Feedback to Improve Teaching

Getting feedback about how things are going is an important part of making sure that your students are getting the most out of your course. Formative feedback allows you to make changes in your teaching for your current students instead of having to wait until the next time you teach to make changes. According to meta-analyses of studies on student evaluation (Cashin, 1995), early feedback from students correlates with approximately a 10% rise in end-of-semester evaluation scores. If the student feedback is combined with a consultation with an instructional developer, a 45% rise in end-of-semester student evaluations of teaching was found. (Cashin, W. E. 1995. Student ratings of teaching: The Research Revisited. Idea Paper No. 32.)

There are several different methods of collecting feedback from students. The most common at MU include:

Online Early Feedback
Classroom and/or Lab Observation (with videotape option)
Self Evaluation
Peer and Faculty Review
End-of-Semester Course Evaluations (These are required at MU)

With the exception of the End-of-Semester Course Evaluations, the rest of the methods are all optional at MU. The fact that you are interested in getting feedback in order to improve your teaching makes a statement about your concern for your students. Each of the different methods is described briefly below:

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Mid-Semester Early Feedback

The single-most effective method of improving end-of-semester student evaluations is through the use of some type of early student feedback on teaching coupled with a consultation on how to use the results gathered from that early feedback.

Early feedback forms look similar to the end-of-semester course evaluations. One important difference, however, is that early feedback is designed to provide feedback to the instructor before the class is over. In this way, things that are working well can be continued, while meaningful changes can be implemented for things that aren't going well.

Using the online system, Missouri Cares About Teaching (MoCAT) is easy and has several benefits to the paper forms (the online form takes no class time to administer, the results are returned to instructors quickly). Because there is a somewhat lower response rate with online forms compared to in-class paper-and-pencil forms, MoCAT tends to work better in courses with enrollments of around 30 or more (although any size course is welcome to use the online version).

How Does it Work?

Early in the semester, instructors request a MoCAT Account at http://mocat.missouri.edu
Faculty create evaluations from templates, or write custom questions
Students in the course receive an email linking to an online feedback form
To get a better response rate, faculty are encouraged to remind students in class to complete the online form, which is sent to the student via their MU email account.
The data are compiled immediately and available for the faculty member to view or download and save to their computer.
Once the feedback results are received, it is important to talk about it with the students so that they know their input is valued. See the appendix at the end of this chapter for tips on talking about Early Feedback with students.
Instructors are encouraged to consult with ET@MO staff to interpret data.

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Self-Evaluation

Self-Evaluation and reflection can be an important part of the teaching improvement process. Below are some general guidelines for reflection that represent key areas to think about. [Adapted from Sourcebook for Evaluating Teaching, Office of Educational Development, B. Davis (1988).]

Teaching

How satisfied am I with my teaching?
What are the strong points of my teaching? Weak points?
What would I change if I taught this class or lab again?
What did I find most interesting about this teaching experience? Most frustrating?

Course Goals

What were my course goals and teaching objectives and why were these selected?
How well did I meet these goals and objectives?
What particular problems, if any, did I encounter in attempting to meet these goals and objectives?
What trends are there currently in my field that will lead to revision in my goals and objectives for this course?

Course Feedback

After working with the materials, what do I now think of the assignments, examinations, readings, labs or special projects listed on the syllabus?
How effective was my feedback to students on their exams and graded materials?
Which course activities placed special demands on my time (e.g., field trips, oral examinations, student projects or labs, special preparations)?
How might I want to revise or expand the forms of feedback I requested from my students?
What do I think of the student evaluations of the course? Which comments do I feel should lead to revisions in the course syllabus?

Peer and Faculty Review

People familiar with your discipline can review many aspects of your teaching, including your syllabus and course content, your grading and testing-writing skills, as well as such things as your control of the class, rapport with students, and communication styles and skills. Even more importantly, asking faculty members from your department (especially your advisor) to observe your teaching and review your syllabus and other teaching materials helps establish a relationship with them so that they have context from which to draw when you later ask them for a letter of recommendation.

End-of-Semester Course Evaluations

End-of-Semester course evaluations (often called “Instruction and Course Evaluations” or ICE, for short) are required at MU. Although these forms contain valuable information for improving your teaching, the results are not usually available until several weeks after the semester is over. Several different ICE forms are available, depending on which would best match the format of your course (lecture, lab, recitation, etc.).

Contributed by Andrew White (Director, Educational Technologies at Missouri).

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Talking to Your Students about Mid-Semester Evaluations

Students sometimes feel that they give useful feedback but, because he or she never talks about it in class, students believe that their feedback was ignored by the instructor. To avoid this situation, let your students know that you value their perspectives.

Begin by saying you value students’ comments and thank them for giving you feedback to help you be a better teacher. Then talk briefly about the students’ positive comments and indicate how you will use these comments to continue or expand what you have been doing.
Talk about students’ suggestions for improvement and indicate what changes you will implement. Some changes are impossible or impractical to make. You should still acknowledge their concerns.

explain why you can’t adopt a change (the students may not agree but they may have a better understanding)
explain that there are differences of opinions among students about a change or that the change would disadvantage some students

It is important to create a supportive environment for this conversation. Avoid being defensive about suggestions or criticisms. Defensive messages blame or reject the criticism out of hand. Supportive messages use descriptive language, acknowledge differences in perceptions that can cause misunderstandings, and try to satisfy everyone’s needs. Supportive messages avoid sarcasm and other negative nonverbal behaviors that create defensive responses. Consider how students might hear the following statements:

“How could you say that I don’t give you feedback? I spent a lot of time writing comments on your papers.”

This could mean that comments are difficult to understand or don’t address the student’s concern. A supportive way to start this conversation: “The comments on your papers are really an important part of this class. I want them to provide you with feedback to improve on your next paper.”

“You want more opportunities for discussion but when I ask questions in class, you never talk! Well I’ll just stop asking questions.”

This could mean students want to discuss different topics, that they want to discuss topics in small groups rather than as a class, or that they want the discussions to be more organized. A supportive way to start this conversation: “Given your feedback, I thought we might brainstorm about some ways to build more opportunities in for discussion.”

As you implement changes the rest of the semester, you should remind students that you are being responsive to their feedback.

Prepared by Pam Benoit, Communication, and Marilyn Miller, PET, Fall 2003.

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