Two Way Communication

As the semester begins to settle into its routines, good teachers check to see how students are responding to the now-familiar classroom patterns. They ask for feedback and use it to make adjustments that enhance the learning environment.

Open communication can be the most effective tool for carrying out your instructional plans. The results of a recent survey of First Year students suggest to us that clear communication is a key ingredient of success.

Naturally, students may be hesitant to volunteer constructive feedback to instructors who will be grading them. Teachers must create safe ways to elicit suggestions. The following tips offer some ideas for getting valuable information from your students.

Ask Your Students

Collecting information quickly and anonymously usually meets most teachers' needs for feedback. Here are some ways to ask students for ideas.

Early Informal Feedback. A sample form that asks 3 quick questions is available from the CIRT.

One-Minute Response. Hand out index cards and ask students to list something they like about the course on one side and list a recommendation on the other. If you have a specific concern, make that the focus of the writing. Responses on cards should take 5 minutes or less.

Class Committees. Appoint or elect a committee of students to represent their peers. Meet with them on a regular basis (weekly or biweekly). If other students don't bring suggestions to this group, ask them to discuss the course with you. Billy Moates, Systems and Decision Sciences, developed a list of qualities of a good class with his students and uses the class committee to assess whether these qualities are present (a good TQM exercise).

Reflect. Ask students to reflect on their success in learning the course material. What is working? What could be done better (by everyone)? Sharing ideas makes students more aware of their own role in the learning process and focuses suggestions on how to improve productive habits.

Do It Yourself

It helps to pay specific attention to our own teaching. Because teaching involves great concentration, we are often unaware of our habits. The following tips are useful for looking at some part of our teaching more carefully.

Checklist. Our Developing Instructional Awareness checklist is a good starter (we'll send you a copy). It lists a range of behaviors found in classrooms. Review it before teaching and see if you act the way you predict.

Self-Evaluation. Special self-evaluation instruments can sharpen our understanding of some aspect of teaching. For example, a CIRT form assesses where and when teachers feel uncomfortable with students. It helps us decide what strategies to use for reducing discomfort.

Video. Many teachers say that watching themselves on TV is an eye-opening experience. Arrange videotaping service yourself. If you would like help planning, taping, or reviewing your tape, contact the CIRT. We have a people who know effective ways to learn from taped classes.

Get a Little Help from Your Friends

Having a trusted outsider come in to collect some information can be another great source of feedback. The CIRT has a program called the Classroom Observation Program. We have worked with a group of students to make them reliable data collectors. They know how to use a number of methods. Contact the CIRT for information about how a student would work with you.

Small Group Instructional Diagnosis. An interviewer needs about 20 minutes of class time to lead students through a series of questions. Comments are collected, summarized, and delivered to the teacher.

Observations. Trained observers focus on classroom processes and outline what happens while you teach. Usually, specific aspects of the class are chosen for attention.

Final Comments

Two-way feedback works best when teachers share the results with students. If you make a change based on their input, let them know that you are trying to respond to their input. If the situation permits, ask for their suggestions. What would they do? What can they do to contribute to a better learning environment?

Use feedback sessions to develop dialogue. Avoid defensiveness when you open up these channels of communication. You are not asking for criticism. Every class needs to adjust its routines to the people who are involved that semester. Feedback creates the chance for students and teachers to express their interests and discover how unmet needs could be addressed by small changes. Two-way communication builds a personal quality to the classroom that helps it over momentary confusions and frustrations that are part of the learning process. It is key to the continual improvement process used by good teachers.

Feedback on how well students are learning course material using CATS is another dimension of this process. Find out more at the CIRT.

This Teaching Tip was first published by Indiana State University’s, Center for Teaching and Learning on February 3, 1997.