Thank you for the opportunity to share. 

I started a new thing. . . Week 2 I ask for forum-feedback on how students feel they are doing after week one. It's amazing how students reply (good and bad). It's a great way for me to gage students who are comfortable and students that might require additional help.

I teach computer programming and some students get it, some are new to programming, and some have difficulties setting up their environment. This technique helps put the class at ease and allows me to attend to issues before they become big-issues. 

Also, I'm new to teaching and I'm looking for as much direction as possible professionally as well as student feedback. 

Does this make sense? Am I inline? 

Michael Pritchard What percentage of students do you think you receive feedback from?  Do you post the "forum feedback" thread in Questions to Instructor Forum?  

Lisa Schmidt : Thank you for the question. The percentage of students who reply is high. Students that struggle express gratitude for the opportunity to share their week-1 experience. It was more successful than anticipated. . . I will continue because the response has been so positive. 

I post in the Discussion Forum because I wanted it to be visible in an area where it would be found. 

Michael Pritchard 

I really appreciate that you are asking for feedback in Week 2! I like to call these spot checks with my students. I ask a few times throughout the course. They tell me how much they love that they are able to check in with me and open up about where they need help. Some have even told me that if I did not check, they would not have reached out. With this information, I can see where I need to post additional instructions on assignments to help them, which helps me improve my instruction. Thank you for sharing!

Nicole Lavonier : Thank you Nicole for the feedback. I call it "Taking temperature" . |:-) 

Great idea Michael! I end each week with a weekly wrapup in which I ask students to reflect on their learnings that week. During the week, I use Flipgrid, Kahoot, VoiceThread, etc to do formative assessments. I never felt I was good at, but I remember when I did my undergrad we had to write programs on Apples. The final was to run the program and mine was the only one that ran. Back in the time of dinosaurs............

Lisa Durff 

Lisa,

Using Flipgrid as a formative assessment is a great idea! Could you please share with us exactly what you do? I think many of us could benefit from this.

Lisa Durff : Great idea. I think I will "bookend" the class with another survey to compare the difference. 

I had to laugh about your dinosaur comment. My first programming job used punch cards (at the time when dinosaurs were ending). I made the mistake of telling my kids about black and white TV's. Now they tease me that the world had no color when I was young.  |:-) 

Michael Pritchard I remember have stacks of those punch cards in a store room at a school where I taught. I repurposed them as flash cards for our elementary learners. 

Lisa Durff : Thanks for the note. I still have a small stack of punch cards. I hand them out to young programmers as "bookmarks". 

|:-) 

I never thought about utilizing Flipgrid for formative assessments.  That is a great idea.  I also like the idea of asking for forum feedback.  I have had some students provide me with feedback on their own but I may get more information/ student perspective if I make it a thread in the forum.  Thank you all for teh great ideas!

lschmidt 

Lisa,

I like to elicit student feedback throughout the course. EOCS are great; however, I like immediate feedback to see what I can do better in my next class. I have been doing this for years and there is always room to improve :) In Week 6, I have a CAT (classroom assessment technique) that a colleague shared with me many years ago. I wish I could remember who it was so I could give credit. I use it with all classes and it is one of my most responded to CATs each class. Here it is:

Your Feedback is Highly Valuable! Class, Please Share!!

Hi Class, 

It has been a wonderful journey teaching and learning alongside you during the duration of this course. I loved hearing your perspective on your experiences and I enjoyed the interaction with you and your classmates. Over the course of the last six weeks, I had the great pleasure of being your instructor, mentor, and facilitator. I had the opportunity to critique the quality of your work and provide suggestions on how you can improve in subsequent assignments and discussions. Now I want to give you the opportunity to critique the quality of my work! How can I make this class better? Did I provide useful feedback to help enhance the quality of your work? Was I engaged in the classroom in a meaningful way? I am open for suggestions, so please don’t be shy to speak up. Your feedback is highly valuable and will assist me in becoming a better instructor and help enhance students’ learning experience. My goal is to help students earn A’s!  I wish you all good luck on your professional journey and if you ever need me, I am here for you!!

Nicole,

Thank you for that CAT for week 6! 

I do use CAT's every week but usually always focus on the content. I love this idea of asking for feedback to get better at teaching. I have been teaching for 22 years in public school and almost 6 with GCU. I have always been shy about asking for feedback. I just changed my CAT week 6 in my current course so that I will start asking, even though it is uncomfortable for me. I think it will get easier and I will become a better teacher - both of which are improvements. 

I like the flip grid idea and the Topic 2 CAT as well. I may add those in at some point. Thank you for those.

I do have a questions regarding the EOCS results. I take these results to heart, but sometimes there is a comment that is negative about the course or me that is not really fair for my review. For example, in the last results I got one student said I was harsh and not helpful in feedback and 11 comments that I was quick to answer, genuine and very helpful. This comment has made me be more reflective and try to be even more genuine and responsive in the forums, but I am not really sure what I missed or did wrong for this student. Do you have any suggestions? I know online responses can be taken wrong when a person is stressed, sick or under a lot of pressure as we all are now. I just want to be sure and fix it if I can. Thank you for your help. Maybe the week 2 check in is a good idea!

Kind Regards,

Dr. Schwietert

Deb Schwietert 

I appreciate the honesty in your response about being uncomfortable about receiving feedback from students. I was like that when I first started eliciting feedback from them also. I had some comments that I did not care to read; however, I needed to take all feedback into consideration and reflect on why students had said what they did. Some was truly constructive and I made the necessary changes. We, typically, focus on the negative comments. It is human nature. So I have learned to take some comments with a grain of salt because they may not have liked that I have a word requirement for participation posts and DQs. This is not something I am willing to change as I have tried (because of student feedback) and it did not work out well. With students who leave any negative feedback, I will reach out to them to have them tell me what I could have done to improve. I hope this helps or gives you some comfort.

Nicole Lavonier  That is great  advice. I think the more I ask for and talk to students about their feedback, the easier it will become and it will help me be a better teacher, which is my goal for each day. I agree that we can not compromise GCU policy, expectations, and intentions for putting the responsibility on the student for their portion of the learning. By using the constructive feedback in my management of classes I will be adding in positive elements into the classroom. 

Deb Schwietert 

I always have to remind myself that I will not be able to please everyone and there will most likely be a few negative comments.

Nicole Lavonier 

Yes , true. But I don’t always have to like them. Good point.

Good Afternoon!

I'm looking forward to participating in the discussion!  Regarding eliciting feedback from students to inform and improve instruction, I'm fairly new at conducting this request, but I'm very open to knowing what students think prior to their completion of the end-of-course evaluation. I do make it a very clear point for students to message me, via Private Forum, my GCU email, or through my cell phone or text to speak with me about any issue they feel comfortable in doing so. I've had some students reach out to me, but the questions really didn't have anything to do with instruction; mostly assignment clarification and communication with issues they are dealing with personally and professionally. I have had multiple comments made in the discussion forums, through the Private Forum and Questions to the Instructor providing comments and compliments regarding my instruction to date; these are very pleasing to read. 

I would like to know more about ideas to continue the instructional improvement conversation from students. I'm always willing to learn!

Thank you!

Laura Schaffer Metcalfe, Ed.D. 

Laura Schaffer-Metcalfe 

I appreciate your response. When I receive comments that are about assignment clarification, I look at these as opportunities to improve my instruction. I make sure that I create an announcement that explains an assignment in further detail. My most common comment is the desire for examples of the assignments. I struggle with this one because I teach at the graduate and doctoral level. What are your thoughts about examples?

Hello, Everyone!

I use FlipGrid as a formative assessment as well!  I think it is fun way for students to respond; I usually then ask them to also tell me what they thought of FliipGrid and how they think it would work with their students since I teach in the College of Education.

The other way that I use student feedback is from the end-of-course responses that my students complete.  I find because it is anonymous and at the end of the course that they tend to be very honest.  If a student ranks me 4/5 then I reflect on what I can do to be a “5” in my next class.  Does anyone else use this data?

Dr. Susan Sylvia

Susan Sylvia 

I am going to use the FlipGrid idea! I definitely review all EOCS to see where I need to improve. Please explain what you do when you do not agree with comments made by students.

Does that all make sense?

Susan

Susan Sylvia 

I actually love the idea of focusing on the median comments. That makes perfect sense!

Susan Sylvia  Hello Susan! I also look at that data and reflect on what I could have done to improve. Sometimes I remember a situation that occurred and can process what I could have done to improve. When I can't apply directly to a situation or student, I try to make general changes that could improve that score. 

Good evening everyone, 

Thank you for starting this wonderful discussion on student feedback, Nicole.

I find I personally enjoy reading the EOCS results and comments. Students tell it like it is, and that honest feedback is beneficial to me. Personally, I find at least one little item every time I teach the same course to clarify. Maybe it's adding a resource or reference to help students with a specific assignment, or even just changing the wording in my weekly announcement to help provide better clarity. It helps me know I am engaged in continuous improvement and responding to previous concerns.

Within the classroom, I post in the DQ forums additional posts that ask students how their learning is going and share their experiences. I find students will post concerns and advice to one another this way, while still allowing me to jump in and solve concerns.

Thanks for letting me share!

Elizabeth Reusch 

Thank you for sharing! Without fail, there is always room for improvement with my instruction. I modify my classes each time after receiving my own feedback in class and also from the EOCS. How do you handle negative comments?

Nicole Lavonier

I don't think there is any specific way I address negative comments. I address what I can, try to step into my student's shoes, and provide clarity where I can. If it is something I find I have a valid reason for (aka my "madness"), then I start putting in a Questions to Instructor post concerning that specific issue or together with similar questions/comments in my future (or current) classes.

In my experience, most negative comments are simply students who want greater clarity explaining "why" this is important or relevant.

Hello! I was reading an article this past weekend, 5 Reasons You Should Seek Your Own Student Feedback by Gonzalez (2014) and I thought it was very interesting. I was wondering why you think it is important to seek your own student feedback. Personally, one reason is I like to know what is working and where I can improve while the class is in session. How about you?

Gonzalez, J. (2014). 5 Reasons You Should Seek Your Own Student Feedback. Retrieved from https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/student-feedback/