So you've built a mid-semester feedback instrument for your course. What's next?
Explain to students why you are collecting anonymous feedback in the middle of the semester.
Provide an overview of the process, including when it will take place, how you plan to use the feedback, and when you will share results with the class.
Share advice on how students can give constructive feedback, such as describe, evaluate, and suggest (the instrument itself enables all three).
You can share the survey in the body of a message to students (via e-mail, d2l, or other previously determined mode of course communication).
Here is some sample language you could include in a message (feel free to copy/paste or adapt):
In an effort to make sure our class is providing a valuable learning experience for you and your classmates, I’ll be sending out a “mid-semester feedback” survey. This is your opportunity to anonymously share your thoughts on what is working in class and what could be better. No identifying information is collected as a part of the survey and the results are shared with me as a single dataset. I will not be able to identify individual student identities. Your feedback will help me to design and facilitate this course in a way that is meaningful for you. If there are things I could change to make the course more effective I want to know. I’ll use this feedback to inform the remainder of the semester. Thank you in advance for your participation.
You could also choose to build in 10 minutes of time at the start of one of your synchronous course sessions (if applicable) for students to complete the survey.
Tip: build this time in at the start of class to avoid feedback being based solely on that day’s activities.
Always be sure to thank your students for participating in the process of improving the class and remember course feedback should always be anonymous!
