Tools and Resources

This is a ready-to-use template for collecting mid-semester or end-of-course open-ended feedback from students.

Instructors are the most important determinant of student participation. Students are more likely to submit feedback if they know that instructors value their feedback and use it to make improvements in the course. Below are suggestions for how you might discuss mid-semester feedback with your students.

This document suggests a variety of testing models and explains why each is effective. They are alternatives or supplements to the "mid-term and a final" model.

Making the Right Impressions on the First Day of Class
What can be done then to make a positive first impression in the classroom? In a study
(Hayward, 2001) where students were given a survey after the first class meeting, factors
contributing to positive perceptions of teaching effectiveness were identified.
The power of knowing, in the first two seconds, is our ability to make quick judgments. Think back to when you were in school and how long did it take you to size up a professor? Did you know the first day how good a teacher was, or did it take several classes or the entire semester? Research has found that students watching a silent two-second video clip of a teacher they have never met reach very similar conclusions about that teacher’s effectiveness when compared to students who have sat in the teacher’s class for a semester.
Students have been found to quickly size up a professor on these four factors:

General syllabus for the Course in College Teaching. The syllabus varies slightly from semester to semester depending upon who is leading the course, but this document gives an overview. For detailed information about the current semester's syllabus, contact site@psu.edu.

The Midterm/Midsemester Class Interview (or Small Group Instructional Diagnosis, SGID) is a process designed to help instructors learn what their students think about how the course is going. Students identify elements of the class that are helping them learn and offer suggestions to strengthen the course. We recommend using this procedure in the middle of the semester, after students have received at least one grade. The process involves three steps: 1) meeting with an instructional consultant to discuss the instructor's objectives for the process; 2) a class interview with small groups and a whole class discussion; and a post-interview summary and discussion of the results with the consultant.

Teaching and Advising Resources for the Inauguration and Beyond
This document offers resources for creating a positive learning environment for all students and addressing challenges that might arise at the beginning of this semester. Main topics include: Checking in with Ourselves and Our Students; Engaging in Dialogue with Students; Managing Classroom Disruptions

The questionnaire includes seven items, which are the same for every instructor. Responses to items 1-4 are available to the instructor and their academic unit head. Items 5-7 are provided only to the instructor. Fall semester 2023 is the first to use this questionnaire. It replaces the SRTE.

The Midterm/Midsemester Class Interview (or Small Group Instructional Diagnosis, SGID) is a process designed to help instructors learn what their students think about how the course is going. Students identify elements of the class that are helping them learn and offer suggestions to strengthen the course. We recommend using this procedure in the middle of the semester, after students have received at least one grade. The process involves three steps: 1) meeting with an instructional consultant to discuss the instructor's objectives for the process; 2) a class interview with small groups and a whole class discussion; and a post-interview summary and discussion of the results with the consultant.