Annie,
You are right. Student feedback (as well as peer feedback) helps us update our courses and make them better.
Thanks!
It sure is. Every term we think we have it perfect and then we find out that we don't. A lot of times it is the students that pick up on something--no matter how many times we look over it.
Hima,
That's right. Course revision is a big part of closing the loop. It's important to get feedback from students and continue to improve/update the course to help students learn better. Thanks!
Closing the loop for a course involves evaluation of students and instructors allowing for the improvement of the course. There are several types of evaluation that will help an instructor improve their course. I think that along with the course grades, question tools provide an insight into the difficulties students have encountered over the duration of the online course, which will help evaluate the course and close the loop.
Melissa,
But don't forget about formative assessments too. They help you determine if students are grasping the material or what you may need to spend more time on. Thanks!
In my opinion, the most productive feedback can be done by peer and student evaluations. Students will have no problem explaining in great detail what they found was lacking in the course. Fellow educators will also provide great feedback.
The course grades and Assignments would let me know how much the student retained and effort was made during the course.
Melissa
Claireann,
Me too. I love formative evauations. I do summative as well to help me and the students understand whether they met the learning outcomes of the course.
Nice job.
Andy,
The portfolio helps see how students have grown in their work, but many times is difficult to grade as different students grow at different rates and have different skills. Try a variety of evaluations.
Thanks!
I like the formative evaluations. I am not a fan of summative evaluations as student stress and anxiety levels are very high for this which directly effects their performance. I realize that summative evaluations are necessary so I try to review the main concepts of each topic the class before the exam.
I don't believe there is one answer to this question. I have our curriculum specialist look at my on-line for content, I ask for student feedback on graphics and technical tools; along with workload and consistency. I have other colleagues look over the grammar & spelling, and then of course I scour everything one last time before submitting the final product. Even with all of this feedback, I, and my students, still find things that could be improved. It is definitely an on-going process.
I think The Portfolio would give a better overall view of what the student recieved, which I think is the bottom line
William,
Peer evaluations are great. Students can provide great input as well. Thanks.
The online courses I have created are always perfect! Well….. In my mind’s eye. No matter how many times I review a course, I miss obvious mistakes. From spelling errors to test questions not covered in the material. After I am convinced my offering is error free I ask another Subject Matter Expert to review it for content and I ask an English major to review it for grammar and spelling. During this process it is absolutely necessary to “Check my ego at the door!†After these two get filleting me, it’s time to offer the course to a student. The student feedback is then considered for revision and corrections.
Glenn,
Nice job. Keep up the good work.
Michael,
Several evaluations, as you noted, can be used to help us implement changes in our courses. It is great to learn from others. Thank you.
I use three very important forms for assessment that engage the student.
1. I ask students for feedback. I provide contact information to be called for situations and proactively reinforce the aspect to encourage students to call me. When engaged with helping a student, I listen for how the student is thinking and engage with suggestions and questions to motivate critical thinking for the students reality. Â
2. I tactfully remind students that are not engaging with socratic dialogue to include a new subject question in the response when the subject question is not added. Gentle reminders provide guidance to support a student's learning structure.
3. I engage with CATS through using questions that provide me with feedback that indicates the student is engaging through critical thinking versus just doing something to get it done.
The types of evaluation that I prefer are:
1) Peer observations and and review of course materials .
2) Student evaluations
3) Question tools, such as quizzes or one minute papers - used throughout the course.
My peers, being teaching professionals, each will have a set of skills, knowledge and insights to draw upon when they review my teaching methods, and classroom materials. I value their input.
Although they usually don't have the depth and breadth of teaching professionals, student's know how they themselveslearn. Their evaluations are therefore useful in giving me information about how I can best present the information to them.
The question tools allow me a means of assessing how well the students are learning throughout the course. So, if any revisions need to be made during the course, I can make those adjustments.
Kathleen,
I like that you noted both quantitative and qualitative feedback in your forum response. The both are appropriate and help students and you as the instructor,
The type of evaluation that I think provides the most comprehensive feedback to close the loop is student grades/performance and self-evaluation. These two types of evaluations help provide quantitative and qualitative feedback.
