Formative evaluations of teaching and courses
Formative evaluations are an informal way of checking how well your teaching is working and to help improve the student experience.
Image: DALL-E
What is formative feedback?
Put simply, it is feedback that you design and own, based on your own needs and goals acquired through:
- Students—surveys, quizzes, observations, feedback from class representatives
- Peers—reviews, comments, discussions. See peer review of teaching
- Mentors—advice, guidance, support
- Yourself—self-reflections, portfolios, self-assessments
It has many benefits for both you and your students. It can:
- Enhance your teaching practice and student learning outcomes.
- Build trust and rapport with your students.
- Empower and engage students by giving them voice.
- Foster a culture of reflective practice and evaluation.
- Show your commitment to teaching excellence and innovation.
- Help advance your career through gaining recognition for your teaching.
When and how?
An ideal time to introduce formative feedback is around the third week of the semester, to see if anything within your course needs adjusting. Keep gathering feedback throughout the course to monitor progress and adjust your actions.
- Coordinate early with your class representative(s) how class feedback will be gathered.
- Use multiple methods of eliciting feedback.
- Make small and sustainable changes.
- Be careful not to alter the original intention of the method.
- Communicate with your students about the feedback and your actions.
You might create a short, anonymous survey using Qualtrics; a powerful and easy-to-use tool for collecting and analysing student responses. If class reps are running a survey of their own, don’t double-dip; ask them to share the anonymised results or summarise the key points of the feedback received.
What should I do with feedback?
The most important thing to do is to act on it:
- Summarise the feedback and identify the main themes and issues.
- Plan how you will address them, set goals and actions.
Share the feedback and your actions with your students, show them that you value their input and that you are responsive to their needs.
It can also help you adapt
Formative feedback is also important for adapting to the rapidly changing teaching and learning landscape. As we unravel the potential of artificial intelligence, this and other emerging technologies offer new possibilities and challenges for teaching and learning relating to personalisation, collaboration, analytics, and ethics, to name a few. Keep up with these changes. Be flexible, creative, and innovative. That often involves experimenting with new pedagogies, methods, and tools, evaluating their effectiveness and impact. Learn from one’s own and others’ experiences, share your insights and best practices, embrace the opportunities and risks that come with innovation, and seek support and feedback from your colleagues and students.
Formative feedback can be a powerful tool, so make the most of it.
See also…
- Formative evaluations (central website)
- Qualtrics surveys
- Class Representation Policy (§ 7)
Page updated 16/09/2025 (improved prose, added class reps)