Mid-Course Feedback
Collecting feedback from students about halfway through the semester allows instructors to gain insightful, actionable information about how their course is going. Mid-course feedback allows instructors to learn what aspects of the course are working well for their students and identify any issues that can be addressed without having to wait until end-of-semester feedback.
If you would like to collect mid-course feedback from your students, please feel free to copy and edit this survey to do so.
Mid-Course Feedback Survey Template.
Some benefits of mid-course feedback include:
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Improving student inclusion and belonging: Collecting mid-course feedback demonstrates to your students that you care about listening to their perspectives. To ensure that students feel heard, it can often be helpful to discuss the feedback with your students after you collect it. When you do so, try to discuss with them which changes you can make in response to their feedback, which changes you cannot make, and why. Knowing that their feedback is taken seriously can increase students' sense of belonging and motivation.
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Identifying and Addressing Minor Issues: By understanding student experience of a course in real-time, faculty can proactively address concerns related to course content, pacing, instructional methods, or materials. This can help mitigate the frustration of receiving end-of-semester feedback that includes descriptions of student issues you could have fixed earlier had you known about them.
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Enhancing the Learning Experience: Giving students the opportunity to reflect on what is working well for them and what could be improved gives them the opportunity to critically reflect on their learning in the course and to develop their metacognitive awareness of their learning.
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Promoting a Collaborative Classroom: Demonstrating openness to feedback fosters a culture of mutual respect and collaboration, encouraging students to take an active role in their learning journey. It also models the collaborative behavior you want your students to adopt in their projects.
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Contribute to Course Improvement: Constructive feedback can lead to small, immediate course enhancements, ultimately making the learning environment more effective for everyone. It can also inspire large changes you may want to make to the course in future semesters.
Responding to Mid-course Feedback
Among the most important aspects of mid-course feedback is how teachers respond to it. Summarize for your students what you learned from their feedback and identify any changes you’ll make to enhance their learning. Here are some guidelines for responding to midcourse feedback.
CTL staff are available to discuss your students' feedback and your response to it in confidence. Please sign up here for a confidential consultation.
Continuous Improvement
Collecting and acting on mid-semester feedback is a step towards continuous improvement in teaching and learning. By fostering a responsive and adaptive educational environment, both faculty and students can work together to achieve academic success and personal growth.
If you have any questions or need assistance with designing and implementing your mid-semester feedback process, please don't hesitate to contact the Center for Teaching and Learning.