How to Obtain Positive Feedback From Students?

In many colleges, students are asked to rate and evaluate professors. This is something that many professors tend to dread. Students inputs are important to improve the quality of the college. This will also increase the accountability of each professor and lecturer. By providing inputs anonymously, students could describe honestly about the strengths and weaknesses of each lecturer. Regardless of their opinions, college staff and professors should view student’s evaluation in a positive light. This should be a great opportunity for many professors to improve themselves. They will become better and better in each succeeding year. In order to obtain positive feedback from students, there are many things that professors can do. They need to be highly knowledgeable in the main topics and subject areas. Professors should also well prepared for all class meetings. The learning material should be provided in a clear and highly understandable manner. Professors should also measure and evaluate the learning performance of students in a proper manner.

The instruction methods should appropriate and effective. Time should be used wisely in each class, meaning that there must be a definite starting and ending time. There are different ways to provide feedback to teachers and lectures. A common way is to use the Likert scale, which ranges from strongly agree to strongly disagree. However, numerical values can be easier to understand. If we want students to provide comments, we may provide open-ended questions. It is essential to protect the anonymity of each student to make sure that students will provide feedback honestly, so results could become more valid. Students should take the feedback form and return it into a closed box in a small room without the presence of professor or college staff. Any attempt to identify student through the feedback form can be seen as breach of ethical standards. It is important for students to know what they are doing, before providing proper feedback.

Students should be given enough time to thoughtfully complete the form. This can be performed at the end of the semester, a few days after the final exam is completed. College staff should review the feedback forms immediately so they could get quick results. For some professors, it can be quite surprising to know that students have rated them lower than expected. So, it is important for students to give a reason for the low scores; as an example if the score given is 6 or lower. Before filling the feedback form, students should be instructed to do this honestly and use appropriate comments. It is important to expect that some students will give harsh comments, but most should provide constructive feedback even if they provide low scores for the professor’s performance. Although there could patterns, some of the students’ comments could be in direct conflict with one another. There’s no way to guarantee that all students will view a professor in a positive light, but honest feedback is very important. Some professors don’t want to be judged, especially by students; but they need to accept quality feedback.