I beleive I answered this? Fedback is great because it allows use to see what the student thinks about the class and the instructor. With this information we can then make adjustments to the syllaus and teaching methods so that we can be more effective and efficient. It goes to best practices and bettering ourselves as instructors.
Gathering feedback from students can be a great way to get a glimpse into how they are experiencing a course—what is working and what is not working for them—and, thus, how to make the course better.
Student Feedback is great becuse it allows you to take their information to evaluate yourself and your learning style or behavior in class. By using this information we can become a better instructor and our success rate and retention rate increases.
Student feedback can help me to ensure that I am motivating my students. If there is enough feedback indicating that I am not, I will need to make some changes, such as those listed in this module. I like the acronym REFOCUS a lot:
Recognize
Empower
Focus
Objectivize
Commit
Unburden
Surprise
Student feedback always reminds me to always listen to the students. The students are why we are here as teachers.
By listening to each student I can get a better understanding as to where each of them are at. I can then asses how to better direct the classroom instruction and give a better education.
Student feedback gives you an insight of how your class runs from their point of view.
Hi Trisha,
Good way to continually expand your professional expertise. This is a way to help students become effective and efficient learners while you are developing professionally.
Gary
I used student feedback in he theory of "two". If I get a comment (positive or negative) more than twice, than I need to continue my behavior or change. Some students either just really like you or really don't right from the start. Those students have to be taken with a grain of salt. But, if you get the same message more than once, it is time to listen. Ihave found that if I take the student's feedback, I can actually make my own life easier by anticipating their needs. I have create FAQ sheets and different handouts to create better learning experiences.
I think it balances out - the squeaky wheel and the student that adores your class - my problem is getting the ones in the middle to respond to the surveys.
Hi Catherine,
You make a good point about feedback and how we internalize it. We need to look for the ways we can bring a different delivery method to the classroom and engage higher order learning from out students and the feedback we get the better we will get at it.
Gary
I agree with many of the other posts, receiving negative feedback is a difficult process, but I don't believe we went into the education field expecting to always hear praise. This aspect as been the most difficult area are have worked on and I have worked hard on developing a thicker skin to hear the feedback that is necessary for me to be a better instructor. How many times have you taught a lesson that you may have believed went well, with the feedback from students you discover what did not from their perspective
Hello,
Student feedback is important because it evaluates the class, the instructor, and process improvements for future classes.
Hi Sir Roy,
What are the ways you collect feedback from your students so you can modify your course as needed?
Gary
By having feedback from students you can slightly modify the course to please them while giving them the knowlegge that they need.It has to be fun for the student in order to get retention of material, and the best way to know how to make it fun is through their feedback.
Students who want to improve are those who seek increased feedback (Tuckey et al, 2002). Negative feedback, however, is in direct conflict with a student’s self-esteem or ego defense (Levy et al., 1995; Northcraft & Ashford, 1990). Compliments and encouraging remarks should accompany critical feedback. The tone and attitude with which feedback is delivered can enhance one’s self-esteem as seen from the response of a surveyed student:
• Thank you so much for all your comments. In the past, I thought that making mistakes meant that I was stupid, but I have learned better. There is no question that your comments, especially the first week, helped in pushing me to work a bit harder. I did learn a lot from this class.
Faculty members who choose to set-aside student deficiencies are short-changing the student making it difficult for future facilitators to reconcile these deficiencies. AIU Online faculty members need to work as a team in providing students with consistency. The quality of the graduates reflects the quality of the teaching.
• I was so depressed with my grade, I wanted to drop out of school, but then I read your comments. I wanted to thank you for your encouraging and complimentary words. I don’t believe you can imagine how much your more than kind words have meant to me! I think you’re a great professor and have definitely made my new endeavor more than worthwhile. I will not let you down. NO!! Correction—I will not let ME down.
Faculty members who forsake accurate grading for higher evaluations should not be handling a course. One can award an earned low grade coupled with constructive comments and still maintain the respect of the student while actually helping the student learn.
Understanding where your students "are" in class helps you move them to where they need to be. Through student feedback you can determine where the student's understanding of the topics are strong and where they are weak thus changing your course instruction to fit the need.
The only way to know if the students are "getting" what we are offering, is to get student feedback. This can be on tests, questions in class, or conversations with the students before or after class. What is the sense of plodding on if the students are a mile behind you?
Well, when they provide constructive feedback (assuming they are not trying to be mean or ugly), then it really does help. For example, they may say that I talk too fast during lecture. That lets me know that I should slow down or provide class notes for them to follow along. I think I have improved a lot of things because of students' feedbacks.
Hi Mike,
This is a great way to get a read on the course. In addition, I am sure it helps you with developing rapport with your students. These informal types of chats help the students to see that they are valued as contributors to development of the class.
Gary
