Overview
Greetings, and welcome to our workshop on Collecting Feedback on your Teaching!
In this workshop, we will begin by outlining the specifics of collecting feedback on your teaching. We will discuss when and how you should go about collecting feedback, along with the challenges and benefits of collecting feedback on your teaching. Then, we will consider the strengths and weaknesses of collecting feedback in person and online, and we will consider different strategies to use when collecting feedback. Then, you will create your own feedback survey to administer to students.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this workshop, you should be able to:
- Appreciate the value of collecting student feedback
- Consider various collection techniques for collecting student feedback
- Develop a strategy to collect midterm student feedback
Collecting Feedback on your Teaching: What, Why, and When
To get started, we explore the difference between formative and summative feedback. We will also consider general considerations for why an instructor may want to collect student feedback, when may be best to do so, and benefits and challenges.
Reflection:
Before proceeding with the workshop, take a few minutes to reflect on the following questions.
- Why should you collect feedback on your course and teaching?
- When do you collect feedback on your teaching?
- Does the feedback you’ve received in the past meet your needs?
Feel free to think about these questions more broadly, as well as how they relate to your personal teaching practice. As you continue through the module, consider how your reflections on these questions align or conflict with the advice and evidence shared throughout this workshop.
Please review the following video that covers types of feedback, why and when to collect feedback, and considerations for collecting feedback based in evidence.
The Feedback Process: In-Person and Online
In this section, you can click through the slideshow below to review the process for collecting midterm feedback from students, and the benefits and drawbacks of collecting feedback in person and online.
Collecting Feedback In Person and Online
Now that the process of collecting feedback has been outlined, click the accoridan dropdowns below to review different techniques you can use to collect feedback.
Putting it into Practice: Creating your own Feedback Survey
Now it’s time for you to begin designing your own feedback tool! Follow the instructions shared here to get prepare and get ready for your own feedback process.
Activity:
Now that you’ve had a chance to reflect on the value of collecting student feedback, consider the recommended process for doing so, and review various strategies and approaches for implementing a feedback process, it’s time to begin drafting your own feedback tool. Aim to carve out 20-30 minutes for this activity.
Review Questions: First, spend a few minutes reading through the file Template – Example Feedback Questions from Various Universities (note: that file was linked above in the The Feedback Process module).Consider the questions you see used by various Universities in that file and highlight or make note of any questions you feel would be effective for your specific teaching context. You’re also welcomed to do an internet search to look up other feedback survey questions if you’d like.
Select Questions: Then, after you’ve finished reading and considering various questions, decide on the ones you wish to include in your feedback tool. Be mindful that the more questions you include, the longer it will take students to fill out, and the longer it will take you to read all the survey responses you receive!If you feel that your list of questions may be too long, one way to figure out which ones to cut is to consider whether there are any questions that may elicit similar answers. You may also need to ask yourself what is most important thing or things you wish to know.
Build the Tool: Next, draft your feedback survey: create the tool (ex. Microsoft Forms, Google Forms, Menti poll, paper, or other!) and input the questions you will ask. Ensure your settings are set such that responses to the survey will be anonymous.
Finalize your Plan: Your last step is to consider the logistical elements of this process. How long will you make the survey available for? When will you introduce it to the class, and how (for example, at the beginning of your next class, or asynchronously via an email or announcement?)? When will you carve out time to read and reflect on the responses? And when and how will you follow up with students about what you’ve learned and what they can expect with the remainder of the course?
In this workshop, you reviewed when and why to collect feedback on your teaching, the challenges and benefits of collecting feedback on your teaching, the strengths and weaknesses of collecting feedback in person and online, different strategies for collecting feedback on your teaching, and you created your own feedback survey to administer to students either in person or online.
By the end of this workshop, you should be able to:
- Appreciate the value of collecting student feedback
- Consider various collection techniques for collecting student feedback
- Develop a strategy to collect midterm student feedback
After completing this workshop, we also encourage you to:
- Implement a feedback collection technique in your course
- Reflect on student feedback
- Address feedback with small changes to your course and/or teaching
- Use the advice shared throughout the workshop to guide you through these steps, and don’t forget you can contact us if you’d like to connect (details for how to get in contact come later in this module!).
Reflection
Thank you for taking the time to complete this workshop on collecting feedback on your teaching. We hope that you have come to appreciate the benefits of collecting feedback on your teaching. To reflect on your learning, please consider the following questions:
- My plan for collecting student feedback for [enter course code here] is [enter plan details here]. I plan to collect student feedback by [enter the date by which you would like to receive feedback here].
- What did I learn from the feedback I collected?
- What am I going to change in my teaching of this course?
Want Help? Reach Out!
Please consider answering these questions and sending them to yourself at a future date, perhaps by the date you indicate in your answer to the first question. You can submit your reflection through https://www.futureme.org/.
Collecting, reflecting on, and debriefing student feedback can be a very personal and, occasionally, an emotional process. If you would like assistance with the design of your process, talking through the comments you’ve received, or discussing ways you might address the feedback with your course design or teaching approaches, please feel welcomed to reach out to the MacPherson Institute!
To request a consultation with someone from the MacPherson Institute, please visit our website (mi.mcmaster.ca) and fill out our Request Support form. This is the most efficient way to get connected with an available Educational Developer.