Hi Jenni,
You make a good point about how to react to student feedback. Both positive and negative can help us to become better instructors. We need to take both and look at how the input can be used in course planning and student involvement.
Gary
Gettng regular feedback can help you know what the gaps are in the understanding of the course material. Waiting until the final exam is too late!
Positive student feedback is always validating, but the negative feedback helps me to grow and change and adapt specifics of my teaching and improve.
Students actions and reactions are my "barometer" to being effective and "on target" to meeting the course expectations and the students needs. They are the "receivers" and we are the "providers"....if we don't do our job to the best of our ability---everyone loses.
Student feedback is important to the class because it allows the instructor to know where the student is coming from and their thoughts.
Student feedback is very important to an instructor if he/she cares about their class and how they want to be seen by the students. Your reputation precedes you before you even step into the class. Students know who you are by word of mouth. IE “this guy is a hard grader and nobody gets an A” or “this guy lets you get away with murder” or even “this other instructor is the best”. So it is important to reflect on the feedback. We must constantly work at what can I do better. Where are my weak areas and what are are my strengths? Work on these. Knowing this will allow it to all come together for the student experience to help the learning process.
Student feedback can be a healthy reality check. As instructors, we are sometimes heavily involved with planning, grading, and need to refocus on how just how our message is being received by our students.
Throughout the duration of the course, I try to make open feedback time availalble through class discussions, and make myself available for one on one time for individuals. Usually by the first quiz I can identify who might need more of my attention, but is not speaking up. I try to go to them instead, privately.
Our students are given the chance to assess both the class, and the instructor after the end of each term, it each instructor is asked to respond to the information.
In addition, I leave a section on the final exam asking the students what they liked best and least about the class; for suggestions. Many great ideas have come from this. I let incoming classes know how prior classes' suggestions have led to improvements.
Hi Patti,
How do you get feedback from your students so you know how to improve your class?
Gary
I ask my students to help me improve my class through their own recommendations.
It is their feedback what is going to give an instructor direction on how to improve class objectives and excersices
Hi Pat,
Good point about how we need to be on "watch" for the students and how they are "connected" to either the class or technology. Lets hope it is connected to the class but in many cases it is technology such as the ipod you mentioned.
Gary
Not only "teaching", has to be "learning"; can't tell that until too late once test taken or project completed. Feedback - verbal, sketch or other means - tells how we are doing and how the student reception is working. Sometimes it means looking for that little Ipod wire and asking for it to be disconnected until after lecture :-). pat j
Student feedback helps me to improve as an instructor.
That's true, Terry. We may be taking things for granted in class--like what students do or don't know already. We may be delivering in one method for one learning style. It helps to get feedback,
Hi Terry,
You make a good point. It is easy to settle into a rut and not be fresh with your content or presentation. By following your recommendation you will be able to keep excitement into your classes.
Gary
Student feedback is a good way to keep an instructor fresh. If we instruct a subject(s) too often we get into a certain rhythem that is counter-productive. We need to ask for feedback to see what we can do to improve our presentation of a subject. Even positive criticism can be good.
During a course, I ask students to let me know what they are getting and what they'd like to discuss/see/do to get a concept. I always want to know what works and what doesn't. When I get positive evaluations, I feel great. When I get negative ones, I have to consider that there may be something I need to work on to provide a better class. It's about providing a good learning experience, not about my ego.
It lets instructors know which topics to discuss futher or review. It also helps identify students that might need additional help.
feed back of any type will help the instructor learn also
One will be able to customize or replace certain topics in the lectures which might not appeal to the students.
