Grading, Assessment, and Feedback
41 Getting Feedback
Formative and Summative Feedback
Feedback is a crucial part of teaching and learning. Getting feedback from your students throughout the semester will help you create a teaching and learning environment where meaningful engagement and positive experiences happen!
The Seminar Environment
Get feedback from your students throughout the term.
Periodic evaluations can inform you what is working and what is not. Every group is different so make sure you check in with each group as to what they like and benefit from. Ask them about their learning and how you can help them succeed.
Methods for Gathering Feedback
Here, we have included 2 methods for gathering feedback from your students during the semester.
“Stop, Start, Continue”
- Ask your students to take out a blank piece of paper and to leave it nameless – do not have them put their name on the piece of paper.
- Ask the seminar to write one or two things that you are doing in class that they want you to ‘stop’ doing.
- Ask your students to write one or two things that they would like to see you ‘start’ doing.
- Ask them to list one or two things that they like and feel that you should ‘continue’ doing within the seminar/lab.
“Two Stars and Wish”
- Ask the students to take out a blank piece of paper and to leave it nameless – do not have them put their names on the piece of paper.
- Ask the seminar to write down two things that happen in the classroom that help them learn.
- Ask the seminar to write down one thing that they wish you would start doing to help them learn.
Make sure that you bring a summary of the feedback to your students the following week so they can see/hear what they thought as a class and so they can see the changes that you will be implementing.
This is a great way to get students feedback and to facilitate a balanced discussion of areas of improvement, areas of strength and areas of opportunity as they relate to your student’s objectives and performance!
Other methods you can use to get feedback from your students throughout the year include:
- exit cards;
- voluntary online surveys;
- checklists;
- rating scales; and
- single point rubrics.
The Lab Environment
The methods listed for the seminar environment could also be used in the lab environment. Frazer, Giddings and McRobbie (1992, in Weimer) suggest that the following questionnaire be used twice.
First, having students report what actually happens. Second, students state what they wish would happen.
This inventory has been proven to be a reliable and valid source of information about what students think about the lab environment and only takes five minutes to administer.
Questionnaire: Science Laboratory Classroom Environments at Schools & Universities
For each question chose one number from this 5 point scale:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| almost never | seldom | sometimes | often | very often |
- Students in this laboratory class get along well as a group. _____
- There is an opportunity for students to pursue their own science interests in this laboratory class. _____
- What we do in our regular science class is unrelated to our laboratory work. _____
- Our laboratory class has clear rules to guide student activities. _____
- The laboratory is crowded when we are doing experiments. _____
- Students have little chance to get to know each other in this laboratory class. _____
- In this laboratory class, we are required to design our own experiments to solve a given problem. _____
- The laboratory work is unrelated to the topics that we are studying in our science class. _____
- This laboratory class is rather informal and few rules are imposed. _____
- The equipment and materials that students need for laboratory activities are readily available. _____
- Members of this laboratory class help one another. _____
- In our laboratory sessions, different students collect different data for the same problem. _____
- Our regular science class work is integrated with laboratory activities. _____
- Students are required to follow certain rules in the laboratory. _____
- Students are ashamed of the appearance of this laboratory. _____
For each question chose one number from this 5 point scale:
1 2 3 4 5 almost never seldom sometimes often very often - Student in this laboratory class get to know each other well. _____
- Students are allowed to go beyond the regular laboratory exercise and do some experimenting of their own. _____
- We use the theory from our regular science class sessions during laboratory activities. _____
- There is a recognized way of doing things safely in this laboratory. _____
- Laboratory equipment is in poor working order. _____
- Students are able to depend on each other for help during laboratory classes. _____
- In our laboratory sessions, different students do different experiments. _____
- The topics covered in regular science class work are quite different from topics dealt with in laboratory sessions. _____
- There are few fixed rules for students to follow in laboratory sessions. _____
- The laboratory is hot and stuffy. _____
- It takes a long time to get to know everybody by his/her first name in this laboratory class. _____
- In our laboratory sessions, the teacher/instructor decides the best way to carry out the laboratory experiments. _____
- What we do in laboratory sessions helps us to understand the theory covered in regular science classes. _____
- The instructor outlines safety precautions before laboratory sessions commence. _____
- The laboratory is an attractive place in which to work. _____
- Students work cooperatively in laboratory sessions. _____
- Students decide the best way to proceed during laboratory experiments. _____
- Laboratory work and regular science class work are unrelated. _____
- This laboratory class is run under clearer rules than other classes. _____
- The laboratory has enough room for individual or group work. _____
