How is Your Course Going? Let Learning Innovation Solicit Mid-Semester Student Feedback

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As we approach the midpoint of the Fall 2021 semester, Duke Learning Innovation is offering help for faculty who wish to reflect on successes and identify areas for improvement within their courses.  Small Group Instructional Feedback (SGIF) is a formative, mid-course check-in used for gathering information from students on their learning experience. This process, which is offered at many institutions nationally, is designed to foster dialogue between students and instructors, and to offer students a transparent way to surface their concerns about the course in a thoughtful way.

Note: In Fall 2021, all SGIF sessions will be conducted in the same format as the class. If your course is meeting in-person, we will conduct the SGIF in your physical classroom during a regular class meeting time. If your course is meeting in Zoom or is hybrid, we will conduct the session in Zoom during one of your scheduled class times. 

The SGIF process is as follows:

  1. The instructor initiates the SGIF process by completing a request form.
  2. A Teaching Consultant from Learning Innovation will meet with the instructor in order to provide an overview of the program, address any questions or concerns, and schedule the SGIF, which will last 20-30 minutes.
  3. Teaching Consultants from Learning Innovation will facilitate the SGIF session at the agreed-upon time, ask students to join small groups, reflect, and reach consensus on their answers to the following questions:
    • What is going well for you in the course so far? 
    • What do you think could be improved in the course? 
    • A custom question for that particular course, based on discussion with the instructor.
  4. The Teaching Consultant will meet with the instructor to review a report summarizing anonymized outcomes of the SGIF and to help determine how to best respond to students. 

Mid-semester student feedback is a valuable resource, and faculty who have participated in one have found them valuable.

Request Small Group Instructional Feedback by clicking here to complete the request form. Note: the earliest possible date for a scheduled SGIF is one week after receipt of this form.

If you have any questions, contact learninginnovation@duke.edu.