Mid-course evaluations
Mid-course evaluations are a strategy for instructors to get feedback about students’ learning experiences while a course is under way.
Mid-course evaluations, typically conducted between weeks 4 and 7 for regularly scheduled courses, allow you to receive feedback about the course while you are still able to make adjustments. Consider engaging your students in dialogue about teaching and learning by sharing the feedback you receive.
Why do mid-course evaluations?
Mid-course evaluations serve several purposes, such as:
Obtaining feedback that allows for you to make in-term adjustments to support students’ learning, clarify areas of confusion early on, and give students a sense of agency in informing the course experience (McGill’s March 2021 Remote Teaching Survey).
Communicating to students that your course is designed with their learning in mind.
Encouraging students to reflect on what they feel supports their learning.
Demonstrating to students that you value their input.
Raising students’ awareness of the value of course evaluations and thus also motivate students to complete MERCURY end-of-course evaluations.
It is important to manage expectations: Be transparent with students about your reasons for having them do mid-course evaluations and explain how you will use their responses. Clarify beforehand that there are things you won’t be able to change at this point in the course, such as the choice of textbook.
When should the evaluations be implemented?
Mid-course evaluations should happen after students have received some feedback from you on their learning (i.e., feedback on at least one assignment) and early enough in the term for you to make use of their feedback. Four to seven weeks into the course (for a 13-week course, for example) would be a good time to implement mid-course evaluations.
How should the evaluations be implemented?
Mid-course evaluations should include three to four questions and be quick for students to complete, and the results should not be too time-consuming for you to summarize and interpret. When planning how you will collect feedback, consider the number of students in your course and the time you will need to interpret the responses. With that information in mind, consider the type of questions that will allow you to get the information you seek.
Closed questions | Open-ended questions |
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Example questions
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Strategies
With these considerations in mind, we offer several strategies for gathering mid-course feedback from your students.
Online Survey in myCourses or MS Forms
Create an anonymous online survey in myCourses or with MS Forms. Surveys are easy for students to complete; the comments will be legible; and it is possible to download reports.
Learn more about surveys in myCourses and MS Forms.
Anonymous Discussion in myCourses
Open a discussion in myCourses that allows for anonymous posts. Be sure to select the option to “Allow anonymous posts” when setting up the topic. Inform your students that in order to post anonymous feedback, they should select the checkbox to “Post as Anonymous” before posting.
Learn more about Discussions in myCourses.
Anonymous Polling Questions
Do a poll. Polls allow for both multiple choice and open-ended questions. Be sure to set each question to “anonymous” and configure the polling session so that results do not display for students.
Learn more about Polling @ McGill.
One-minute Paper
At the end of class, ask students to write a response, in one minute, to a question such as “Where do you feel you need more guidance to support your learning?” Students submit their responses to you either on paper or electronically.
Student-led Discussion
Obtain feedback from the students as a group (as opposed to individual feedback). To ensure anonymity and allow students to speak freely, leave the class for 10-15 minutes while students confer. In large classes, students should split into groups of no more than 20. Each group selects a facilitator and a reporter, and discusses constructive suggestions for the instructors (and TAs where applicable). The reporter records the feedback and reports to the instructor immediately after class. We recommend that instructors agree on some guidelines with the students beforehand.
Detailed instructions for Small Group Instructional Diagnosis.
Student-led Discussion with facilitation by a colleague
Obtain feedback from the students as a group with a colleague’s assistance. Three main steps can be followed:
Plan the session: Identify features of your course that you would like feedback on from students (see sample questions for inspiration). Find a colleague from another faculty or unit who is willing to facilitate a feedback session and who is not involved in assigning grades for your course. Meet with the colleague to discuss the feedback you are seeking.
Conduct the guided mid-course evaluation: Invite the colleague to visit your course mid-way through the term, for about 30 minutes. Introduce your colleague to the students. Leave the classroom. Your colleague will pose students questions based on your planning session. Students work in groups, sharing their perspectives and writing responses to the questions. Every group contributes one suggestion to a full class discussion facilitated by your colleague. The groups then submit their written responses to your colleague. Your colleague summarizes the feedback after the class.
Debrief the feedback received: Meet with your colleague to discuss the summarized feedback. Decide what feedback you will/will not act on. Share with your students what you learned from their feedback, the changes you will make as a result of their feedback, and the rationale for your choices.
(Strategy shared by instructor Jovan Nedić, Faculty of Engineering, and Academic Associate Maria Orjuela-Laverde, Teaching and Learning Services, at McGill’s Large Class Teaching Exchange)
What should be asked?
Questions should focus on aspects of the course that you are still able and willing to change at this point in the term. Questions pertaining to future course offerings should be reserved for MERCURY end-of-course evaluations.
Mid-course evaluations should not be long and complicated. Three to four questions that address different facets of the course (e.g., content, presentation, learning environment/atmosphere) might be adequate for gathering meaningful feedback.
Sample questions:
With regard to your learning, what is the most effective aspect of this course, and why?
What is least effective?
What would you change about the (course/lectures/labs)?
What else would you like to tell me about the (course/lab/studio)?
With regard to your learning, how effective is the course overall? Why?
How should feedback be addressed?
Analyze and reflect
Responses from closed questions can be easily summarized in a table or graph. Responses to open-ended questions may be more complex to analyze. The Comments Analysis Worksheet can help you separate positive from negative feedback and organize it by category. Seeing the feedback in this format provides perspective and can help you decide which comments would be important to act on. To help derive the most benefit from the student feedback, we encourage you to discuss the results with a trusted colleague or someone from Teaching and Learning Services.
Discuss with the students
You don’t need to act on everything, but you should talk about the feedback with your students in a timely manner, ideally within a week following the evaluation. Consider:
Sharing a summary of the feedback you received.
Highlighting what students described as working well.
Letting students know what you will and will not change as a result of their feedback and, where applicable, explain the reasons for keeping the status quo.
Addressing opportunities for what both you and students can do to make the most of the learning opportunities remaining in the term.
Responding to students’ feedback in this way demonstrates that you value their input but still have pedagogical reasons for your decisions. Showing students you value their input might also encourage students to provide follow-up feedback on MERCURY end-of-course evaluations.
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