How have your teachers in the past solicited feedback from you about their course? Were there some techniques you found better than others? Why? Were there some that you didn't care for? Why?
Do you have some of your own ideas about how feedback could be accomplished for the betterment of the class?
Most teachers just have us fill out the bubble sheets and some have a mid-semester sheet that is short answer. I don't really like the short answer ones, because a lot of the time I don't have a lot to say. I prefer having the bubble sheet to give me choices. I think that discussion during the semester would be a good way for students to provide feedback to teachers, because a lot of the time you fill out the evaluations, but at the end of the semester, so the changes don't really apply to you.
ReplyDeleteIn the past I have filled out surveys and questionnaires. The surveys are anonymous which is a good thing however I don't find them a good way to give feedback. I think that students don't take them seriously. I know that once I have turned in a survey I forget about it. Questionnaires are a little more helpful especially in a smaller classroom. Sometimes these are impossible depending on the class size. I find asking students directly or through questionnaires to be the most productive way of receiving feedback.
ReplyDeleteThe only feedback i've given my teachers was from the teacher evaluation sheets. I've never had teachers that I can recall ask for feed back about their teaching during the semester so that they can improve class. I also don't think many teachers care what their students think, which is not good. I do think private sheets are probably the best feed back a teacher will get because students will and can be very honest. I think also how were doing the blogs right now it could be a good way to get feed back. If for the subject they put what they wanted students to respond about and then the students could post their opinion.
ReplyDeleteMany of my teachers in the past have had the students fill out note cards or paperwork with what they enjoyed from the class and what changes they would like to see made in the class room. It can be beneficial to keep it anonymous so that students feel free to be honest and open with their feedback without the risk of a negative reaction from the teacher. I don't have much feedback on things to change within this classroom off the top of my head but it is a question I will keep in mind as the course progresses.
ReplyDeleteIn the past, most of my teachers have usually passed out quick surveys to find out what feedback students have. They usually are pretty informal. A few weeks ago I had a professor who had us take out a piece of paper and write one thing we liked about his teaching, and one thing we did not. I thought that was a pretty easy and straightforward way to receive feedback. But if a teacher wanted feedback about specific things covered in class, I think the surveys/questions should be given shortly after the topic has been covered. Personally, I find it easier to give feedback about one specific topic than giving feedback for 10 specific topics at the end of the semester.
ReplyDeleteI also thinks its important for the teacher to remind the students if they have any questions or concerns that they are open to meeting with them after class. That way teachers can receive daily or weekly feedback in a less formal way, which students may be more comfortable with and less pressured about.
For most classes that I have taken, teachers do not seem too worried about asking for feedback from their students until the end of the semester. This prompting of feedback comes in the form of class evaluations which the students fill out, giving feedback about how well they felt the class was taught and what the teacher can do to improve the class.
ReplyDeleteHowever, most teachers receive feedback from their students everyday when the teachers ask if work that has been assigned to the class has been explained properly. If a students speaks up saying that they do not understand the assignment, that teacher is receiving feedback that tells them that they need to be a little clearer in their explanation of assignments. If the class says that they understand what the teacher is asking of them, then that teacher is receiving positive feedback that tells them that they did a good job.
Feedback for a teacher is extremely beneficial in any classroom. This is because the teacher cannot see the classroom from the student point of view. What a teacher finds helpful doesn't always translate to what the student finds helpful in a class. I have had numerous teachers ask for feedback in different ways. My favorite way is to have a discussion about an assignment in the classroom and discuss the pros and cons of the assignment. This way it can be constructive for the teacher and the students can voice their opinions together. The other way I have had teachers get feedback is to give the students a form at the end of the course. I do not like this method as much because the teacher doesn't respond to the students needs as they would in a discussion.
ReplyDeleteIn my classroom in the future I would like to be open with students and have feedback coming back to me constantly through classroom discussions.
Course evaluations at the end of each semester has been most of the experience I've had in regard to giving teachers feedback about their courses. I really didn't care much for the feedback forms handed out by the Honors College for their freshman and sophomore classes. The forms included about 15 questions regarding the course and asking about which texts were most meaningful to students. I understand that the professors want as much information as possible about their styles of teaching, but the forms took way too long to fill out. The course evaluations that all classes are required to fill out are more tolerable because one has the option of adding comments at the end of the evaluation.
ReplyDeleteFeedback is good for students to give to teachers because it helps teachers relate to their students. Teachers can alter their styles to make the classes more meaningful and information more receptive to students.
In most of my previous classes i have simply had to fill out a multiple choice bubble sheet. I find these the easiest to fill out however I feel that they don't give the teacher much feed back. I feel that if the teacher was to give a short answer questionnaire it would give much better feed back. The teacher would have a descriptive answer as to what was liked and what was disliked.
ReplyDeleteMany teachers in the past have used surveys and note cards or even little quizzes that let the teacher know if they are getting what she is teaching. The easiest way for me would be surveys like the ones we have to do for most classes here at UMO. I think teachers should do something online and have it be annonymous so the teacher can see what he or she could do better so the students can get a better understanding without the student having to worry about being singled out.
ReplyDeleteIn college, the feed back forms that I have received have been in scan tron form. It has a purpose but I do not think it allows the student to speak about how they really feel. For example, last semester I found a course extremely difficult. But more than that, was the thought that the teacher did not care about how I was struggling. I needed a more basic explanation of the concepts. So when the form came out, I had no way of telling how I felt because he was always prepared, alway enthusiastic about the subject and delivered an awesome lecture. I felt I had no way of saying what was on my mind. I assume that is a university required form.
ReplyDeleteThe benefit to this type of form is that there is no biased opinion about the instructor and therefore negative opinions are limited. But feedback should be important because the are the experts, we are not. They need to be able to know that what they are teaching can be difficult to a student. If you know that 50% of your students are struggling, there may be a teaching problem or course problem.
If a teacher cares, feedback is important.
teachers in the past asked us to fill out paperwork or some sort of evaluation that asks you to comment, doesn't mean you actually have to because it just asks for any other comments usually at the bottom. I didn't really care for any of those methods. I think only a couple times the teacher asked us as a class what we thought about the course and we had a class discussion. A lot of teachers don't seem to care about feedback thats why they have you fill out the teacher evaluation bubble sheets which arent a great way to get feedback. I think if it was an assignment people would take it more seriously and would actually do it.
ReplyDeleteThroughout high school, I remember some of my teachers giving us anonymous papers at the end with questions about the class. When college came around, it was reduced to bubble sheets which were the same for every class. I didn't mind the essay type papers but the bubble sheets in my opinion are useless. You can't tell how a student really feels just by looking at a few filled circles. At least students write something on the short essay sheets.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the only way to get real feedback is to ask the students personally, however this would be difficult for a larger class. Asking the students personally means they aren't anonymous, so they might actually give honest feedback.
In the past, teachers and professors have presented my classes with a type of survey or "Course Evaluation" which is given at the end of the class for us all to fill out. It usually is just a fill-in-the-bubble survey where we rate different aspects of both the class and the teacher, with an optional "additional comments" section at the end. I personally have mixed feelings about this form of feedback. While it's great that it is anonymous, unless you don't wish for it to be, they are usually quite long and by the end of the semester, most people don't care enough to put in the time it takes to accurately grade that course or teacher. It is also hard to take seriously, because by the end of the course, you know that your feedback won't be affecting you in any way so it is almost like a waste of your time. I think that this would be more beneficial if it were done earlier in the semester, so that there is time for the feedback to actually benefit the class.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember teachers asking for feedback in highschool or schooling before college, but in college thus far, professors have typically given the end of the semester course evaluation. Course evaluations are not the best form of providing feedback because most students do not take them seriously and want to complete them quickly so that they can leave class, espcially since these are often given on the last class of the semester. A few of my classes have given seperate sheets with questions that require a written response or have asked for feedback on particular books we read in class or movies we watched with clicker questions. Feedback is extremely important to the success of the classroom, without it teachers may not know if they are getting accross to the students or if they enjoy the activities they are doing or books they've read in class.
ReplyDeleteIn the past teachers have solicited feedback by having students fill out a course evaluation given by the university. I don't feel like this process is very helpful because students will not always put serious thought and concern into the ratings. Although there is an option for students to add personal feedback, there are times when students don't put time into writing something constructive because they feel it won't be helpful or essentially have lack of care.
ReplyDeleteI believe that there should be two evaluations throughout a semester, one mid-semester and one at at the end of the semester. There could simply be an anonymous attendance question regarding a thoughtful evaluation of the course during the middle of the semester and an open oral discussion where students can have a discussion about the class as a whole.
Teachers in the past have given out bubble sheets with optional comment boxes at the bottom, at the end of the semester, other then that they haven't really collected feedback from the class, at least in classes I've been in. I like having the bubble sheets or a scale of 1-10 to rate different things about the class. I personally don't like having open ended questions because often times I don't have much to say about the class or the teacher.
ReplyDeleteI think that feedback from people should be anonymous that way people can be more honest, and I think that feedback should be optional because most people don't take it seriously especially if you hand it out at the end of class and people just want to leave. I also think that if the class is smaller then there could be an open discussion about what people liked and didn't like for those that want to participate.