Carnegie Mellon University

Eberly Center

Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation

Student Focus Groups

When conducted thoughtfully by a skilled interviewer, focus groups can be a useful and reliable method for collecting information about students’ experiences in a course or program. Because they allow for clarification and follow-up, they are more effective than surveys for identifying areas of agreement and disagreement across groups of students and for eliciting students’ suggestions for improvement.

If you are interested in having a trained Eberly teaching consultant lead a focus group with students from a current class, a previous class, or a particular academic program, please contact us to discuss whether a focus group is appropriate for your particular context.

CONTACT US to talk with an Eberly colleague in person!