Make Assessments Part of the Routine
Including regular assessments that ask for student feedback regularly:
- Improves understanding of learning needs,
- Provides opportunities for structured dialogue about teaching and learning with students, and
- Gathers evidence for teaching effectiveness portfolio/education research.
Strategies for Soliciting Feedback from Students
A quick survey will provide insight into how your students are coping with the changes implemented and what they need to succeed.
During Class
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Use the "chat function" in Zoom –– pair it was a Quality Matters rubric for best results.
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Try the 3-2-1 assessment: 3 things you learned, 2 questions you still have, and 1 action you are going to take
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- 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:
- What is working for you, and what isn’t?
- What do you need that I'm not addressing?
- 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:
- It will provide students with a clear and understandable vision of the learning target.
- It will guide instructors to shape assignments to develop the target skills and concepts that students find most challenging.
- Instructors will identify what activities engage students most productively.
- 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 or see if this Commons download works better for you.
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:
- Allows students to reflect on course goals and individual progress,
- Informs the instructor about what is working and not working in the course, and
- 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 services to discover students' concerns before it's too late and keep results confidential. Get inspired from 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 UC Merced Faculty
Here, we provide a series of examples of how UC Merced instructors have solicited 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 |
PHYS 008 (abridged version) |
||
| School of Engineering | ME 021 |
