Mid-Semester Formative Evaluations
Collecting feedback from students about their experience in a course is a great way to better inform our teaching choices, and to increase our effectiveness as instructors. Ideally, you should aim to collect feedback from students around weeks 4-6 of the regular semester. This provides enough time for students to form opinions about the course, but also leaves ample time for you to respond and course-correct as needed. Research shows that collecting (and responding to) feedback at this stage in the semester can increase student learning and performance in a class, while also positively impacting student perspectives on the course and instructor.
The CTL offers MSFEs to UGA instructors teaching on our Athens campus on a first-come, first-serve basis. This option requires about 25 minutes of your class time. A CTL consultant will facilitate a conversation with your class (while you and your TAs are not in the room), collecting information about their experience in and suggestions for your course. Your CTL consultant will meet with you a few days later to share a report and help you think through your next steps in response to your students' feedback. Our Spring 2025 MSFE Request form will open on December 1, 2024.
Surveys are also a good way to collect feedback from students. These surveys should be anonymous for students and are generally most effective if you focus on just a few open-ended questions about their experiences in the class. Providing students with time at the start of a class to complete a survey is a good way to maximize your response rate. We are also happy to discuss the feedback you've collected through a survey, by way of a one-on-one consultation. You can make this request through our online contact form.
If you elect to use a survey, you might design your own from scratch, or draw from one of these sample surveys, constructed specifically for the collection of mid-semester feedback: