feedback.
You could distribute the form to students directly in a face-to-face class or make it available as a
survey in a D2L space. An advantage to in-class feedback offers a high response rate (as high,
that is, as your attendance that day or evening). A disadvantage is students’ potential concern
that you might recognize their handwriting; their answers might not be as honest as they could
be.
After you’ve analyzed the student feedback, consider summarizing the results to the class and
outline the specific actions you intend to take in response to their feedback, i.e., what you intend
to continue to do or what you will do that is new. (Don’t promise changes that you may not be
able to deliver.)
Here’s a sample of a mid-semester feedback form. It takes about 15 minutes to complete:
Dear Students,
Please use this questionnaire as a constructive way to provide feedback about how you are
experiencing your learning in this class. Please take a moment and think through your
comments to be as specific as possible so that I can determine what steps to take to make my
teaching more effective for you. Your answers to this questionnaire should be returned to me
and will be seen only by me. You will be asked to complete a different survey at the end of the
semester to provide additional feedback.
1. Do you usually understand what is expected of you in preparing for and participating in
this class? If not, please explain why not.
2. What aspects of this course and your instructor's teaching help you learn best?
3. What specific advice would you give to help your instructor improve your learning in this
course?
4. What steps could you take to improve your own learning in this course?
5. What other ideas would you suggest to improve this course (e.g., changes in course
structure, assignments or exams)?
References:
http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/teaching-guides/reflecting/student-feedback
Davis, Barbara Gross. Tools for Teaching. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009.