What is CoursEval?
- CoursEval is a student feedback survey system designed to protect your confidentiality. Your name is never associated with your responses, and instructors do not see any results of the anonymous surveys until the official release date. See the current CoursEval schedule here
- At the time of release, instructors see compiled results and open-ended written comments are provided exactly as you wrote them. They never see names and are unable to see which students filled out the surveys.
- Your feedback helps your instructors know how their teaching methods connect with you and your learning in both positive and negative ways. Your feedback also helps them make decisions about how they will run the course in the future – both what they should keep doing and where they might consider revision.
Note on End-of-Course Feedback vs. mid-semester feedback:
End-of-course student feedback is required for all courses. Results are read thoroughly by instructors, department chairpersons, associate deans, Deans, and university administrators and are included in annual reviews of faculty. This information is more reliable when most or all students complete the surveys.
Mid-semester student feedback is optional. Only courses whose instructors opted in to solicit feedback from students at the mid-point of the semester will receive an invitation to complete this survey. This survey is also non-evaluative, meaning only the instructor can see the results. Instructors opt into mid-semester feedback for various reasons, including making course modifications or adjustments based on how the course is going or gaining insights to aid in the professional development of their teaching.
What kind of feedback is helpful?
Instructors often find students’ written comments the most valuable element of student feedback surveys. To help your instructors get the most out of your feedback, keep the following in mind:
- Remember that you are writing to your instructor. Your feedback can influence the ways they teach this course in the future.
- Specific, constructive suggestions that focus on your learning are far more useful than general critiques. See below for examples you can phrase your feedback to help your instructors understand how their instructional choices helped or hindered your learning. Both positive and negative feedback is more helpful when you are specific.
- Comments that are not related to your learning diminish the value of your feedback. For example, it is not helpful to comment on your instructor’s appearance, personality, gender, or race/ethnicity.
Less helpful: Vague critique or praise |
More helpful: Specific suggestions that could improve your learning or explanations of why the course helped you learnConsider these additions to help your instructors better understand what you mean. |
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"I was overwhelmed" or |
Consider rephrasing as... "The class meetings were full of so much information which is great but I'm lost in all the details. I would benefit from help organizing what I'm learning in each class in some way." "Nearly all classes included lectures without any pauses, but I need more time for thinking or practice solving problems during lectures. I would learn more if I got more hands-on practice or if I had time to think about the questions the instructor asked me." "I'm not sure why I'm learning this material. Maybe the instructor can explain to me why these topics are important or matter to us to learn about. It could be helpful to encourage us to try to make connections about what we're learning with other classes we have to take or with our career goals." |
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"The readings were redundant." |
Consider rephrasing as... "I didn't understand why we read so many different articles on the same topic." "Could you offer more guidance on what we're supposed to look for in the readings? I think I'm paying attention to the wrong things because what I focused on wasn't on the exam, and I missed some of the main points." |
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"Discussions were awesome!" |
Even positive comments aren't as helpful without being specific. Consider rephrasing as... "I loved how you created an environment where students were willing to share perspectives and disagree." "It was really helpful that you kept notes on the board during our discussions." "I really liked the variety of ways we had class discussions." |
5 Ways to Give Effective Feedback to Your Instructors
1) Be specific. Provide specific examples about what aspects of the course content, design, or delivery did or did not support your learning in the course. Use concrete examples to illustrate your point.
2) Be constructive. Focus on the feedback that will help the instructor strengthen their teaching. Offer suggestions for how they can make the course more interesting, engaging, or challenging.
3) Be respectful. Remember that your instructor is an expert in their field and has put a lot of effort into designing the course. Be respectful of your feedback and avoid personal attacks or criticism.
4) Be timely. Provide feedback while the course is still ongoing or shortly after it has ended. This will ensure that your feedback is fresh in the instructor's mind and they can make changes for future semesters.
5) Be appreciative. Take the time to thank your instructor for their hard work and dedication to the course. Let them know that you appreciate their efforts to create a positive learning environment.
Non-helpful, non-constructive feedback:
- "I didn't like the textbook."
- "The professor was very nice!"
- "Your class was boring."
- "The class was okay."
- "Too much work."
Helpful, constructive feedback:
- "Your lectures were interesting and useful. I liked your examples and your passion for the topic. However, the course structure worried me. I struggled to keep up with readings and assignments due to the workload. More group work and class discussion would have helped me understand the topic. You're a terrific educator, and I learned a lot from your course. Thank you for teaching me."