Getting feedback from my students really helps me to focus on ways to improve their learning experience and my teaching methods. It gives me the opportunity to take a look at what i'm doing and make changes if necessary for the benefit of student success.
Ideally, student feedback helps instructors identify areas of improvement, which we can then work on. But, many times students use these opportunities to vent over bad grades, and rather than providing constructive criticism it simply becomes a complaint tool.
I regularly ask for feedback and poll students for new ideas to stimulate learning. Typically, I receive some good ideas, but it can also be challenging at times to try to stimulate learning in a virtual environment.
Hi Randall,
Thanks for sharing this story with us. This is an example of the impact we have on the lives of our students. You know they they value your teaching by virtue of this former student calling you for advice. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Just today I received a phone call from a former student that wanted help working through a problem at his job. During this conversation he gave me feedback on my teaching and helped me to return focus and energy to my class and teaching.
Hi Jammie,
I admire you for your willingness to benefit from student feedback through instructional improvement in spite of the pressure the faculty faces with the incentive bonuses. I know this makes it hard to be creative and try new things with students because you don't know how they will turn out until after you have tried them. Keep up your effort to be an effective instructor because this is reflective of your dedication and professionalism as an educator.
Gary
I believe student feedback is important because sometimes its easier for other students to explain where there is confusion. I encourage student feedback as it helps me to reorganize and restructure lectures if the class is missing or not understanding a point.
Student feedback is a big issue for the instructors at the school where I teach. Our class schedules and incentive bonuses are contingent on it, so some feel obligated to be more lenient with their grading practices.
I, however, do request regular feedback from students, encouraging them to let me know what they didn't like, as well as what they found helpful. I let them know that the information that they give me will be used to improve my proficiencies and the overall classroom environment. I've used this feedback to create examples of assignments, improve my live chats, create handouts for assignments, post announcements for learning labs and other activities, and many other things.
I learned that more was important to the students than my teaching ability and it can be distracting. As the years went by and the house became more like a town house the clothes became more attractive. Then I was getting comments about my legs. So I realized I had to stop wearing skirts to class even though they were appropriate length. Especially since I teach a computer course and I spend some days crawling around the floor fixing connections, etc. :-)
Hi Stacy,
Spoken like a true mature instructor. You can incorporate all kinds of feedback and benefit from it.
I do have a mental image of a house wearing clothes but that's another story for another time. Glad to see you have a sense of humor.
Gary
Student feedback is a gift. It allows the instructor to assess both where the students are in their learning and where they are as instructors. Through the student comments you can ascertain how much of the course contet they retain. The anonimity of the feedback also allows them to tell you how you are doing.
You are right that you need to find out why they are angry. They may take that anger into the next class and the next instructor and then it can spiral out of control. I had to contact an adviser and have them intervene with a really angry student. I started to get angry back and it became a heated online conversation. Once I realized it was heading for disaster I realized I was out of my league. Once the adviser talked to them and helped them understand the situation the anger went away and the student was able to refocus and finish the class. Now their ending feedback was still not great, but it could have been WAY worse.
I used to dread reading the bad feedback as I would be hurt by it early in my career, but as I have learned you can not please everyone and many times bad feedback is a result of lack of communication. So I now ask for feedback so I can make adjustments as necessary and many times I use student feedback to develop part of the course as it is going on. I have found that some activities that I thought the students would love they hated and vice versa. So as the years progress I digest all of the feedback good and bad and try to incorporate it into future classes. Each class is different so it is important to continually get feedback each class so that you don't make assumptions.
My favorite negative feedback:
"She wears weird clothes" (I was 7 months pregnant when the class began and by the end was as big as a house. It is really hard to dress a house)
Student feedback from the standpoint of the student is necessary in order to ensure that not only that the material is well understood but that the students begin to see how the instruction is relevant to their career goals.
From the standpoint of the instructor, feedback is important to ensure connection and rapport of the instructor and each student and of the students to each other. When the instructor gets this feedback, he or she can continue or alter the course is delivered to ensure that the material is effectively presented to each member of the class.
By getting feedback from students, the instructor will be able to understand how their teaching method is coming across to the students. It will allow the instructor to adjust to the students' needs in order for them to fully understand the materials being presented.
My incorporating their learning styles and recognizing their issues. It also reminds teachers that the learning process if collaborative and thei feedback helps us best tailor our lesson plans and the pace of the course to them.
I've really enjoyed getting the feedback so far for my classes. It really gives me the opportunity to see where I need to improve and where I may need to change things up in my classes. It's been nice to see what the students think of my "work" - Especially when they write the positive comments of aspects that I may have been unsure about in incorporating it in class.
Christopher,
I find that it is very important to get feedback in all courses, but particularly in quantitative course types early on. I feel that feedback early on helps to make sure that everyone is on board with understanding the basics or topics in the beginning of the course that build toward more complicated concepts.
Feedback helps me to keep focus on my students because it gives insight into my method of teaching. Students are my audience. Feedback is effective for helping me to make improvements on my method(s) of delivering course materials and assignments. For instance, there may be a particular assignment/assessment that I feel is effective and enjoyable, but students may not feel the same way. Feedback will give me a better understanding of how I can redesign the assignment, so that it is more effective for student learning, understanding and retention.
I think it's a great way to find out how well the students are learning and understanding the information. I think it also gives the students the opportunity to express how the instructor is doing as a facilatator and an educator.
Student feedback provides important information that will give the instructor insight as to how students learn best and how the students are perceiving course instruction. Based on the feedback from students, instructors may decide to extend an assignment, adjust a course topic, and/or plan an alternative assignment that may serve the student's needs more effectively.
