Student reflection and feedback: Ending the semester on a reflective note (CELT Teaching Tip)

As you close out the semester, consider ways for students to reflect on the important new knowledge, skills, and growth...

Two students studying at the Iowa State University Student Innovation Center

CELT Teaching Tip • April 8, 2021

Student reflection and feedback: Ending the semester on a reflective note

As you close out the semester, consider ways for students to reflect on the important new knowledge, skills, and growth they have gained in your course and encourage them to share that information with you.

Provide time for self-reflection. Give students the time and space to consider the importance of what they have learned. Take just 5 minutes of an upcoming class and ask students to reflect on (individually or in small groups, written or verbal):

What was the most significant idea you learned in this class?
What did you learn in this class that will help you in your next class (or in your internship or career or…….)?
What did you not expect to learn, but you did in this class?

Explore other prompts for self-reflections on the Powerful endings and reflection page.

Encourage student feedback. Every semester, students are asked to provide feedback via the electronic Class Climate course evaluation system. Encourage students’ constructive input by:

Take class time for students to complete the end-of-course evaluations. (It is best practice for the instructor to excuse themselves from the room (physical or virtual during this process).
Tell students directly how much you value their feedback.
Share how you incorporated past feedback into your previous courses.
Share examples of constructive feedback comments.
Explain to students how evaluations are used at the department and college-level.

For more approaches, see the Strategies for better course evaluations page.

With a joy for teaching,

Sara Marcketti, Director

Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Seeking applications for two CELT Faculty Fellows positions (Due by Apr. 23)

CELT invites tenured faculty to apply for one of our half-time CELT Faculty Fellows positions for 2021-2023:

The Engagement and Active Learning Faculty Fellow will provide leadership for faculty programming and development related to engagement, active learning, and evidence-based pedagogy. Download the CELT Engagement and Active Learning Faculty Fellow application form (DOCX).
The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Faculty Fellow will provide leadership for faculty programming and professional development related to SoTL. Download the CELT Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Faculty Fellow (DOCX).

Questions regarding the Faculty Fellow opportunities should be directed to CELT Director Sara Marcketti (email [email protected] or call 515-294-4887).

Apply for the CELT Summer Course Design Institute 2021 (Due by Apr. 30)

The CELT Summer Course Design Institute (CDI) will occur on May 17, 19, 24, and 26 (9-10:30 a.m., followed by 30-minutes of optional guided discussion along with individual/group consultations). The CDI is an online interactive, hands-on, and collaborative opportunity for ISU instructors to build skills and have time and space to design or substantially revise their courses in the online or hybrid environment. To learn more and register, visit the CELT Summer Course Design Institute 2021 page.

CELT Teaching Spotlight: Lesya Hassall

CELT's Lesya Hassall, Ph.D., leads the Course Design Institute. At Iowa State University for 13 years with CELT and another four years with the School of Education, Lesya also serves as the Quality Matters Coordinator at ISU. Hassall received the Excellence in Instructional Support COVID-19 Exceptional Effort Award for CELT’s Course Design Institute program’s effective leadership. This honor recognizes a faculty or staff instructor who has made exceptional efforts to support the creative and successful redesign of a course or curriculum for remote or hybrid delivery through instructor training or instructional support. Read Hassall's advice for teaching.

Call for proposals: Teach Access Faculty Grants (Due by Apr. 16th)

To accelerate the creation and delivery of accessibility-infused college curricula, the Teach Access Grants program will be providing direct awards to faculty or instructional staff at US-based higher education institutions. Awards of $5,000 each will be given to faculty to develop modules, presentations, exercises, or curriculum enhancements or changes that introduce the fundamental concepts and skills of accessible design and development into their existing courses. Access the application at the bottom of the Teach Access Curriculum Development Awards page on Apr. 16. Questions? Please contact Cyndi Wiley, [email protected], Digital Access Coordinator, and co-lead of Teach Access's Universities Task Force.

Apply for the Miller OER mini-grants (Due by Apr. 18).

Iowa State instructors can apply for up to $5,000 to incorporate open educational resources (OER) in their courses during the 2021-22 academic year. OER are educational materials that are free for students and free for faculty to customize, which can improve learning outcomes and make course materials more accessible for all students. Using OER saved ISU students more than $500,000 in 2020-21. Miller Open Education Mini-Grants awarded annually since 2018 provide ISU faculty funds to locate, adopt, adapt, update or create OER.

Upcoming Programs written in white on an image of the Iowa State University campus with Morrill Hall in the middle

Locate the descriptions/registration information on each of the listings below along with the CELT’s programming schedule:

Course Design

Panel: Effective practices for giving interactive feedback in Canvas with Susan Fleming and Jay Newell (ISU Online Learning Community), Apr. 9 (11:30-1 p.m.)
Series: Applying the Quality Matters Rubric (APPQMR), Apr. 15 & 16 (1-4 p.m.)

Equity and Inclusion

Students in addiction recovery: What faculty should know to create supportive classrooms, Apr. 13 (1-1:50 p.m.)
Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus, Apr. 13 (3:10-4 p.m.)
Create an inclusive online learning environment, Apr. 21 (12:05-12:55 p.m.)

Mindfulness and Contemplative Pedagogy

Patterns unfolding at Reiman Gardens with Sarah Merritt, Apr. 14 (12:05-12:55 p.m.)

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

Discuss Published Education Research in Your Discipline (DBER Journal Club), May 3 (4-5 p.m.)

Tech Tools

Grading tricks and tips, Apr. 14 (2-2:30 p.m.)
Effective virtual student/office hours, Apr. 21 (2-2:30 p.m.)

CELT Teaching Talks:

Creating authentic videos & web tutorials with Shenglan Zhang

Turning your Scholarly Teaching into Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) with Sara Marcketti and Cindy Haynes