Soliciting mid-semester feedback from students about the course and teaching methods gives faculty the opportunity to make appropriate changes before the end of the semester. Mid-semester student feedback can help faculty gauge what aspects of the course help students’ learning and what changes could be made to improve students’ learning. Online and in-class surveys and student focus groups are commonly used tools for gathering mid-semester feedback. CTL’s instructional consultants can work with faculty to design and implement these tools in their face-to-face and online classes.
Student Focus Groups
The focus group process, also called Small Group Instructional Diagnosis (SGID), is a structured activity that yields anonymized student feedback about what’s working well and what could be improved in a course. Focus groups are conducted during class time and require approximately 30 minutes for a small class and 40 minutes for a larger class. They are facilitated by a CTL instructional consultant without the faculty member present. The consultant synthesizes the students’ feedback, identifies themes, and compiles a summary report, which is discussed with the faculty member. The faculty member may use the feedback to inform changes in course design and teaching practices.
Conducting a student focus group session consists of the following steps:
- A pre-focus group meeting between the consultant and the faculty member to discuss focus group process establish the context of, goals for, and the date for the focus group session;
- the focus group session itself, which is conducted during a portion of the class period using the standardized CTL Student Focus Group form;
- the consultant drafting the report and sending it to the faculty member;
- a post-focus group meeting to discuss the report and to identify next steps that the faculty member may wish to take to change the course; and
- the faculty member informing students about aspects of the course they will and will not change and the rationale for their decisions.
Online and In-class Surveys
Alternatively, faculty may collect mid-term student feedback via an online or in-class survey. Our consultants can work with faculty to tailor such surveys to meet individual needs. Consultants can also work with faculty members to interpret student responses and to identify ways to respond to student feedback.
Please complete the consultation form by clicking the link below or email us at iuictl@iu.edu at least two weeks prior to the preferred student focus group date to allow enough time for the consultant and the faculty member to schedule a pre-focus group meeting.
