Motivating Students to Give Helpful, Action-oriented Feedback
This is a great set of reminders for how to motivate and encourage your students to take feedback opportunities (e.g., mid-semester and end-of-course evaluations) seriously.
To motivate students to complete end-of-course evaluations and to provide useful feedback through those evaluations, the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching recommends instructors talk with their students about the importance of course evaluations and how those evaluations are used.
Designate time in class for students to complete evaluations, and let your students know why and when. (See below for more on this advice.)
Tell your students that you value their honest and constructive feedback, and that you use student feedback to make improvements to your courses. If possible, share examples of how you have changed your courses as a result of student feedback.
Let your students know that you are interested in both positive and negative feedback on the course. What aspects of the course and/or instruction helped them learn? What aspects might be changed to help future students learn more effectively?
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