Feedback takes many forms. This week's Teach Talk webinar focused on the gathering of feedback from your students as well as colleagues, to enhance the overall learning experience. Sarah Prosory, Instructional Designer in the School of Life Sciences, shared different techniques that can be used to gather feedback, and why you should ask a colleague for feedback about your course.
There are many reasons to gather feedback from students, with a few being: checking for their understanding of a topic, generating ideas, and discovering concerns or issues so you can find a solution. Student engagement occurs as well, when students are asked about their learning. Adult learners especially like to feel they are a part of their learning. By asking them about teaching or classroom activities, students will feel more included in how the course continues. This leads to better engagement, and can create a feedback loop in which students can comfortably share how things are going with their learning. Instructors often are wondering: “how are the students doing, are they getting it?” and “do I need to change what I’m doing?” Creating a consistent practice of gathering feedback helps answer these questions.
Perhaps the most important enhancement to learning that comes from gathering feedback is, retrieval practice! As noted in the book, Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, "...reflection can involve several cognitive activities that lead to stronger learning." (Brown, Roediger, McDaniel, 2014). Gathering feedback in the form of asking questions, provides students an opportunity to reflect upon their learning, and engages the practice of information retrieval which leads to deeper learning.
One example given was a reflection statement, which was setup as a graded anonymous survey in Canvas. Students were asked to submit their reflections to that day's class within 24 hours. They shared what they learned or found interesting, what they found to be challenging, and suggestions for improvements. The instructor reviewed the anonymous statements prior to the next class. While this was submitted online, it was created for an in-person class.
Polls and surveys are a common technique used to gather quick feedback. Student response systems (clickers) can be used, as well as the survey quiz-type on the Canvas learning management system. Tips shared were to keep the questions brief and specific, with no more than 5 questions, and perhaps consider using a Likert scale, depending on the type of question asked.
Mid-semester feedback was also discussed, and encouraged because of the opportunity to make adjustments to your teaching or course design while there is still time left in the semester. Collecting the feedback, summarizing it, and sharing ways you plan to implement changes with your class are all great ways to enhance student engagement and give a boost to the rest of your semester together.
Enhance Learning
There are many reasons to gather feedback from students, with a few being: checking for their understanding of a topic, generating ideas, and discovering concerns or issues so you can find a solution. Student engagement occurs as well, when students are asked about their learning. Adult learners especially like to feel they are a part of their learning. By asking them about teaching or classroom activities, students will feel more included in how the course continues. This leads to better engagement, and can create a feedback loop in which students can comfortably share how things are going with their learning. Instructors often are wondering: “how are the students doing, are they getting it?” and “do I need to change what I’m doing?” Creating a consistent practice of gathering feedback helps answer these questions.Perhaps the most important enhancement to learning that comes from gathering feedback is, retrieval practice! As noted in the book, Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, "...reflection can involve several cognitive activities that lead to stronger learning." (Brown, Roediger, McDaniel, 2014). Gathering feedback in the form of asking questions, provides students an opportunity to reflect upon their learning, and engages the practice of information retrieval which leads to deeper learning.
Gathering Feedback Techniques
These can be done in-class or online. Typically occurring a few minutes at the end of class, students are given an opportunity to reflect upon their learning. Then at the start of the next class, the instructor will summarize the feedback, go over anything that was confusing, or answer questions that came up.
Polls and surveys are a common technique used to gather quick feedback. Student response systems (clickers) can be used, as well as the survey quiz-type on the Canvas learning management system. Tips shared were to keep the questions brief and specific, with no more than 5 questions, and perhaps consider using a Likert scale, depending on the type of question asked.
Mid-semester feedback was also discussed, and encouraged because of the opportunity to make adjustments to your teaching or course design while there is still time left in the semester. Collecting the feedback, summarizing it, and sharing ways you plan to implement changes with your class are all great ways to enhance student engagement and give a boost to the rest of your semester together.
Colleague Feedback
Find someone you trust, that will give you honest and specific feedback so you can take action. Perhaps it is a colleague who you've known for awhile, or someone in your department. Instructional Designers are always a great people to have on your team, as they are trained professionals in evidence-based teaching practices and can advise on methods and course design changes that will help to improve learning experiences for students.Get yourself ready
- Write a question or statement down, to maintain the focus and be specific about what you're looking for feedback about.
- Be ready to hear surprises.
- Maintain curiosity.
- Remember it's about student learning.
- Acknowledge gratitude.
Tips for feedback from colleagues
- Start small: it can simply be asking for feedback about your syllabus. Or perhaps a video you made.
- Find a partner who is also asking for feedback in their department. Together you can discuss the feedback you've received and how to approach next steps.
- Online: ask for a Quality Matters peer review. Talk to an Instructional Designer for ways to make that happen. Ask for a colleague to review a module or an assignment as a student. Or provide the assignment instructions and a name-redacted student submission, and ask for feedback for how to explain or re-write the instructions differently.
- In-person: the most commonly thought of for colleague feedback, ask that they sit in on a lesson or activity. Explain what you're looking to get feedback about, as there will be a lot of things going on to observe and the time will pass quickly!
The important thing is to know you're not in this alone! There are many components that are occurring all at once in a course, and asking for feedback can support making a difference in your teaching and in student learning.
Resources
- Video recording
- Presentation slides
- Links mentioned in the chat:
- References for presentation:
- Angelo, T. A., & Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: a handbook for college teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
- Berkley Center for Teaching and Learning. (n.d.). Evaluate Course-Level Learning. Retrieved February 2020, from https://teaching.berkeley.edu/resources/improve/evaluate-course-level-learning#anchor1
- Brown, P. C., Roediger, H. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make it stick: the science of successful learning. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
- Conrad, R.-M. (2018). It's Working for Me. Is it Working for You? Retrieved from https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/1768
- Cox, S. (2018, April 23). 8 Questions to Ask Students While Completing the Minute Paper. Retrieved from https://www.teacherready.org/minute-paper/
- Edutopia. (2015, June 23). Gaining Understanding on What Your Students Know. Retrieved 2020, from https://www.edutopia.org/practice/exit-tickets-checking-understanding
- Eurich, T. (2018, August 6). The Right Way to Respond to Negative Feedback. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2018/05/the-right-way-to-respond-to-negative-feedback
- McKeachie, W. J., Svinicki, M. D., & Hofer, B. K. (2006). McKeachies teaching tips: strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
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