Mid-Semester Feedback Survey
Mid-Semester Feedback (MSF) has undergone a revision and transitioned to the CoursEval tool, the same platform UMSL uses to collect end-of-semester student feedback survey data. The revised question set was piloted in CoursEval during the Fall 2024 semester and a second pilot will run during the Spring 2025 semester. Interested faculty can register for Mid-Semester Feedback until February 3 (for 8-week 1 courses), February 17 (for 16-week courses), or March 31 (for 8-week 2 courses).
What is the Mid-Semester Feedback Survey?
An anonymous, confidential, non-evaluative, and optional online survey administered through the CoursEval tool to students to obtain early feedback on the course.
What are the benefits?
- Adjust or optimize courses while the semester is still in progress
- Provide insight into faculty's professional development
- Empower students to feel involved in shaping their educational experience
- Research has shown that soliciting mid-semester feedback can:
- stimulate and motivate faculty to learn more and improve their teaching methods
- positively impact student perceptions, motivations, and engagement
- improve end-of-semester survey results
Mid-semester feedback is designed to be non-evaluative and growth-oriented. Only the course instructor has access to view survey results. Department chairs, deans, or other administrators cannot access or request to view reports.
When can faculty register, and when is the survey available for students?Faculty can register for Mid-semester feedback on the first day of the semester up to one week before the survey is scheduled to open. View this semester's CoursEval schedule here.
GIFT (Group Instructional Feedback Technique)
This service is currently on hiatus.
What is a GIFT?
A facilitated student group interview about what is working well in a course and where obstacles to learning may be.
- The instructor explains to the students in the class session prior to the GIFT what will happen during the process, and why the process is being initiated.
- On the day of the GIFT, the instructor introduces the CTL facilitators and leaves the room.
- During the last 20-25 minutes of class, the facilitators guide students to reach a consensus around what is fostering their learning, barriers to their learning, and potential solutions to those barriers.
- The facilitator summarizes the responses, and within one to two days meets with the instructor to discuss the feedback and potential teaching strategies.
- The instructor reports proposed changes and feedback to the class.
What are the benefits?
Confidential feedback can be implemented before final end-of-semester student surveys to optimize learning. The process also empowers students and builds trust with the instructor.
Who can see the feedback results?
Only the instructor and the CTL consultant have access to the feedback.
When should the GIFT be completed?
The GIFT should be completed around mid-semester but should not be administered directly before or after a major exam or assignment.
When can faculty register?
Faculty can register for a GIFT for 16-week classes by the end of the 5th week of the semester and for 8-week classes by the end of the 3rd week of the course.
The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) no longer offers the Mid-semester Design Survey for online courses. If you would like to see the questions that we offered for our course design survey, you can find those questions here. For help and feedback with online courses, please visit the UM-system Office of eLearning.