Instruction begins when you, the teacher, learn from the learner; put yourself in his place so that you may understand … what he learns and the way he understands it.
Soren Kierkegaard

Don't wait until the end of the semester to ask your students about their course experiences. Early semester feedback is a way for you to learn more about your students and your teaching methods and make changes to your course to better support you student learning.

How does it work?

After you sign up, a member of the CTL staff will set up the survey for your class. When your students complete the survey, we will help you interpret the survey results and decide how to best respond to your students' needs. Sometimes your response might include making a change to an aspect of the course. Sometimes your response might be a conversation with your students, helping them understand the rationale behind your design of the course. Early-semester feedback is confidential, anonymous, and provides a way to assess and be responsive to students' needs while the semester is in progress.

What are the benefits?

Early-semester feedback can help you manage your classroom and enhance student learning. The survey results can help you understand what is working well in the course and what might be improved. One advantage of this approach over the standard end-of-semester course evaluations is that early-semester feedback occurs early enough in the semester that you can make changes in the course right away and see their effect. Students respond positively when their comments result in changes to the course, leading to improved student attitudes about the class and/or instructor in the end-of-semester evaluations (Keutzer, 1993; Overall and Marsh, 1979).

Resources:

• NYIT faculty members' experiences using Early-Semester Feedback: Weekly Teaching Note: Early Semester Feedback: How is my Teaching

• Weekly Teaching Note: Get Early Semester Feedback From Your Students