Build In Student Feedback

by Lisa Waananen Jones
Edward R. Murrow College of Communication

Teaching online can feel disorienting if you’re used to informal classroom feedback when students nod, take notes, look confused, ask for clarification, etc. Build in opportunities for frequent student feedback about course content, as well as how students are doing in general.

Some examples for how to do this:

• If you have weekly quizzes or assignments, add an open-ended question about what was most confusing or challenging from that week’s content. I think it’s fair to give credit for this since it’s self-reflection that shows engagement with the material, and also provides feedback you can incorporate immediately.
• Set up the equivalent of clicker questions that students can answer as they go through readings or lectures on their own. There are a variety of tools and formats for this, but short quizzes in Blackboard work just fine.
• Consider sending a brief “how are things going?” email to check in with students individually.

You can even say there’s no need to respond if everything is going well, but this opening makes it easier for students to respond with minor issues or personal circumstances they otherwise wouldn’t tell you about.