Instructors can benefit from gathering anonymous student feedback partway into the term which can inform instructional decisions for the rest of the course.
What is a midpoint survey?
A midpoint survey is a tool that instructors can use to gather student feedback halfway through the term. In most cases, midpoint surveys are given anonymously so that students feel comfortable sharing their opinions. Instructors may wish to focus on aspects of the course such as materials, organization, communication, technology, or methods of assessment.
With actionable student feedback in hand, instructors can then consider making adjustments to better meet their students’ needs for the remainder of the term.
To make this option easy for faculty to implement, the LeBow InTech team has developed a few midpoint survey templates that can be added to a Blackboard course upon request.
While the templates differ in style and approach, they are all designed to address three essential questions:
- What is working well?
- What is not working well?
- What are your recommendations for the remainder of the term?
Why should I use a midpoint survey?
Midpoint surveys are not final. Standard course evaluations are given when the class is almost over. While that feedback can be used to plan for future terms, it may also reveal struggles that the instructor could have addressed if they had received that feedback sooner. Midpoint surveys can help instructors identify issues while there is still time to make changes, leading to an improved student experience – and better final course evaluations – for the current term.
Midpoint surveys make students feel heard. By asking for feedback, an instructor shows that they care about their students’ learning experience. An instructor might even use a few minutes of class time or a Blackboard announcement to respond to common themes in the feedback and start a dialogue. Instead of making decisions in a vacuum, an instructor can use a midpoint survey to affirm the importance of students’ voices in shaping their own education.
Midpoint surveys can be convenient and practical. Since midpoint surveys are administered through the familiar interface of Blackboard LEARN, they are simple to navigate for both students and instructors. Blackboard surveys are always anonymous: instructors can see which students have completed the survey, but responses are never identified by students’ names. Once completed, instructors can view the survey data from the Blackboard Grade Center or download feedback as a .csv file to organize and analyze trends in the data.
How do I add a midpoint survey to my class?
If you are interested in using a midpoint survey, please contact the Instructional Technology department at 215-895-2314 or lebowintech@drexel.edu. We will be happy to share the different versions of midpoint surveys that are available to add to your course, walk you through administering the survey and downloading responses, and answer any questions you might have.