Spring 2026 DEADLINE
Midterm Feedback Services will close Friday, March 13, 2026.
Midterm feedback from students is a valuable way to improve your teaching during a current semester. We are available to help you collect timely and valuable information from your students that can then be applied to the latter half of that semester. This service is offered in two formats—in-person and online.
In-Person
In this format, one of our team members facilitates a structured discussion in your class to gather feedback from your students. We recommend this format for in-person and synchronous online courses.
Online
In this version, one of our team members implements a sequence of surveys through your Canvas course site to obtain student feedback. We recommend this format for asynchronous online courses
Regardless of the format, this process is meant to help you improve your teaching, not to serve as an evaluation tool, so the results are confidential—we don't report them to anyone but you.
Register
Please complete our registration form to request services.
Please note the following guidelines:
- We will offer this service during weeks four through ten of each semester; moving it any later makes meaningful changes more difficult.
- We ask that you gather feedback on only one class per semester; our resources are limited, and so is your ability to adjust your teaching mid-semester without feeling overwhelmed.
Questions?
Contact us for more information.
Here's How it Works
You will meet with one of our facilitators to discuss the specific feedback you are looking for from your students such as your sharing of course content, interactions, assignments, and any other area of your teaching. We will then discuss the procedure and set up a date for either your in-person or online format.
In-Person
On the day of the discussion, you will briefly introduce the activity and the facilitator before leaving the classroom. The facilitator will break the class into small groups of four to five students and ask them to write individually for a few moments on the questions below. The groups will then discuss their comments and decide on their top answers for each question. Finally, each group will report out to the larger class and the facilitator will help the class decide on the top answers to each question.
The questions can vary, depending on the initial meeting, but typically follow this pattern:
- What about the class currently supports your learning of the course content and/or skills?
- What could the instructor do to further support you learning?
- What can you—as a student—do to support learning in this class?
Online
The DOSL team member assigned to your request will send you the Midterm Feedback module in Canvas and a link to a Qualtrics survey. You will edit some module information that is specific to your course—course name, survey link, completion date—and publish the module in your course Canvas site. The survey asks three questions:
- What about the class currently supports your learning of the course content and/or skills?
- What could the instructor do to further support your learning?
- What can you—as a student—do to support learning in this class?
After the facilitator gathers comments, he or she will prepare a short-written report for you that highlights the results of the discussion, the student recommendations and any other issues that arose during the class session (e.g. significant points of disagreement, etc.) and/or through survey responses. You will then meet with the facilitator to discuss the report and possible actions or changes you might consider.
After you have time to digest the report and consider changes, you should communicate the results with your class. Most teachers will go through the list and talk about what changes they are willing to make and what changes they cannot or will not make, with an explanation as to why. This honest discussion is key to keeping the process open and productive.