Midterm Course Feedback
SPS Midterm Course Feedback
Midterm course feedback is an important component of the NYU School of Professional Studies (SPS) commitment to students and faculty. Midterm course feedback allows students to share perspectives on their learning experiences and enables faculty to reflect on and adapt their teaching.
All SPS graduate, undergraduate, and continuing education/non-credit (CENC) students are able to provide midterm course feedback through the NYU Explorance Blue platform.
Purpose
Midterm course feedback provides insights to help faculty adapt their educational practice for the second half of their course(s).
Specifically, this feedback can:
- Contribute to faculty members’ understanding of their teaching effectiveness.
- Identify areas for immediate improvement.
- Gauge student interest in course readings and other learning materials.
- Provide information about students’ understanding.
- Afford students the opportunity to alert faculty to challenges and/or concerns.
- Give students a way to suggest changes during the course.
SPS Midterm Course Feedback
Recommendations and Guidelines
Faculty are advised to encourage students to participate in the NYU SPS midterm course feedback process. Faculty may choose to share the QR Code available in the Subject Management section of the Course Feedback page that links directly to the form. For faculty who are teaching synchronous courses, on-campus or online, it is recommended that 10-15 minutes of class time be set aside for students to work on their responses. During this time, faculty members should not be present in the physical or online classroom.
Faculty who are teaching asynchronous courses are encouraged to post announcements on their course site and send reminder emails with regards to when the midterm course feedback period begins/ends. The communications should emphasize the importance of constructive student feedback and include directions to complete NYU Course Feedback (see Student Resources below).
Additionally, consider adding an activity related to midterm course feedback. For example, create a discussion topic on your NYU Brightspace course site (sample questions may include: How have the knowledge and/or skills you've learned in this course impacted your life outside the classroom?; What are you most looking forward to studying in the second half of the course?) and encourage students to complete the anonymous midterm course feedback survey through the NYU Explorance Blue platform.
Student Resources
We encourage students to view the two-minute video on the Course Feedback Resources page for an overview of the student course feedback experience.
All responses are anonymous.
Students can access midterm course feedback forms on a desktop or mobile device through:
- Email: Students will receive a link via email once midterm course feedback period opens.
- Albert: Students can click on the bold "Eval" icon in their Enrolled Courses grid.
- NYU Home: Students can search for the "Course Feedback" card.
Responses are saved automatically when moving between pages of the feedback form. Students may also click the Save button at any point and return; however, responses will only be counted once students click Submit. Once submitted, students will receive a Thank You message with a prompt to complete other course feedback forms. The form will also be marked as Complete on the Course Feedback page. Please note that once the form is submitted or the feedback period ends, students will no longer be able to make edits to their feedback.
Students who require accommodations due to accessibility or disability-related needs should contact the Moses Center at mosescsa@nyu.edu.lso click the Save button at any point and return; however, responses will only be counted once students click Submit. Once submitted, students will receive a Thank You message with a prompt to complete other course feedback forms. The form will also be marked as Complete on the Course Feedback page. Please note that once the form is submitted or the feedback period ends, students will no longer be able to make edits to their feedback.
Students who require accommodations due to accessibility or disability-related needs should contact the Moses Center at mosescsa@nyu.edu.
Policies & Procedures
The following policies and procedures apply to all midterm course feedback:
- Student feedback is anonymous.
- Midterm course feedback is collected for all graduate, undergraduate, and continuing education/non-credit (CENC) courses that are 4 weeks or longer.
- NYU midterm course feedback results are not released for courses that have fewer than five (5) students enrolled or fewer than three (3) responses.
- Instructor reports and response rates will be immediately available to instructors after the start of the midterm course feedback period once the above threshold is met. Reports and response rates are refreshed daily.
- Midterm course feedback results from fall 2024 to present are available via NYU Explorance Blue.
NYU Midterm Course Feedback Period
The midterm course feedback period is determined by course start and end dates.
- The midterm course feedback period opens halfway through the course (i.e. opens at 50% after the class start date).
- The closing date will be determined by the overall length of the course (i.e. closes at 60% after the class start date).
- The NYU Explorance Blue platform becomes unavailable for midterm course feedback at midnight (EST) on the official midterm course feedback period end date.
Students and faculty will each be sent three email notifications from the NYU Explorance Blue System; the first informing recipients that the feedback period for your course(s) has opened and the second and third are reminder emails indicating that the feedback period will be closing soon.
Results
Accessing Results
If the course has 5 or more students enrolled, faculty can access feedback results as soon as at least three (3) students have submitted feedback. The reports will be available on the faculty’s Course Feedback home page in the Reports section in NYU Explorance Blue.
Faculty can also track student response rates in real time by visiting their feedback page, selecting an individual course, and going to the Subject Management view, or by using the Response Rate page to view response rate data for all courses. We encourage faculty to view the two-minute video on the Course Feedback Resources page for an overview of the faculty course feedback experience.
Using Results
Midterm course feedback is intended to help faculty understand how students are experiencing their course(s). Consider using the student feedback as a basis for conversation with students about the course. What is working well? What adjustments might you consider regarding course activities, assignments, and assessments? Changes to your course should be consistent with the syllabus and aligned to the course learning outcomes.
If you need assistance updating your course based on the student feedback, please contact your Academic Leadership and/or the Learning and Teaching Nexus at nexus@nyu.edu.
SPS Midterm Course Feedback Questions
Information
The midterm course feedback questions below are based on the University’s Common Use questions and the SPS School-Specific questions.
Question 1
How much time do you spend on this course each week?
- Less than 3 hours
3-5 hours
6-8 hours
9-11 hours
12-14 hours
15-17 hours
18-20 hours
More than 20 hours
Question 2
Please indicate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statements (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree):
a) The activities, assignments, and assessments are aligned to the course learning outcomes.
b) The readings and other course resources deepen my understanding of the subject.
c) The course site is structured to support teaching and learning (e.g. participation, communication, collaboration, feedback).
d) The instructor creates engaging, interactive learning experiences to foster student participation.
e) The instructor is responsive to student questions and provides helpful feedback.
f) The instructor effectively integrates technology in the course to enhance student learning.
Question 3
What aspects of the course contribute most to your learning?
[Text entry]
Question 4
What are the three most important things you have learned from the course so far (i.e. knowledge, concepts, skills, perspectives)?
[Text entry]
Question 5
What recommendations do you have for improving the course?
[Text entry]
