Mahmoud,
Closing that loop can take much feedback at times. Keep getting feedback from a variety of sources. Thanks for you input.
Eman,
It is a continuous process. The more feedback we get from others, the more points of view we can investigate and make changes accordingly. Nice job.
Eryn,
You are so right. A good example can go a long way. Continue to be a good role model for your students. Thanks again for your input.
James,
We all do make mistakes. We do have to keep that in mind and keep in mind that we need to help our students learn from their mistakes. Thanks for your input.
Michael,
Good point. The more time that passes between the event and the assessment, the more we may forget to discuss/evaluate. Thanks for your input.
our students are our customers/clients; our peers help us understand & share great information for improvement; our employers of students: the market-place must be consulted frequently to keep us connected with reality.
I always use student grades and students feedback or course evaluation to allow me to close the loop in my courses.
Closing the loop requires multiple evaluations and multiple inputs from my students, my institution, and teaching and professional community. As, closing the loop links planning for the course with assessment and it allows for changes to take place, so that it enables me to make continuous changes to improve my online course. I believe that course grades, syllabus revision, student evaluations of the course, peer review of course materials and self-evaluation are the most comprehensive feedback that would allow me to close the loop to achieve my ultimate goal of improving my course and driving the academic learning process.
Eman
I think that providing feedback to students is extremely important. If a student does not understand written feedback, a quick phone call goes a long way. Sometimes re-writing a small paragraph for a student to show them how it should be written can be very helpful
I think it's important to remember that everyone makes mistakes, and it's not always easy to point out your own flaws or shortcomings. I think it's important for peer review in order to develop a true continuity between what you think you're saying and what is being heard.
While any evaluation is always helpful I do find that immediate feedback from students, even during the presentation seems to be one of the most helpful to me.. Often that can be lost if not allowed to take place. Students may forget, have second thoughts or just accept it which means we have lost an opportunity to improve the learning experience.
Kurt,
Being anonymous does help. You can also do formative evaluation along the way and make them anonymous as well.
Thanks!
Don,
Like your mid-way approach. Meaningful feedback is the key. Thanks for sharing your ideas.
If it is possible, interviews can provide a significant amount of information, but surveys tend to be even better because the responses can be anonymous and the questions can be tailored to provide the specific kinds of information necessary for course evaluation and improvement.
Kurt
Student evaluations would help to close the loop. A possible approach would be a form that first allows the professor to rate the individual students oerformance mid-way through the term. This provides the student with meaningful feedback, included on this form which becomes part of the student record is a section for the student to rate the professor, textbook, etc. This way mid term improvements can be addresssed. Both the student and instructor sign off on the form when agreement is reached during a short individual meeting lasting a minimum of fifteen minutes not to exceed a 1/2 hour.
Constant and evaluation seem to go hand in hand. Thanks for continuing the process and making your course better each time.
Thanks again.
Since evaluation is an ongoing process, I am constantly evaluating my course and having others evaluate it. I consider student feedback but also ask my peers to provide feedback. It is important not to have too much ownership of a course to the point you will not make changes based on feedback. Empower the students to share the ownership and charge them with providing feedback. Again, this is constantly ongoing with me and keeps me from taking recommendations "personal" and unwilling to change.
Sheila,
Right. It's just one way. There are so many other methods of evaluations and we need to take advantage of several different types including formative and summative evalutions. Thanks for your input.
Kenneth,
Good approach. You're using a variety of tools to assess students in different ways. You'll get a lot more information this way.
Thanks for your input.
A comprehensive list of evaluations must be used. Too often I have seen a new teacher devastated over student evaluations. I always tell him/her that this is only one evaluation tool. The most important evaluation is determining if students learned what they needed to build thier knowledge base of the topic.
