Student Feedback
By: Todd Zakrajsek, Director
Faculty Center for Innovative Teaching

Students are regularly provided feedback in every class they take.  Exams items are marked according to correct and incorrect responses, returned papers include notes where the writer drifted from the central theme, and journals include comments of particularly insightful summaries. With all of this feedback it is our hope that students will learn what they do well, identify areas in which perhaps they are not as proficient, and then make adjustments for future growth.  In contrast, faculty rarely get feedback from students regarding the instruction in the course.  We certainly receive feedback in terms of how well students complete required work, but that provides little direct feedback on actual instructional components. 

The Student Opinion Survey (SOS) is certainly one method.  This form includes items pertaining to various aspects of instructor effectiveness and one overall evaluation item.  The CMU SOS is very different than those used on many campuses in that built into the form is space for two additional items.  This allows faculty to customize the form.  To do this, simple project onto the screen two additional items in the classroom while your students are filling out the SOS.  Keeping in mind the response scale is from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree,” you can ask for feedback on anything you feel is missing from the standard items. The best part is that the only thing reported for those two items are the means and number of students responding.  That is, unless you share the information, aside from your students, no one will know what you asked. 

What types of items might you include as your two additional items?  An ideal resource is the Individualized Designed Form for the Improvement of Instruction (IDF-II).  This form contains literally hundreds of items from which you may choose, or use as a basis for your own items. For example, you may wish to add items pertaining to specific elements of the course, such as teaching/graduate assistants, written projects, laboratory, textbook, media, examinations, or group activities.  There is also a section on student development and responsibilities, such as knowledge, interests, social attitudes, self-concept, professional attitudes, and student responsibilities.

The IDF-II is also a wonderful tool for gaining feedback during the semester.  Start thinking now about how you might be able to use this form for your next course.  The website containing this form allows you to create an individual form for you to use at any time in the semester.  Used with a standard scantron sheet it is easy to receive a report of how students responded to each item.

Feedback is critical for any task. Often, the best place to receive feedback is from those you are most interested in assisting.