Mid-Semester Teaching Research

For many, it is mid-way through our semester, which can present teaching and professional development opportunities. A study by Cohen (1980), replicated by Murray (2007), found that students mid-semester perceptions of teaching can have a positive effect on instruction and learning; provide specific areas for improvement; and potentially lead to higher final evaluations.

McGrath (Grad Hacker, 2014) shares the potential power of mid-term student perceptions of instruction. She shares "there are lots of methods for low-stakes feedback, which include class discussions, or using your university LMS or Google Forms." Many universities offer automated, anonymous ways to gather student input. If you would like more detailed feedback, many Centers for Teaching will visit your class and work with your students to gather and analyze data, then share with you, along with specific strategies that align with student comments and your instructional approach.

At our CTL, we offer a mid-semester small group perception data gathering where we visit the professor’s class during the final ten minutes of the class. After the instructor departs, we divide students into small groups and facilitate a discussion focused on the following prompts.

1. What is contributing to student learning in this class?

2. What might need improvement to enhance learning?

3. What is one concrete action which the instructor can act upon now that might improve learning?

We then summarize the anonymous responses into categories and share the analysis in aggregate during a follow up session with the instructor.

Cohen, P. (1980). Effectiveness of student-rating feedback for improving college instruction: A meta-analysis of findings. Research in Higher Education, 13(4,) 321–341.

Murray, H. G. (2007). Low-inference teaching behaviors and college teaching effectiveness: Recent developments and controversies. In R. P. Perry & J. C. Smart (Eds.), The scholarship of teaching and learning in higher education: An evidence-based perspective (pp. 145-200). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.