As the semester winds down, we tend to focus on the immediate task at hand, which is to prepare and submit grades. But, the end of the semester is an opportunity to look back on what you have learned teaching this semester, and, while it is fresh in your mind, look to future offerings. Some questions to ask yourself:
- What sparked excitement this semester for you and your students?
- What did not work as planned?
- What input from students will help you make the course better the next time you offer it?
Gather student feedback
Review the feedback that your students offer through the formal end-of-semester course evaluations. In addition, you could engage your students in order to get more informal feedback on questions that are important to you. Let students know that they can help improve the course and that you welcome their feedback.While you are still teaching your course, you can ask students to write down their thoughts, or even to engage in an open (i.e., non-defensive) conversation about the successes and short-comings of the course as a whole. Possible questions include:
- Which readings were the most memorable?
- When, during the semester, did you feel most engaged with the material?
- When, during the semester, did you feel most disconnected from the material?
- Which activities were most helpful to you in trying to master the material?
- What additional subjects would you have liked to cover?
Review your course site
Your Canvas site can provide valuable clues for areas of potential improvement. Start by going to the Grade Book. You may be able to indirectly gather feedback by reviewing your assessments and activities.- Where did the overall quality of student work increase or decrease (meaning an assessment might need to be revised)? Are there particular assessments where students struggled? New Analytics provides a snapshot of course grades and makes it easy to discover trends or outliers.
- Where do you recall receiving questions from a majority of your students (meaning you may need to improve communication and consistency)?
Write to your future self
Once you have an idea of what you might want to revise, don’t feel like you have to do it all right now. You can prioritize one or two items to address now, and leave the rest for later. Here are a few concrete suggestions to try:- Create and maintain a running document of your revision ideas and notes. This document could be a Google Doc or Spreadsheet, or even a Canvas page. For easy access, link the (unpublished) document into your Canvas site. As you make changes, you will have the gratification of checking them off and moving on to the next.
- Use your calendar and commit time in the future to when you will begin your course revisions. Write a note to yourself about the changes you’d like to make. Of course, if you don’t use your calendar regularly, this isn’t an effective strategy!
- Enlist assistance. Identify colleagues (or other University support staff) who you could work with. You may be able to review each other’s Canvas sites, discuss options for new assessments, or even just schedule co-working sessions. Collaboration and accountability can be great motivators.
Resources
- Berkeley Center for Teaching and Learning. Last Day of Class.
- Duquesne University Center for Teaching Excellence. Fizzle or Finale: The Last Day of Class.
- Georgetown University Center for New Designs in Learning & Scholarship. Ending the Semester.