I really, really enjoyed the Momentum Summit Virtual Sessions this year.  These sessions sparked meaningful conversations about the student experience, both inside and outside the classroom. Across several of the sessions a theme emerged: capturing and learning from student voices. I’d like to use this episode as a way to tie some of these threads together with what I had planned to highlight this month, which is Midmester Check-ins.

The Student Experience

The Summit included several sessions that were explicitly centered on the student experience in a range of domains:

» Albany State University’s Midterm Conversations
Focuses on students who face challenges midway through the semester. By understanding their academic and non-academic lives, we can tailor support to their unique needs.

» UNG’s Fostering Belonging
Focuses on what it might take to make commuter and non-traditional students feel a greater sense of belonging.

» UWG’s Common Course Elements
Works to reduce the cognitive load of students while they negotiate the LMS across all of their courses.

This made me think about how much information we collect – formally and informally – about the rhythm of the student experience on campus and the ways in which this cycle impacts their attitudes, motivation, and learning. [Some of you may have already heard me talk about this a bit in the framework of the student stress cycle, but what emerged from the Summit goes even further.]

Beyond the Classroom

The sessions also got me thinking about how important this sort of informal knowledge is to shaping not only instruction, but the overall life and rhythm of the campus.

I often think about this in the context of a journey through the year – the initial excitement, the first encounter with disappointment, the swamps of uncertainty, the hills of struggle or the stillness of the doldrums, and the race to the finish. But when I look up from teaching, I realize this same cycle is overlaid with our students’ other experiences, many of which also have a pattern.

A Challenge and an Opportunity

Something I mentioned in the first episode of this newsletter was relentless welcome. That toolkit provides us with practical strategies to capture some of the student cycle in real time. This could include:

1. Regular check-ins. Check in with the students you teach or encounter and ask both how things are, but also what is going on. This has the advantage of making students feel seen, heard, and valued. It is also a really great way to keep a finger on how they are experiencing school as a whole.
2. Data-driven decision making. These check-ins be used to shape your instructional approach and schedule. The more you know about how students are experiencing your course and your campus, the more you can use this to shape what you do and when.

Midmester Check ins

When I was originally planning this episode, I was really interested in talking about how to build in student input into your reflective practice in a formative way. The totally amazing Denise Domizi shared a bit with me about how she goes about Mid-semester check ins, which she helpfully gave me permission to share:

Midsemester Feedback

Midsemester Feedback helps you gather information from your students about how they are learning in your course. This allows you to make changes as needed, and also helps your students reflect on their own learning.

To collect midsemester feedback, you can use an online survey tool or you can go old-school and hand out paper questionnaires (paper questionnaires given during class time drastically increases your response rate). The form should be anonymous so that students can share their honest opinions without fear of repercussions.

The form should consist of a few open-ended questions that allow students to express their thoughts and suggestions. You can use the following questions as a guide, but feel free to modify them according to your course context and objectives:

Once you receive the responses, take some time in private to review each question and look for common themes and patterns. Next, focus on the third question: What specific thing can I (the instructor) do to help your learning in the remaining weeks of the course.

Are there reasonable suggestions you are willing to act on, either by changing your practice or by communicating better with your students about why you do what you do?

The next time your class meets, talk with your students about themes and trends you saw. Be sure to mention both positive and negative feedback. Then talk about what changes you will make because of their feedback.

Conducting midsemester feedback helps students feel their voices are heard, and gives you the opportunity to make your course more effective for your students.