24.6: Capturing Final Comments and Attitudes
- Page ID
- 88369
Conduct summative feedback for a number of reasons: to check how things went, to evaluate the effectiveness of a specific assignment or resource, or to gauge student attitudes about the course as a whole. The summative feedback will be a useful set of data for course redesign. While the current students will not benefit from any changes you make, future students will have a better experience.
Online Survey
Similar to the formative feedback surveys, you can use a closing survey to find out what students feel about specific aspects of your online teaching or their overall experience. There are numerous survey tools out there. Some are stand-alone, online survey tools and some are integrated into learning management systems.
Plus/Delta Exercise
This group exercise is used in a variety of settings: corporate meetings, training workshops, closing sessions at conferences, and, of course, K-16 classrooms. The purpose is to identify publicly what people think about a particular shared experience. The name “plus/delta” comes from the two symbols—plus (+), signifying positive aspects of the experience, and delta (∆), signifying aspects that people would change—that sit atop two blank columns. In a group setting, participants then add items to each column. Some facilitators will give each person a chance to either add an item or pass, while others go with a looser approach, letting people call out items while they write them down in the correct column. Usually this is done with large pieces of paper on an easel or taped to the wall, so everyone in the room can see the growing lists.
After participating in several plus/delta exercises during collaborative conference sessions, I decided to facilitate one for my graduate practicum course about needs assessment. In this sixteen-week hybrid course, students conduct needs assessment activities for real-world clients in corporate, higher education, K–12 education and non-profit settings. Since the lists are supposed to be compiled publicly, I used Microsoft Word on a computer hooked up to a projector instead of using a chart board or butcher paper. That way I could post the final product online for reference later. If you are teaching a fully online course, or a hybrid course, you can have students provide the same information using a threaded discussion. Next time, I will conduct it as a discussion forum or wiki, rather than in the classroom.
Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\) contains the actual plus/delta items from the exercise that I conducted with my students at the last face-to-face meeting of our class on needs assessment. You can see the wide range of things that students liked and would like to change. You can also see that the “Delta,” or change request, list is longer. When I teach this course again in the fall, I will make quite a few changes!
Online Teaching Effectiveness
You may use the same rubric—possibly created along with the students—at the end of the term, as you did at the beginning and/or middle.
Official School or Campus Evaluation
You can use the official evaluation provided by the school or campus. Students are very familiar with this evaluation, so ask them to take it seriously. If you are teaching an online course, check if your campus or school has a way to distribute the evaluation form. If not, copy the questions and conduct it yourself using one of the techniques described above. In some cases, instructors can add questions to gather data about specific teaching practices. Use this opportunity to learn how students feel overall about the experience; how they feel about specific content, activities, or assessment strategies; or how they feel about your teaching. If the official course evaluation is conducted online, then you will be able to code the qualitative comments to find common student likes and dislikes.
Throughout the chapter, I have been telling you how supportive students can be. However, some students turn summative evaluations into venting sessions, stating that “the instructor should never be allowed to teach online again … ever” or “this was the worst class I have ever taken.” There are any number of reasons why a student might do this: anger at him or herself for not performing up to his or her standards, frustration with frequent or high-impact technology failures, infrequent instructor feedback, or other things. Whether or not the harsh criticism is justified, it is usually not accompanied by constructive comments. Despite our best efforts, it can also be really hard to read. Remember that a vocal minority does not constitute the entire class. Focus on the students who do provide real suggestions for change, and use those as the basis for your next try. Talk to your peers about the negative responses while reviewing your course environment. Your peers might be able to make suggestions that the students did not make. Lastly, use one or two of the formative feedback suggestions above to make sure that students do not go an entire semester without an opportunity to tell you how they feel.