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Feedback (Teaching Refinements, Teaching Observations, and DIY feedback)

We have three services that you may be interested in if you want to collect feedback on your teaching (before the end of term student evaluations). These services are intended to be developmental opportunities to inform your own teaching development and enhance your learners’ experience.

Teaching Refinements 

A  Teaching Refinement is open to course instructors and is an opportunity to have a member of the MacPherson Institute help you collect feedback from students mid-way through a course. This process can be implemented for in person and virtual (synchronous online) courses.   

A Teaching Refinement typically involves three components:  

  1. An initial meeting  with you to discuss your experience teaching the course thus far, and to identify specific areas for student feedback (e.g., a particular aspect of the course or a particular teaching technique you’ve used in your teaching).   
  2. An in-class visit where members of the MacPherson Institute facilitate an in-class discussion with your students, typically during the first 15-20 minutes of your class time.   
    1. We will ask that you introduce us to your students and then step out of the room to ensure student anonymity and encourage honest, constructive feedback from your students.   
    2. During this facilitated discussion, we will collect student feedback regarding what is working well in the course, what isn’t working as well, and suggestions for improving the course, in addition to asking the specific questions you identify in our initial meeting.   
  3. A debrief meeting  with you to share major themes identified in students’ feedback/comments, outlined in a brief report, and discuss ideas for enhancing the student learning experience during the second half of your course. 

To apply for a Teaching Refinement, please request one via the MacPherson Institute Request Form.   

Teaching Observations 

A Teaching Observation is open to course instructors and teaching assistants (TAs) and is an opportunity to receive feedback from a member of the MacPherson Institute on your teaching. This process can be implemented for in person and virtual (synchronous) or online (asynchronous) courses.   

A Teaching Observation entails having an initial meeting with you to discuss and identify your goals for the observation. For instance, you might be interested in feedback on your engagement strategies, presentation style, content organization, or integration of educational technologies. We then (a) attend your class if offered synchronously or face-to-face, or (b) review your teaching materials (including, but not limited to, your course site if you are an instructor, or your lesson plan if you are a TA). We record our feedback and then meet with you again to share our observations, make suggestions, and discuss your ideas regarding the next steps you’d like to take with your teaching.   

A Teaching Observation typically includes the following three components:  

  1. An initial meeting  with you to discuss and identify your goals for the observation. For instance, you might be interested in feedback on your engagement strategies, presentation style, content organization, or integration of educational technologies.   
  2. We then either:  
    1. Attend  your class if offered synchronously or in person, or  
    2. Review  your teaching materials (including, but not limited to, your course site if you are an instructor, or your lesson plan if you are a TA).   
  3. A debrief meeting with you to share our observations, make suggestions, and discuss your ideas regarding the next steps you’d like to take with your teaching. 

To begin your Teaching Observation, please request one via the MacPherson Institute Request Form.  

DIY Feedback 

DIY Feedback is an opportunity for you to be in the driver’s seat of a feedback process that works best for your context.  

Should you wish to collect student feedback on your teaching in your own, You can utilize our step-by-step guides on collecting feedback on your teaching and editable mid-term feedback survey templates available via the Learning Object Repository in Avenue to Learn or Microsoft Forms. Please remember that you are always welcome to reach out to a member of the MacPherson Institute, such as your MacPherson Institute Faculty Key Contact, should you wish to debrief your students’ feedback and discuss your next steps.  

Should you wish to work with a peer so they can provide you with feedback on your teaching, the Peer Observations of Teaching Guidebook would be a valuable resource. The guidebook outlines a collaborative approach to observations of teaching that can be used formatively to support instructional activities, improve teaching practices, foster collegiality, and collect evidence of professional development in teaching through peer-based review. It outlines a self-directed process with attending checklists, appendices, and resources to support peer observations of teaching for all educators at McMaster. The guidebook was created with the intention that any set or group of instructors interested in participating or supporting peers with formative teaching observations can be provided with the guidance and resources necessary to do so, extending to faculty, sessional faculty, teaching assistants, and instructional staff.