Two ways I ask students for feedback

Requesting feedback from your students is one of the most effective ways to improve your teaching. Here are two simple strategies I use.

Share tasks and projects with students BEFORE you assign them and ask the students for their feedback. This communicates that you value their opinion and are including them in designing their learning. Because of this, students are often willing to give feedback that is thoughtful and honest. When I do this, I almost always receive feedback that is insightful and improves what I had been planning to do. 

Routinely ask students to assess and give feedback about your teaching. Here are some quick prompts that solicit great responses from students:

• What is one thing I can do to improve my teaching?
• What is one thing I do that helps you the most as a learner?
• If there was time to reteach something again or better, what would it be? Explain why.

Remember - students have the best data about your teaching. Therefore, their feedback is extremely valuable. In addition, strategies like these empower students and help them to become more involved and invested in their learning. It communicates that teachers are learners as well and models a growth mindset by demonstrating how even the teacher is willing to seek feedback in order to grow and learn.  

I am curious about what additional strategies others use for requesting feedback from others. Feel free to share in the comments below.

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Kevin Perks is director of school and district services for the Learning Innovations program at WestEd — a nonpartisan, nonprofit research, development, and service agency — that works with education and other communities throughout the United States and abroad to promote excellence, achieve equity, and improve learning for children, youth, and adults. WestEd does this by engaging in high quality research and by working with educational institutions to put research into practice to help them solve their most challenging issues.

Kevin is also the author of Motivation to Learn, a guide to help educators put research on motivation and engagement into action in the classroom.

For more information, contact Kevin at [email protected] or visit www.wested.org.