Teaching & Learning Feedback
The Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE) offers a number of confidential services on teaching and learning that are designed to make effective use of your time in achieving your goals and your students’ academic success. These services bring pedagogical experts alongside faculty and instructors, using evidence-supported reflective practices to examine teaching strategies and foster student-centered learning environments. This may include gathering student perceptions, conducting observations, and other strategies that are shared in individual consultations.
Individual Consultations
Would you like to discuss teaching concerns such as: engaging learners, designing assignments, difficult classroom situations, making sense of mid-semester feedback or end-of-semester evaluations? You can meet with us to talk about a broad variety of teaching topics. CIE consultants are available for general one-on-one conversations about teaching and learning (onsite or remote).
Observing learning environments
Inviting a CIE consultant into your classroom will provide a non-evaluative perspective on some aspects of the course or the teaching and learning environment. Prior to the observation, you will be asked what aspect of your teaching/course you would like to receive feedback on, and the observation will be tailored accordingly. In a follow-up conversation, the observer will share information on what was observed and offer suggestions or additional resources that align with the instructor’s goals/desired feedback.
Gather student feedback
There are two key points in a semester to gather student perceptions of courses: midterm and end-of-semester. We can help you do either or both. These services provide information on what your students are thinking about your course and what suggestions they have for improvement.
Midterm student feedback allows you to do two things that are supported by research: 1) make changes to the course early in the semester/session that may help current students better achieve course learning outcomes, and 2) have informed conversations about their learning with students. There are several options for student feedback:
- Surveys
- Midterm evaluations administered through Instructional Data Processing (IDP, a division of CIE). This survey uses Purdue’s Course Evaluation software, which is also used for end-of-semester course evaluations. You need to schedule midterm evaluations no later than Week 4 by working with your department coordinator. All surveys within a department will use the same questions for midterm evaluations and be conducted during the same five-day period (Week 6).
Further information on the guidelines on midterm evaluations, Purdue Course Evaluation software, and a list of department coordinators, are available on the Course Evaluation – Instructor section of the IDP’s website. We can also help you analyze the results. - Mid-semester surveys that instructors administer to students. CIE can provide recommended questions for an anonymous survey that you administer via Qualtrics or in Brightspace. We can also help you analyze the results.
- Midterm evaluations administered through Instructional Data Processing (IDP, a division of CIE). This survey uses Purdue’s Course Evaluation software, which is also used for end-of-semester course evaluations. You need to schedule midterm evaluations no later than Week 4 by working with your department coordinator. All surveys within a department will use the same questions for midterm evaluations and be conducted during the same five-day period (Week 6).
- Small Focus Groups (in class)
- Engaging Student Perceptions (ESP, formerly known as Small Group Instructional Diagnosis, SGID). CIE staff attends your face-to-face class to facilitate small group discussions among students to identify course strengths and potential changes that would assist their learning. The groups then share their responses with the whole class, and the consultant clarifies and records responses.
The ESP takes place between weeks 5-7 of the semester and requires about 25 minutes of class time (where the instructional team is not present).
We follow-up with you to review a short debrief of the results. ESPs are intended to support modifications to the course to better help students. If you do not have control over the course structure, environment or assignments, mid-semester surveys may better suit your needs.
- Engaging Student Perceptions (ESP, formerly known as Small Group Instructional Diagnosis, SGID). CIE staff attends your face-to-face class to facilitate small group discussions among students to identify course strengths and potential changes that would assist their learning. The groups then share their responses with the whole class, and the consultant clarifies and records responses.
End of semester course evaluations are required by the Office of the Provost for undergraduate courses with seven (7) or more students but may be requested for any course with department approval. For details, see the IDP website. CIE can assist you in analyzing the data and student comments generated by these evaluations in order to make informed decisions about teaching and learning strategies.
Please reach out to CIE now by completing this short, confidential Qualtrics survey about your instructional goals, courses, and timeframe.