One of the Center's primary functions is to offer consultation to colleagues seeking advice and information on instructional concerns. As an enhancement to this function, the Center offers individual faculty members a midsemester assessment (MAPS).  This is an opportunity to receive feedback on students' learning experiences during the middle of their course, when there is time to make adjustments or improvements.  To request a midsemester assessment click here .

        Typically, professors have their students evaluate teaching performance at the end of the semester.  The rationale for this appears obvious. Wait until the students have seen the whole show, so to speak, before asking them to comment.  While this is a valid point, the problem with it is that, once the semester is over, nothing can be done to correct problems for that class.  For this reason, we offer the alternative of  assessing performance in mid-semester.   The assessment takes about thirty minutes of class time and is completely confidential. Nobody except the professor requesting it and the person carrying out the assessment sees it unless the professor wishes to share the results with others on his or her own. 

        The midsemester assessment is actually a three-step process involving the course instructor, students in the instructor's class, and a faculty colleague trained to act as a facilitator.  The first step is a conference between the instructor and the facilitator, so that the instructor can learn more about the assessment process. The next step is to have the facilitator come to the class, and carry out the assessment as described below.  The third step is a conference between the instructor and the facilitator in which they discuss the students' comments and the instructor's reaction to them.  If asked and if appropriate, at this point the facilitator may wish to offer suggestions about how the instructor can go about changes in accordance with student responses.  It must be emphasized that this part of the process is completely nonjudgmental.  The facilitator's role is primarily to convey the student reactions to the instructor, not to interfere with his or her autonomy in the classroom.  The instructor, on his or her own, may wish to use a few minutes of an ensuing class to get clarification from students about comments that were unclear, or to summarize the students' comments to allow them to correct distortions. 

    The actual assessment takes place as follows.  In the last half hour of the class, the instructor introduces the facilitator, who then asks the students to break up into groups and to select one member of each group as a recorder.  Then the facilitator hands out a form which has three questions on it, with room underneath for answers.  The questions are, "What do you like about this course?", "What do you think needs improvement?", and "What suggestions do you have for bringing about these improvements?" The recorder takes down the responses and then prioritizes the group's responses by indicating with a star the one or two responses in each category that the group feels are most important to communicate to the professor.  After ten minutes of discussion time, the facilitator asks each recorder to report on the responses.  The facilitator writes the responses on the board, being sensitive to dissension and minority views.  When a statement is not shared by most, the facilitator requests a show of hands and records the approximate breakdown.  A copy of the statements on the board is made to share with the instructor. 

        What advantage is there in using such an approach, rather than the more traditional questionnaire replete with numbers from 1 to 5? Numerical indices provide no detailed explanations and offer no possible solutions.  They do not give the students a chance to discuss or voice opinions about issues that are important to them, nor do they have an immediate impact on the course as it will be taught for the rest of the semester. In contrast, this method yields overtly verbalized suggestions for improved teaching, and, at the same time, provides positive feedback about what the instructor is doing well. Also, by asking first what the students like about the class, the evaluation stresses what is positive, not negative, about the class. 

    ------  Adapted from "Student Group Instructional Diagnosis: A Practical Approach to Improving Teaching" in AAHE Bulletin (February 1982), Vol. 34, No. 6, pp. 8-10.