Student feedback can help me re-focus or re-organize my thoughts and teaching modalities to taylor the needs of the student learner. This allows for continuous education to the instructor in meeting the goals and objectives of each individual learner.
I feel like my students appreciate the time I spend reviewing projects/tests/papers with them and going over my feedback. I like to take the time to discuss my comments with them so we can work out solutions for any problems they have experienced and I also get the chance to praise them for the work that they did a great job on! I make sure they always leave understanding exactly how their grade was calculated and, if needed, suggestions for improvement that should work for them specifically.
This can be another form of instructor refocus as well. Student Feedback can help instructors try new directions and reignite their love for what they do.
Hi Kerry,
Good point about the value of immediate feedback to students. It is a very effective teaching and learning tool for everyone. Quick feedback helps to keep the students moving forward toward their career goal.
Gary
I am a stickler for grading homework,quizzes and tests immediately after they are taken. I want to know how my students did. And, I want to know how I did. If their scores are poor, than maybe I did not do as good a job as I thought I did. Maybe I could have and should have used a different approach or another approach in addition to the one I used. I can remember some of my instructors handing back tests a week or two after we took the test. By then, we had moved on to other topics and the test material was no longer fresh in our minds. With immediate feedback, we see our mistakes quickly and learn more from them.
Hi Jennifer,
Good point about student feedback. If collected in a way that illustrates how improvements can be made or different directions taken instructors can adapt their courses so the students will benefit from the feedback while they are still enrolled in the course.
Gary
Student feedback allows for the instructor to have the students assess the course in an effective manner. I utilize student feedback during the quarter and at the end of the quarter. This way I know if the tests or the projects that I gave may have been too time consuming and/or too stressful on the students. I also ask them what things they would change or improve and what they found was most effective about the class. I usually find that the students love the enthusiasm and the real life scenarios. It helps them relate to the material. I think that all instructors should be asking for student feedback on a constant basis. It forces them to evaluate their teaching from the students perspective.
Student feedback helps me keep my focus on my students by enabling me to look at the material in a fresh way, from their perspective. With that knowledge I am able to make necessary adjustments.
Feedback can keep an instructor grounded if they take it seriously. A lot of the time students are to intimidated to criticize the instructor in person and will take the opportunity to do it anonymously on paper. The instructor can use this information to see where their faults may lie and work to correct them.
Clear and focused feedback shows the students you care and are interested in their progress. If you add in a personal comment or two it will make a big difference in how the students feel about the course.
To identify where I can improve as an instructor and develop a curriculum that will meet their needs.
Hi Lisa,
This is a very good point and one that I think is missed with the formal evaluations that are done at the end of the course. I have found that the valuable feedback comes from ongoing input from students throughout the course. This way I can take the feedback and make it a useful way to make adjustments in the course while the students giving feedback are still in it.
Gary
Student feedback helps you identify your strengths and weaknesses as an instructor. When I receive positive feedback it helps to energize me and I want to continue to do well. When I receive any negative criticism, I want to work to improve. Student feedback always reminds me that in the end student perceptions and results take precedence over my perceptions and intentions as the instructor.
Allow students opportunities for providing anonymous feedback. Focus the questions and encourage the students to focus their responses on behaviors and processes, not your personality.
Focus on using the data for improvement.
Reinforce mutual feedback by thanking students for their input. Reassure students that their feedback will not impact their grades.
In order for feedback to be useful, it should tell you something you did not know, be of value so you want to improve, and indicate to you how to improve.
It can help me keep focus by being able to review maybe a weakness and get an outside perspective on your own teaching.
Hi Bronwen,
Good way to make student feedback a part of the growth process. You are expanding your expertise as an instructor through listening to what your students are saying. This is a mark of a dedicated instructor. Keep up the good work.
Gary
I have found if I ask questions about how they feel the class is going I find out what already know, what they don't know, and what they feel is most important, I can redirect the class a little to address their needs and wants. Every class is a little different.
After presenting the material over and over, getting student feedback helps me to refocus my teaching methods and tells me where I need to spend more time or less time. While each group is different, some principals will always be the same while others need to be overhauled on a continuous basis.
Listening to the student's can help you teach. If you hear the same ideas from different students then this is something that they believe will not only help them but something that you may be missing that other instructors do.
