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CTE - Reflective Teaching

This guide provides resources and best practices for fauclty engaged in reflective teaching. These include resources on creating a teaching portfolio and teaching philosophy.

 

Often, collecting and using student feedback can seem like a one-direction, end-of-term process: students provide feedback to faculty members about their learning experience during the term.  While end-of-term surveys are an important, formal feedback process, they are far from the only way to collect and use student feedback. 

 

Benefits of Collecting and Using Student Feedback

Collecting and using student feedback throughout the term has benefits for students and faculty:

 

 

Informal Ways to Collect and Use Student Feedback

The following examples illustrate best practices for collecting and using student feedback throughout the term: 

 

Thumbs up/down. In entry-level courses, using the thumbs up/down approach to quickly gauge student learning provides all students—even the most reticent—with an opportunity to feedback.  Depending on the on outcome, you can make adjustments for the next meeting.

 

One-minute papers. Students are limited to one-minute to reflect and provide feedback.  If you are seeking feedback on a particular topic or issue, you should provide them with a more focused prompt.  At the next meeting, you can discuss what you read in their papers and provide your own feedback.

           

Muddiest moment.  Ask students to focus on a particularly difficult topic, skills, or class, discuss where they hit the “muddiest” point, and maybe even the support they need or questions they have.

 

Ah-ha! moment.  Ask students to focus a breakthrough they’ve had about a topic, skill, or class, where it became clearer, and maybe even how they can use this process again. 

 

Comment boxes. You can set-up anonymous surveys in the learning management system or through a website (such as SurveyMonkey, Poll Everywhere, Doodle) that allow for anonymous feedback.  After the survey closes, you can address the feedback at the next meeting.

 

Start. Stop. Stay. Ask students to write down what you, the professor, should start doing, stop doing, and stay doing.  When you address the feedback, talk about what you are willing to start, stop, and stay doing and why. 

 

Bonus! At the same time, ask students what they should start, stop, and stay doing for the remainder of the term to be successful.  When you address the feedback, talk about ways to help them stop, start, and stay doing. 

 

Click on our Quick Access Printables to download a handout on this topic.