Throughout my entire college career, only two teachers have ever voluntarily asked for my feedback regarding their class. Sure, we have mandatory student rating systems, but when was the last time you saw a student take a standardized survey seriously?
I don’t really feel like I should dive into the reasons about why you need your students feedback, I think that’s self-explanatory.
There’s something strange that goes on in a classroom with most teachers. Because of curriculum requirements and institutional restrictions, teaching becomes stale. Teachers repeat the same pattern over and over. Anything that takes the class away from the curriculum or the pattern almost seems taboo. When changes need to be made, they are rarely made until the next year or sometimes even further down the road.
Are teachers afraid? Perhaps unmotivated? I don’t think so. I believe that there is simply a lack of understanding between two generations.
I want to give a few suggestions. Not all of them are feasible in every situation. However, keep in mind that the purpose of getting feedback is two-fold: finding ways to improve and showing that you care. The latter is very important to students today.
What Should We Study Today?
It’s amazing what this simple question will do to a class. This is a much different question than, “Did anyone have any questions from the homework?” or “Any questions to start class off today?”. A typical problem with this approach in the past has been that of getting equal class representation. If you have at least one computer available in the classroom, try making use of PollEverywhere. You can have your students text in an open response to a question or have them choose from pre-defined options. With a lot of kids having access to cell-phones or computers, this is a great way to get everyone to speak up.
I once took a class that I thought would be the most boring class of my college career and turned out to be one of the best because the teacher employed this principle every class period. There was never a minute of pointless lecturing.
Mid-Semester Interviews
I don’t care if your class is 30 students or 3,000, you should be sitting down one-on-one with students and getting their feedback. Try splitting your class up into groups and having them discuss ways that the class or curriculum could be improved. Ask them to consider the things that they like about the class as well. Have one student from each group come to a meeting in your office or classroom. Have an open discussion. Don’t be afraid to take a little bit of constructive criticism.
After the Tests
After a test, students will have lots of questions. If you plan to have a cumulative learning experience, you need to make sure you flush out the misunderstood concepts the day after a test is administered. Try using the approach explained for “what should we study today?”. However you conduct the poll, have students give you feedback on two things: 1) how difficult/fair they thought the test was and 2) an open response about what they still don’t understand. Take the top three suggestions and spend a class period flushing them out.
Conclusion
I’m not suggesting that students always know what they want or what they are talking about. As mentioned before, getting feedback is not just about getting ideas, it’s even more about building trust.
QUESTION: What effective ways have you seen to get student feedback?
