Mid-Semester Student Feedback

Instructors should consider two to three aspects of their class that they would most like to receive feedback. Four core questions exist as a default in the mid-semester feedback tool on Canvas:

• What is helping your learning in this class? 
• What is hindering your learning in this class? 
• What could the instructor change to improve your learning experience in this class? 
• What could you do differently to improve your learning experience in this class?

Early in each semester, instructors may add up to four additional questions in more specific areas where they would like feedback. You may also refer to these sample survey questions to use or adapt.

Instructors should feel free to ask open-ended questions on surveys, but question parameters should be clear, with little ambiguous language - the more ambiguous, the more likely a student is to skip. “Is your instructor an effective teacher?” is a less clear, less helpful question than “How does your instructor engage your attention?”

Students are more likely to answer, and to complete the survey, when questions can be grasped quickly. Questions can open with direct, punchy words: “How,” “Does,” “What.”

Online surveys, especially when used in class, should not extend beyond 5-6 questions, unless the instructor has signaled a more extensive survey with a lengthier approximate time. Instructors might also post an “expected time to completion” near the top of the survey.

Instructors can mix question formats, moving among short-form answer, long-form answer, multiple choice, and Likert-scale. This provides different approaches and kinds of information for instructors, and makes the survey less repetitive for students.

Instructors should consider what form of mid-semester feedback is best for their course. Various approaches will offer different data for instructors’ pedagogical goals. For instance, small group feedback sessions yield high-quality results but take 20 minutes of class time. Conversely, anonymous online surveys take less time but may be less thorough or reliable. In-class discussions or one-on-one meetings with the instructor are generally beneficial for assessing student learning but may inhibit students’ freedom to give instructors honest feedback.

Yale supports the Mid-Semester Feedback Tool, which allows instructors to collect anonymous feedback from students through Canvas. 

In addition, instructors may choose to use other survey tools supported by Yale.

• Google Forms can also be used to design anonymous surveys, providing long-form or multiple choice questions, basic Likert-scale answer keys, and basic statistical data: 
  • How to use Google Forms
  • How to add questions and edit
  • How to send a survey to students
• Microsoft Forms has similar features, in addition to a template for feedback forms.
  • How to design a Microsoft Form

Instructors should try to schedule mid-semester feedback before the first significant graded midterm assignment. This gives students a chance to specify areas of concern and ways in which they feel underprepared before they are formally assessed.

Clearly offer the opportunity for mid-semester feedback to students via Canvas via the Mid-Semester Feedback Tool. If possible, set aside class time for them to complete the feedback to ensure a representative sample of students from each course respond.

The literature suggests that student feedback may be biased against women and minorities and thus not always valid measures of instruction (Reid, 2010; Basow, S.A. & Martin, J.L. 2012). With this in mind, instructors may consider student mid-semester feedback as one data source in their instruction, take note of any prevailing themes, and decide how to respond. They can seek out other ways to assess their practices to accompany student feedback data before taking steps to modify instruction. One option is to invite an external observer from the Poorvu Center who can also conduct a small group feedback session anonymously at the end of the class observed. The Poorvu Center also offers consultations regarding mid-semester feedback data collected.

Instructors should keep in mind that asking for feedback without following up can hurt class, since it suggests to students that their opinions might not matter. Instead, instructors can clarify any confusions or misunderstandings with students about their feedback, explain their intended plans for utilizing the feedback, and thank students for their honesty, inviting them to continue working with the instructor to improve the course.

The Poorvu Center helps instructors collect, interpret, and respond to mid-semester feedback data. Some specific Poorvu Center services include:  

• Organizing in-person course evaluations through small group feedback sessions (SGFS) (without the instructor present) and/or classroom observations
• Providing sample questions for evaluation surveys and instructions for creating anonymous online surveys
• Arranging in-person consultations to interpret results and plan possible responses

Mid-semester feedback may help both instructors and students as it leads to course adjustments that benefit both. Other times, instructors may take in the feedback, acknowledge it, yet explain why a certain practice or workload will continue because it is essential to the course learning outcomes.

• Invite students to complete the Mid-Semester Feedback Tool through Canvas or create an anonymous form through another Yale-supported survey such as a Microsoft Teams or Google form
• Set aside time in class for a small group feedback session led by a member of the Poorvu Center without the instructor present

• Discuss with a peer or reflect on self-solicited feedback based on clear criteria provided by the instructor
• Complete ungraded online quizzes 
• Engage with self-reflective knowledge surveys or journaling assignments 

• Co-create questions, co-design the format, and co-analyze evaluation results 
• Use this approach as a creative and more radical way to empower student voices and actively engage students as respondents, researchers, and learners

Basow, S. A., & Martin, J. L. (2012). Bias in student evaluations. In M. E. Kite (Ed.), Effective evaluation of teaching: A guide for faculty and administrators (pp. 40–49). Society for the Teaching of Psychology.

Hunt, N. (2003). Does mid-semester feedback make a difference?. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 13-20.

Reid, L. D. (2010). The role of perceived race and gender in the evaluation of college teaching on RateMyProfessors.Com. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 3(3), 137–152. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019865

Sozer, E. M., Zeybekoglu, Z., & Kaya, M. (2019). Using mid-semester course evaluation as a feedback tool for improving learning and teaching in higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education.

Wickramasinghe, Sumith R., and William M. Timpson. (2006) “Mid-semester student feedback enhances student learning.” Education for Chemical Engineers 1.1 : 126-133.

1. The Poorvu Center has sample questions for mid-semester feedback surveys.
2. Marincovich (1999) provides a guide on improving teaching by soliciting feedback.
3. The University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Teaching and Learning provides a useful resource on collecting mid-semester feedback.