Instructor Feedback Form

Share

Midway through the semester, I pass out an optional Instructor Feedback Form. I do this midway through because if there is something I can correct, I should do so now to help the current students rather than waiting. If I wait, I run the risk of forgetting during the break what suggestions were made, and sometimes the next class needs different things than the current one.

The form is fairly simple and consists of only three questions. What should the Instructor: Start doing? Stop doing? Keep doing? Sometimes the answers are funny. Sometimes they are things I have not considered and that I implement immediately. Sometimes they are things I am not going to do. However, I have received some very thoughtful notes through this process as well as some useful suggestions that I hope are beneficial to the classes I teach.

Here is an example of one note I received yesterday:

Start doing: Perhaps some practice tests/quizzes for the students to work on at home with a tutor would help focus learning on key concepts and formulas.
Stop doing: nothing
Keep doing: What you are currently doing is amazing. Teaching a subject that does not come easily for some students is difficult for a 16 week semester and even more during a 6 week semester. Keep motivating and inspiring the students to expand their knowledge and challenge themselves.

Yeah, I'm pretty much amazing if you consider my age and experience.

The department does this as part of their modus opporendi. However, in an attempt to protect students, these come far too late to help the current class, and it's so distant that it's inconvenient to go look at them. The only time they seem to really matter is if you're up for tenure or contract renewal. The students don't really have power to get us fired.

They do however have power to help us become better. I think it's a useful exercise to do this periodically with people I know who are not students. It usually skips the formality of a form, but I do sometimes ask people I know well to give me suggestions. Sometimes I reject them, but sometimes I implement them. You see, my friends have a greater power to help me become better, and so it's a mutually beneficial arrangement to allow them to make suggestions for corrections.

I aspire to be a better man. I aspire to be a better teacher. I am not sure I am good at either one of those roles, but perhaps that's mostly because I am intimately aware of my weaknesses. While in class, I try very hard to set up a win-win environment. Although I know I must challenge them, I am also there to help them grow, and it works best if I'm growing and learning too.

If you would like to answer the previous questions about me, send me an email. I'm interested in your thoughts.