End of Semester Course Evaluations and Other Student Feedback

Gathering student feedback can help you improve your teaching and provide you ways to document your teaching effectiveness for other purposes (annual reviews, promotion files, teaching award nominations, etc.).

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is implementing a common Student Learning Experience Survey (i.e., course evaluation) across all colleges for undergraduate and graduate coursework. The survey is administered through EvaluationKit, an online course evaluation software tool, and consists of a common set of core questions. Instructors have the ability to add specialized questions appropriate to the course with approval of the department chair and college dean’s office.

EvaluationKit can also be used for mid-semester surveys. Click here for more information on course evaluation processes and guidelines.

To view survey results, make sure that the "Instructor Course Evaluations" link is enabled in the left navigation for your course. If it is not, go to Settings > Navigation and enable the link, save your settings and then click on the link.

Other Ways to Gather Student Feedback

While end of the semester course evaluations are the most commonly used method of soliciting student feedback, you also can gather informal feedback during the semester to help you identify which teaching methods are most effective and to make small adjustments "midstream" to better support your students' learning. Here are a few suggestions:

One minute papers

This formative assessment is typically completed by students in the last 10 minutes of class. Such papers allow students to show what they are learning in a "low stakes" non-evaluative context and enable you to know if your students are fully understanding or achieving your learning goals. Some questions might include the following:

What is the most important (interesting) issue you learned this week?
What course activities are helping you to learn best?
Connect the concept of "x" that we discussed today with last week's discussion of "y."
What is one concept addressed thus far that you don't fully understand?
What is one question you have about course content that you'd like addressed in an upcoming class?

Eye on the Classroom paper

This formative assessment solicits student feedback on the classroom culture and how students see it supporting or impacting their learning. Some instructors ask for this feedback anonymously so students feel free to provide honest assessments. Some questions might include the following:

How would you rate your participation and are there any barriers or concerns you have about participating in our class? Do you feel comfortable participating in discussions? small groups? recitation sections?
How would you describe our classroom as an intellectual community?
What teaching method or practice have you found very useful for your learning?
What is going well for you this semester? What is not? How might I better support your learning?

Mid-semester checks

Some instructors find it useful to provide their students with mid-semester evaluations that utilize some of the same questions that are asked on the end of the semester course evaluation. Again, instructors can use students' responses to make adjustments to their teaching midterm as appropriate.

Using Student Feedback to Improve Teaching

Regardless of how you solicit student feedback, it's important to respond so students know that you are taking their feedback seriously. There's no need to provide the results for every question, but you might want to discuss two or three items that the class responded to very favorably and two or three items that you hope to improve. If you've decided to make changes based on students' feedback, explain what you intend to do differently and why. Take the opportunity to clarify confusion regarding goals and expectations. Be sure to identify the changes you have control over and intend to change (better overviews, clearer instructions), changes you will not make (the number of tests), and changes you cannot make because you have no control over the situation (size of class). Remember to thank students for their input. Tell them how important their feedback is and be sure to implement the changes you promised to make.

Additional Methods for Soliciting Feedback on Your Teaching

Peer observation of teaching can play a significant role in improving one's teaching. Your peers and colleagues who have expertise in the discipline and training in what to observe can provide you important information by reviewing your course materials and visiting your class. You might consider pairing up with a peer or team from your department to do one of the following:

Observe each other's classes
Discuss results of end of the semester student course evaluations
Review course materials and assignments

Overall, maintain a positive attitude when discussing feedback results with your students and colleagues. The manner in which you request feedback and discuss the results will indicate whether you take their feedback seriously. Avoid being defensive, angry, or overly apologetic. All instructors have areas in which they can improve. The best instructors are those who intentionally and systematically gather such feedback and then use it to understand their students and their teaching better.