Photo Credit: Unspash. (Original). Using surveys to get feedback from students online.

Getting Feedback From Students

How I’m gathering feedback from students, amid our four-plus semester-long pandemic

Introduction

Getting feedback from students has always been a priority of mine. I collect feedback early and often. My practice has followed a specific format that asks open questions.

• What is something that is going well so far? What, if anything, would you like to see more of?
• What, if anything, isn’t going well so far? What would you like to see less of?
• What questions about the course requirements, assignments, and expectations do you have?
• What questions about the course material do you have?

I’m also finding, and I think this is perhaps due to a lack of in-person interactions, that students are shy about giving constructive feedback.

This feedback helps me adjust the course. Most adjustments are simple and often invisible to students. To promote transparency, I make it a practice to summarize the input gathered from these questions. I share that summary with students. I also explain what I will do because of the feedback and what changes I will make.