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Assessment Resources

Improving the Student Learning Experience starts by Improving the Instructor Learning Experience

  • First Week of Class ideas [link] 

To build a relationship-rich class, this resource encourages instructors to begin the semester with an entry survey [link] to gain insight into who the students are and your students' lived experiences as well as how to address results [link] 

Consider the Spring 2025 SATAL Handout: spring_2025_satal_resources.pdf

  • Mid-Semester Feedback Interpretation Guide [link]

This guide addresses student comments to question 2 (Q2) in the Mid-semester Feedback survey: What suggestions do you have for the instructor to improve your learning?

  • SATAL Closing of the Assessment Cycle in Community Event

A supportive group of instructors, particularly within the same discipline, can engage in conversations and assessments to enhance teaching practices. This CAC includes implementing mid-semester feedback and class observations conducted by trained undergraduates in your course, as well as one collaborative meeting to discuss findings, affirm what is working, and explore changes in the company of fellow instructors. These activities are designed to break the isolation often associated with teaching and promote reflection, community, and joy when making data-informed decisions in your courses. Tomkin et al. (2019) identified that the community of practice works best when they are made up of small, disciplinary teams working together.

  • Classroom Research Support 

SATAL offers a Centralized Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocol to streamline the classroom research process. This allows instructors to gather data on their teaching practices and potentially publish their findings, contributing to instructors’ education research development and the research community.

  • Invitation to Get Involved

Here is the information shared at the department meetings this fall 2024 [link]. Instructors are encouraged to share their reflections, questions, or comments. This interaction helps tailor the support provided to meet the specific needs of instructors and students at UCM, promoting continuous improvement in teaching and learning.

  • Resources Designed and Created by SATAL Student Partners

1) SATAL Panel of Students [link] This is a Prezi presentation showcasing SATAL students on students' preferred classroom activities.

2) This SATAL video [link] highlights the importance of and how to complete course evaluations. We recommend sharing the video before mid-semester feedback sessions and before final course evaluations.

3) Three SATAL partners share pedagogical practices frequently suggested by their peers in the classroom during the mid-semester feedback when asked, what helps your learning in this class? Watch these students sharing the rationale for implementing real-life examples [link], clicker questions, and group work [link]. All three videos are here [link]

Make Assessment a Routine

When we ask students for feedback regularly, it ...

  1. Improves instructors' understanding of learning needs,
  2. Provides opportunities for structured dialogue about teaching and learning with students and
  3. Gathers evidence for teaching effectiveness portfolio/education research.

In-Class Surveys

A quick survey will provide insight into how your students are coping with the changes implemented and what they need to succeed.

  • Use the "chat function" in Zoom –– pair it was a Quality Matters rubric for best results.
    • Try the 3-2-1 assessment: 3 things you learned, 2 questions you still have, and 1 action you are going to take
  • Create a survey in CatCourses. 
    • Learn how to create a graded survey in CatCourses –– best used for metacognitive questions and soliciting student feedback. 
    • Try this template and develop it to fit your needs:
      1. What is working for you, and what isn’t?
      2. What do you need that I'm not addressing?
      3. What else do you need to succeed in this remote environment
  • Interpret the results and respond appropriately. Here are some tips for what to do after you have collected student data. 

Entry Survey (Download Template):

A growing body of research stresses the important role that prior knowledge plays in student learning. Instructors who seek this prior knowledge are taking a very direct interest in the students. If instructors expose what students already know, they will have more success in attaching new knowledge to the schematic frameworks that students bring to class. Capturing students’ questions at the beginning of the semester also provides an interesting way to refine the curriculum around student needs (Fleming, 2003).
 
The data collected through needs assessment tools will benefit instructors and students alike:
  1. It will provide students with a clear and understandable vision of the learning target.
  2. It will guide instructors to shape assignments to develop the target skills and concepts that students find most challenging.
  3. Instructors will identify what activities engage students most productively.
  4. What interventions advance student progress.

Want to import an entry survey directly into your class? We have also published one in Canvas Commons!

  • Head to Canvas (CatCourses)
  • Click on the Commons icon 
  • Search "Entry Survey Materials" by Adriana Signorini
  • Click the "Import/Download"
  • Try this direct link when you are logged on to CatCourses.

Source: Fleming, Neil. Establishing Rapport: Personal Interaction and Learning. Idea Paper # 39.IDEA Center Website.

Mid-Course Feedback (Download Template)

Research shows that mid-course feedback activities improve the instructional experience for both faculty and students. The best result is when faculty seeks mid-course feedback, discuss it in class, and then act on it. Mid-course feedback:
  1. Allows students to reflect on course goals and individual progress,
  2. Informs the instructor about what is working and not working in the course and 
  3. Recognizes that the instructor cares about their learning.

Mid-course feedback is a tool to give instructors and students information on how the class is going and what might be done to improve the learning environment. Request SATAL support to discover students' concerns before it's too late and keep results confidential. Get inspired by other examples of mid-course feedback. 

Exit Survey (Download Template):

An exit survey/interview is usually conducted with graduating students to assess what should be improved, changed, or remain intact. More so, a class/ program can use exit interviews to reduce absenteeism, improve innovation, and increase engagement and retention. It is important for each class/ program to customize its own exit interview according to its own needs.
 

Examples from UCM Faculty:

Here, we provide a series of examples of how UC Merced instructors have collected feedback from students. Feel free to share your ideas with us! 
 
Discipline Specific Tools

Entry Survey1

Mid-Course Feedbackl2

Exit Survey3
School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts WRI 101

 

  
School of Natural Sciences

 

  

School of Engineering

 ME 021    
 

Pedagogical Practices Resources

Active Learning:

Improving Teaching and Learning:

Curriculum Development

Assessing Student Learning

Knowledge Survey

Assessment of Teaching and Learning