Feedback Forms

If you choose to administer the Mid-Course Evaluation in class via hard-copy, choose a class session about halfway through the semester and allot ten minutes at the end of a class for completion. If you teach a 3-hour course, it is a good idea to give the forms out right after the break, rather than the end of class. Ask a student to collect the completed evaluations and deliver them directly to you at the end of class. Then leave the room while students fill them out, so they feel comfortable providing honest feedback.

You may choose from a selection of seven feedback forms. Generally the first five forms are useful at midterm because they are designed to collect open-ended qualitative feedback rather than quantitative feedback and ask about what is salient to students. Be sure to note, however, that qualitative feedback takes more time to analyze and may be harder to interpret than quantitative feedback. Stern's faculty development consultant would be happy to assist in the analysis and interpretation of midterm feedback on a confidential basis.

The last two instruments are the traditional mid-term feedback surveys that Stern has used in the past, with a few revisions. One is for the instructor, and there is also a version for the TF, if applicable.

1. Form A: Please Rate the Course and Explain Your Rating combines quantitative and qualitative data. It is particularly useful in large classes. It lacks, however, an explicit request for suggestions for change.
2. Form B: Keep, Stop, Start is for instructors who want very quick feedback. It may miss getting more general comments.
3. Form C: Three Questions for Feedback asks explicitly about what is working and what is not. The qualitative nature of all three questions may take a little longer than one would like.
4. Form D: Three Questions  is probably shorter than C. It requests feedback that would go to the professor and also to the class, underscoring the idea that students themselves have some responsibility for how the course is going.
5. Form E: Keep, Stop, Start and Rate the Course  combines the two shortest instruments, A and B, and even combined it is still short. We recommend this instrument if an instructor is undecided.
6. Form F: Traditional Stern Mid-Semester Feedback Form is the instrument Stern has used in the past. It is familiar to many students. It is quantitative which makes for easy analysis; but it asks questions about the course that may be irrelevant to students.
7. Form G: Mid-Semester Feedback Form for Teaching Fellows  is the same instrument as F, but for TFs.