Class Feedback in the 21st Century

11.5 Class Feedback in the 21st Century

Issues with student feedback:

Academic course delivery and feedback is problematic for a number of reasons, and there are of course limited exceptions to each of the following points:

Students for the most part are not schooled in how to give feedback, develop instruments for acquiring data, how to interpret the results, and how to provide the results to the instructor.
Students for the most part are not schooled in how to evaluate, read and understand surveys and qualitative assessments; being aware of scales, possibly biased language, etc.
Students for the most part are also not schooled in best practices for teaching methods and assessment methods.
Students are not always aware of the direct, indirect, immediate, delayed learning outcomes and what they are actually learning.
Instructors for the most part are not schooled in how to receive feedback, deal with suggestions and criticism.
Instructors for the most part are not schooled in the development of instruments for acquiring data, how to interpret the results if they wish to obtain their own feedback from individual students.
Instructors for the most part are also not schooled or experts in best practices for teaching methods and assessment methods.
Instructors are not always aware of the direct, indirect, immediate, delayed learning outcomes and what they are actually teaching; some of it implicit, tacit, explicit, accidental.

There are generic and age-old problems with feedback, student or otherwise:

Are the ones providing the feedback qualified to provide feedback?
Is the feedback is based on perceptions, baseline comparisons, relative comparisons?
There can be biases in the feedback: situational, cultural, academic ecosystem, way questions are asked, personal issues, etc.
When is the feedback given? Are there any temporal locality issues with recent events, marks being returned, reality not matching expectations or hopes?
Does the instructor want unsolicited feedback? Know what to do with it? Respond to students?
Does the instructor know how to practice change management and implementation science when responding to a point?

Implications:

The fourteen points above suggest that without help and a structure, ad hoc class feedback has many challenges and can actually make the situation worse. The data might be flawed, recommendations or suggestions ill-formed, and if not ignored by the instructor, taken with a touch of hostility and defensiveness. It is our view that ad hoc student initiatives providing unsolicited feedback to ‘deaf’ instructors should not be done. And considering the quality of the incoming feedback, deafness can be often justified.

It can be argued that students have other ways to provide feedback. It is all about perspective and standing in the other’s shoes. An instructor’s form or survey can be viewed as the instructor asking what they want to have answers for, in the way they want it answered, perhaps not wanting to hear what should be or could be said.

Will the students provide feedback in other ways? Are they intimidated? Do they fear the power dynamic? Regardless of what some instructors would like to believe, there is a power dynamic and a perceived risk when a student thinks that they will be ‘identified’. There is a real fear, perhaps rational, perhaps irrational, of immediate or future retribution, and the class rep structure can help address this. We would like to believe that most instructors would not be small-minded or vindictive, but the reality is that a student might have encountered an instructor who was and this can easily set the tone. Urban myths can also abound about vindictive instructors, and while it is easy to dismiss such stories out of hand, it is the students’ reality and view of the world.

It is possible for instructors to overlook that the engaged students who provided authentic feedback are usually willing to, if not looking forward to, further conversations. That is to say, instructors should try to respond to students’ feedback if possible, especially to those collected at the beginning of the term, to let the them know what can be changed based on the feedback, and what cannot be changed, and why. This could help create a positive feedback rapport that can further lead to more authentic feedback down the road.

Suggestions:

What can we learn from the field of process analysis and other situations? Here are a few observations about feedback in an academic setting:

Feedback should be reasonably frequent during the term so that an instructor can catch issues at the beginning of the course, prior to mid-term season, prior to the term winddown.
There should be three post feedback moments: end of classes, after marks are received, 6-8 months after the class.
Students providing feedback are likely to feel more engaged and connected.
Students having a healthy discourse with the instructor will possibly be ‘educated’ in causality, learn more about the learning and teaching process, assuming that the instructor is discussing with them and not talking at them and is not defensive.
Students need to get feedback on the feedback. They should know the reality of the situation or a discussion about how to improve/change or see the direct links between feedback and changes. There should be debriefings with each feedback point, with lots of sincere transparency.
If class reps are involved in the feedback process, they can also provide meta-level intelligence about the course feedback; why certain things are there, if there is indeed a group think, a recent event, a possible bias.
Instructors need to learn how to accept feedback without getting defensive. They should assume in the spirit of process improvement that the course is not perfect, and that there is room and capacity to make controlled change.
Instructors need to include a continuous improvement strategy within a course offering, and before / after the course. An estimate of time an instructor should invest in a course each term is approximately 166 hours all in and a portion of this time can be allotted to improvement once the course demands less.

Students and instructors both require training and help with the process and it should not be assumed that ‘they just know it’.

In non-academic situations, it is common in today’s world for something called a 360 (other names apply) review to be done, sanctioned and facilitated by the organization. An individual might not want or cherish feedback from their peers, ‘customers’, those reporting to them, but they get it. And, they are expected to deal with it in a mature fashion. Some like it, some do not.
Some organizations, not all, provide training on how to give and receive feedback.
Organizations with solid, functional 360’s are considered to be at the best practice level of operational maturity.
Students on work terms and upon graduation might find themselves in an organization with an established 360 or contemplating it. Perhaps it would be good to introduce them to this during their undergraduate journey.

If we as a teaching profession wish to advance beyond amateurish methods and practices, perhaps it would also be good to seriously look at the benefits of a student 360 process and how this might be structured and executed, including training and help with instructors doing this for the first time.

Questions:

Departments and faculties should consider a somewhat formalized class rep structure, with training and help for both students and instructors on how 360 works, can function, the value.

Any feedback form should avoid perceptions such as ‘do you think the course is too hard’.

The feedback should not be used in isolation and should be discussed with the class reps; to understand the context, situational biases (if any).

The feedback should not be given at the same time as a response, the first interaction should be ‘what is the feedback’ and ‘I will get back to you after I think about it’. Responses, explanations, and defensive arguments should not be given in the heat in the moment or in haste.

A survey tool, perhaps several for different times during the term, could be created with both open-ended and specific questions with a limited reliance on perceptions. We suggest that questions probe what the students think about the delivery, but also delve into what is actually happening in the class. Both types of questions are important for process understanding and improvement.

The open-ended questions can be the oft-used ones, leading off ‘tell me what you want’.

Untouched, kept being done.
Changed, tweaked, adjusted.
Not done.
Started
… those types of questions.

The more specific questions should be quantitative if possible, for example:

How many hours a week are you spending on class prep and studying.

How many hours a week on quizzes, assignments.
How many hours on a major project (if applicable).
Are you presently at what you think the class average is, above or below.
Do you think you are keeping up with others in the class or falling behind.
Do you feel that your effort and time spent is reflected in your mark.
Are you usually coming to class prepared, having done the readings, pre-work y/n.
Are you usually doing what a good student is expected to do y/n.
Are you usually clear about what was taught, lectured about by the end of the lecture y/n.

These types of questions, combined with the meta-intel from the class reps can help the instructor decode what is happening in the class, to pose other questions to the class about what is going as expected or not. If the instructor does not believe the feedback, there are ways to drill down either in class, on a quiz etc., to collect evidence of truth or fantasy. Some of the questions are designed to sniff out the class attitude and self-perception. Some of the questions are about caring and showing that you care enough to ask and possibly act on the answers! The questions can show that you understand what the students are doing and what it is like to be a student in your class. Instructors should reflect that although they might not get value, do students? Both instructors and students need to remember that it is not all about them. There is a partner in this dance!

As Bacon observed, knowledge is power. The instructor should not dismiss any feedback out-right without some inductive, deductive, or abductive reasoning and ‘thinking it through’.

You cannot change a student’s perception just by wishing. It is their reality and what they talk about between themselves. Without a voice and without input, situations often deteriorate.

Students should learn how to give, receive 360, as should instructors. The students can also have a 360 moment in what are called communication courses. Instructors can have a 360 moment by doing peer observations and evaluations.

Course feedback situations can be an excellent opportunity to teach students how to evaluate and provide feedback. Use it.

11.5 Class Feedback in the 21st Century

We’re not listening!!!!

Issues with student feedback:

Implications:

Suggestions:

Questions:

Further reading