Harnessing Student Feedback
Harnessing Student Feedback for Development
Student feedback can be broadly categorized as summative or formative. Summative feedback, such as RIT’s Student Evaluation of Teaching Effectiveness (SRATE), is gathered at the conclusion of a course. It benefits instructors by informing future teaching improvements and, indirectly, future students who take the course.
The goal of formative feedback is to help the instructor improve teaching and learning in real time. It offers timely insights into students' experiences, providing targeted, actionable suggestions regarding what aspects of the course are facilitating or impeding learning. Formative feedback ensures that instructors can adapt their approaches while the course is still underway.
How to Collect Formative Student Feedback
Feedback for learning and improvement can be easy to gather. Here are some ways to collect timely, formative student feedback:
In these end-of-class activities, students write a paragraph or two responding to a prompt that captures their current understanding of classwork. The process can quickly gauge student comprehension or confusion, allowing both for student self-assessment and instructional adjustments.
How to collect feedback:
- Provide 1-5 minutes for students to respond in writing on paper or in a digital tool (e.g., myCourses Assignment or Discussion)
- Ask students, "What was the clearest concept discussed today?” or "What remains confusing after today's lesson?"
- Identify and summarize common themes from student responses.
- Address prevalent misunderstandings or reinforce successful concepts at the start of the next class.
An entry/exit ticket is a short, written response to a prompt collected before beginning or ending a topic or class session, using paper or a digital platform (e.g., myCourses Quiz or Google doc). They can quickly assess student expectations or reflections on your teaching and their learning.
How to collect feedback:
- Entry ticket prompt: "What do you hope to learn in this class?"
- Exit ticket prompt: "What's one new thing you learned today’s activity, and what's one question you still have?"
- Regularly collect and review responses.
- Briefly discuss recurring themes or questions during the current class or next class session.
A real-time digital polling tool (e.g., Poll Everywhere) captures and shares student responses with the whole class, enhancing classroom engagement and allowing immediate clarification or confirmation of learning.
How to collect feedback:
- Use scale-based polls, e.g., "How comfortable do you feel applying today’s material?"
- Conduct multiple-choice polls, e.g., "Which topic should we revisit next class?"
- Instantly share and discuss poll results to guide immediate classroom interactions and instructional support.
Conducting an early- to mid-semester student feedback survey can be a valuable technique that will enable you to:
- Get ideas for ways to improve your teaching and students’ learning—at a time in the semester when it is still possible to make changes.
- Provide students with a chance to reflect upon what they are learning, and for you to clarify any misunderstandings they might have.
- Show students that you value their input, which can motivate them to engage more deeply in your course.
How to collect feedback:
- Explain the survey’s purpose and benefits early in the semester, particularly how it compares to the end-of-semester SRATE survey.
- Design and build the survey. While some situations may call for multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions like “What’s helping your learning in the class?” are effective. Choose a survey platform, typically Qualtrics, Google Forms, or paper.
- Consider the affordances of scheduling the survey in class and/or online. Decide when to give the survey (after the first major deliverable, for example) yet still early enough to adjust.
- Analyze the survey findings by grouping comments into themes, then sort the findings into those you can change this semester, those that must wait until next time, and those that for various reasons either cannot or will not change.
- Devote class time to share your interpretations and actions with your students. Highlight what is working well, clarify your rationale for using certain teaching strategies, and affirm the upcoming learning opportunities.
In RIT’s SRATE system, up to 10 college and faculty-specific questions can be included along the default, institution-wide set of questions. Depending on your college and situation, you might be able to add several targeted, reflective questions to gather deeper qualitative insights into your course's effectiveness and areas for improvement.
How to collect feedback:
- Evaluation question: "What are the 2-3 most important things you learned in this course?" or "What suggestions do you have for improving student interaction and engagement?"
- Clearly communicate to students how their responses directly inform future course improvements. For instance, if you've tried a new teaching tool or strategy, specifically ask students to comment on its effectiveness.
- Reinforce your request verbally in class and through course announcements or online platforms to remind students of its importance.
- Review and consider responses when planning subsequent course iterations.