Student Feedback

Let’s be frank for a moment: end-of-term teaching evaluations have been repeatedly shown to be, at best, biased and imperfect measures of a teacher’s performance (1, 2, 3). This is not to say I don’t value any feedback my students give me; in fact, I incorporate a midterm check-in so that my students can give feedback earlier in the course. Below is an example from my Spring 2021 Composition course.

Here’s an example of a midterm check-in survey from Spring 2021.Download

Still, it helps to have data that shows how I try to meet the goals in my teaching philosophy. I’ve tried to focus the data and student comments to show you the story of how I work towards those goals and how I’ve grown as a teacher. As a quick guide, here are the classes I’ve taught:

  • WR121: First Year Composition at Oregon State University
    • 1 section, 23 students, Fall Quarter 2018
    • 2 sections, 23 students each (46 total), Winter Quarter 2019
    • 1 section, 23 students, Spring Quarter 2019
  • WR222: Second Year Composition at Oregon State University
    • 1 section, 23 students, Winter Quarter 2020
  • ENGL106: Introductory Composition at Purdue University
    • 1 section, 20 students, Fall Semester 2020 (remote, synchronous delivery)
    • 1 section, 20 students, Spring Semester 2021 (remote, synchronous delivery)
    • 1 section, 20 students, Summer 8-weeks course 2021 (remote, asynchronous delivery)
    • 1 section, 20 students, Summer 8-weeks course 2022 (remote, asynchronous delivery)