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Early Course Feedback

Collecting Early Course Feedback (ECF) from your students is an opportunity to learn about how your students are experiencing your course. A well-designed process for ECF asks students for strengths and suggestions related to their learning in the course. The data provide formative and actionable feedback intended to help an instructor or instructional team make small, but impactful adjustments during the course.

An Eberly colleague can administer the ECF on an instructor’s request, acting as a liaison between the students and the instructor while collaborating and strategizing with the instructor regarding how to respond. Alternatively, an ECF can be conducted by the course instructor using a brief anonymous survey. Regardless of which approach you choose, conducting an ECF will give you a window into students’ experiences in the classroom and their perceptions of their learning experience.

The table below highlights some of the differences between the most common approaches.

	Eberly-Led ECF Focus Group	Instructor-LED ECF Survey
Early Course Feedback asks students about aspects of the course that are helping them and what suggestions they have for potential improvements for their learning. Targeted questions that you as the instructor may have can also be woven in.	An ECF Focus Group facilitated by an Eberly colleague asks similar questions to the survey format but invites students to work in groups to report on their experiences in the class.	A brief anonymous survey the instructor distributes to students and then analyzes responses on their own. After instructors summarize the data, they may still request an Eberly consultation to discuss the student feedback.
In-Class time	20-25 minutes	10-15 minutes
Asks about strengths/suggestions related to learning	√	√
Provides formative feedback to inform course adjustments	√	√
Allows for consensus polling on emerging topics/trends	√
Includes the opportunity to ask for more information and examples to elicit more specific, actionable feedback	√
Invites alternative perspectives where appropriate during class debrief	√
Eberly colleague analyzes and further anonymizes raw data	√
Eberly colleague collaborates with you to create action-plan	√
We are here to help you! Contact us at: eberly-assist@andrew.cmu.edu	Request an Early Course Feedback Focus Group	See our Instructor-led ECF Survey and tips for analyzing the data if you'd like to do it yourself.

Next, we present a decision tree and answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) to help instructors decide which option above best meets their needs.

FAQs

Which ECF format is right for me and my course?

Choosing how to collect feedback depends on a variety of factors. Use the table and decision tree above to consider the various benefits of different options and how well they are aligned to your needs, motivations, and timeline for considering changes to your teaching. An Eberly consultant can also help you choose the best format for your course and goals (e-mail eberly-assist@andrew.cmu.edu).

Should I conduct an ECF in every course I teach?

Not necessarily. In general, collecting ECF data from students is an effective teaching practice. It provides you with student perspectives on ways in which your course is helping them learn and suggestions for improvement. An ECF also fosters communication between students and instructors on course design and teaching. However, we recommend the following heuristic to help you decide (see also the decision tree above).

Collecting ECF data in a course can be helpful when you are:

prepared to consider changes during the same semester in response to the feedback,
willing to communicate with students how you will respond (and not) after considering their feedback,
teaching a course for the first time,
implementing a significant revision to the entire course design,
evaluating a few specific changes to the course design, or
adopting a new teaching method.

Collecting ECF data might not be optimal when you are:

not prepared to make changes (or make them during the same semester),
motivated by fostering good will with students alone (rather than iteratively refining your teaching), or
using the same course design approach (e.g., lectures with exams) in multiple courses in the same semester (if so, we recommend choosing just one course, then you can then extrapolate results across courses).

To serve as many instructors as possible each semester, the Eberly Center may need to limit Eberly-led ECF services to one course per instructor.

Do I need an ECF focus group for each section of my course?

An Eberly-led ECF focus group is not required for each section of your course to provide actionable data. Instead, subsampling from one section is feasible and can give you a representative sample of this type of student feedback. An ECF focus group in one course section can be paired with ECF surveys in other sections to ensure broader student representation and so students feel that their voices are being heard.

Should I collect data via an Eberly-led ECF every semester?

If an Eberly colleague facilitated an ECF in your course within the past year, there may be advantages to conducting a second one. For example, if you made significant changes based on previous feedback or are experiencing different learning challenges with students, then an Eberly-led ECF may make sense. In these scenarios, doing an ECF across at least two iterations of a single course, may be beneficial to illuminate how the students’ experience has changed or what new themes emerge in their feedback. If you did not make changes or you keep getting the same general feedback across multiple ECFs, then you might be ready to collect your own data via the Instructor-led ECF Survey above. After two semesters of stable data in a single course, you might consider pivoting to a different course or taking a break until substantive changes are made to the course.

When during the semester should I collect data via an ECF?

The ideal time during a semester-long course is typically between weeks 4-8 or during a mini course in week 3. Consider selecting a point in the course after students have become familiar with the structure of the course and have received feedback on their work, but when there is still time to make adjustments based on the students’ feedback. Avoid conducting an Eberly-led ECF during class sessions immediately preceding or following the date of a high stakes course assessment.

What is the role of an Eberly colleague during an ECF service?

An Eberly colleague can help you decide which ECF format is most appropriate for your course and needs. When an Eberly colleague directly supports your ECF, during a class session, they will facilitate the focus group during the first 25-minutes or administer a survey during the first 15 minutes, depending on the format you collaboratively select. Afterwards, the Eberly colleague will analyze and summarize focus group or survey data. When reviewing the feedback with you, an Eberly colleague aims to be the voice of students and to help you understand and effectively interpret the feedback. Their role is not to evaluate your performance, but instead to help you explore the pros and cons of evidence-based strategies in response to student feedback and to formulate a plan for how to talk with students about the feedback afterwards.

In the Instructor-led ECF Survey approach, instructors collect and analyze survey data themselves. However, instructors may reach out to Eberly colleagues for advice afterwards.

What if there are specific topics I’m interested in or questions I want to ask students?

When writing targeted ECF questions, consider what you will do with what you learn and then choose additional questions carefully. Avoid asking specific questions about aspects of the course you cannot change or are not prepared to change based on student feedback. Eberly colleagues can help you tailor ECF questions.

Will the Eberly Center share the feedback with my dean or department head?

No. When you work with an Eberly consultant to collect feedback, they will only share the students’ feedback with the instructor or instructional team. We do not disclose who has received an Eberly Center service.

Does conducting an ECF always require giving up class time?

Whether you administer the survey yourself or collaborate with an Eberly colleague, reserving time during class ensures the feedback best represents the full range of students’ experiences. Response rates tend to drop significantly when students are expected to complete the survey outside of class time or when ECF data is solicited at the end of a class period. For these reasons, Eberly-supported formats require using in-class time for data collection at the beginning of class sessions. We also advocate that instructors inform students in advance when an Eberly-led ECF will occur.

I’m teaching a mini course. How can I make time for collecting ECF data?

If in-class time is limited, consider choosing a format that requires less in-class time. Eberly consultants regularly facilitate in-class ECFs in mini courses and can work with you to use class time thoughtfully while also inviting formative and actionable feedback.

I'm at CMU-Q. What Eberly support is available to me?

An Eberly consultant may occasionally visit CMU-Q’s Doha campus. During these visits, in-person ECF Focus Groups would be available to interested instructors. A consultant is also available to work with you to design effective surveys and can support you remotely to facilitate in-class surveys or focus groups when the time zone difference permits.

What do I say to students after I review their feedback?

Speaking with students after you’ve reviewed their feedback, regardless of how the feedback was collected, is important for closing the loop and assuring students they were heard. Responding to students can range from thanking them for their feedback and letting them know you are taking it into consideration to sharing specific changes you have planned in response to their suggestions and/or explaining, where appropriate, why certain changes are not possible.

When working with an Eberly colleague, they will help you formulate and plan your response.

What if students make a suggestion about something that I cannot change?

Students may identify things they like and don’t like about a course in addition to those things that are helping them learn. Consider why students might have made certain suggestions and if there are opportunities to reframe or share the rationale behind those aspects of the course. When designing your survey or identifying topics for your Eberly facilitator to highlight in a focus group, avoid asking directly about aspects of the course you cannot or will not change.

What if students make suggestions I don’t agree with?

Students may identify things they like and don’t like about a course in addition to those things that are helping (or would help) them learn. Where possible, consider sharing with students your reasons for relevant course design decisions. Students tend to respect honesty and transparency even if your choices do not align with their preference. Recognize and honor that the students’ feedback reflects their experience, and avoid language that may be perceived as accusatory or dismissive.

What if only a few students affirm a particular strength or suggestion, or express an alternative or dissenting perspective?

There may be different reasons that some strengths or suggestions appear to garner less consensus than others. In some cases a small number of students may make a suggestion that could benefit all students in the class (although that change may not be popular with the majority). In other instances, the experiences of only a few students could have critical implications that should be addressed (e.g., students feeling marginalized or disrespected). While consensus is one way to measure impact, students and their experiences are diverse. When interpreting feedback quantitatively, remember to consider how continuing or changing a particular teaching practice would enhance student learning, equity, or inclusion.

Could requesting feedback from the students make things worse?

It is normal to be nervous about getting feedback from students. Students overwhelmingly appreciate the opportunity to provide feedback. That said, thoughtfully responding to students after you have reviewed their feedback is a critical step in assuring students they were heard. Thank students for providing feedback that is true to their experience. When students’ suggestions are not feasible within the semester, acknowledge you heard them. Be transparent about those things you can and will change in response to their feedback. Students assume you are asking for feedback because you are willing to consider changes. If you are not willing or able to make any changes, collecting ECF data may not be the best option.

Will I get to know who said what or which students participated in the ECF?

No. An important feature of ECF is student anonymity. Eberly-led ECFs are anonymous to create a safe space for students to provide confidential feedback. We strongly recommend that Instructor-led ECF surveys are administered anonymously.

Will Eberly colleagues write letters of support for tenure, promotion or teaching awards based on ECF data?

No. The Eberly Center does not evaluate teaching. Our mission is to formatively support instructors’ professional development as educators. However, instructors may use the output of ECFs how they choose.

What if I'm co-teaching?

ECFs are always voluntary. Please speak with you co-instructor to find out if they are interested. If they are, they would be included in all steps of the process. If not, we can design the ECF to only solicit feedback on the requesting instructor."

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