We’re nowhere near the end of the semester, but I think our teachers and classes are due for some feedback. 

It’s week five of classes at the University, and I’m sure most of us have already settled into the rhythm of our courses. But some of us might not be adjusting as easily to our courses for this snowy spring semester.

To better gauge students’ progress during the first few weeks of a course, the University should offer students the opportunity to fill out mid-semester evaluations for their instructors. 

At the end of each semester, our professors and teaching assistants administer a survey for students to take to get feedback about the course as well as their instruction. 

Here at the University, we have the Instructor and Course Evaluation System, more commonly known as the ICES. 

These end-of-the-semester evaluations give students the chance to give anonymous and honest feedback to professors, allowing them to pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses. 

The ICES forms give students the chance to give feedback on the course in different ways that can help the instructor improve the course for the future. For example, the student can be asked to rate the teaching method of the instructor, difficulty of the course and overall quality of the course. 

These evaluation forms are crucial to the teaching process. The evaluations are great for the professors and teaching assistants because they get to hear students’ suggestions on how to improve the course for next year. 

But, by implementing mid-semester evaluations, instructors would be able to make the appropriate alterations that better suit their current students, versus the end-of-the-semester ICES forms that will only apply after a student finishes the course. 

Some courses already do informal mid-semester evaluations. For example, I took Family Communication last semester and the instructor, Kelly McAninch, gave us the chance to rate how the course was currently going.

The mid-semester evaluation allowed us to voice our opinion to McAninch and say what had been going well and what could use improvement. 

“The student feedback I get is usually pretty helpful,” McAninch said. “It allows me to understand students better, what is working well with the course, and what can be improved, especially in a newly developed class.” 

One main reason McAninch likes mid-semester evaluations is the specificity in students’ answers. She says that students give their thoughts about what they liked and didn’t like on end-of-semester evaluations, but students are more willing to talk about solutions and how they would like to see the course change in mid-semester evaluations. 

Students might be more willing to give out thoughtful answers in mid-semester evaluations because it shows that the teacher is willing to listen to his or her students on how the course can be improved right now. 

One of my main complaints with the ICES forms was that I was not going to see the changes I suggested for the course, because I would most likely not take the course again. I never cared to give a thoughtful response. 

But with mid-semester evaluations, I would be able to experience the suggestions and improvements that my classmates or I have given. 

This could also be very beneficial to first-time instructors. As McAninch said, newly developed classes could use mid-semester evaluations to adapt quickly to what works best for students. 

However, mid-semester evaluations might not work with all courses here on campus. “If a class cannot easily be adjusted mid-semester, however, course evaluations that promise change and don’t deliver could backfire and seem pointless,” McAninch said. 

Some courses have more freedom and flexibility with their schedules compared to others. Courses with more flexibility, such as those with fewer students or with discussion sections that allow for more liberty to structure the class, would be able to change their teaching methods to accommodate the student.   

Changing in the middle of the semester could actually do more harm than good for courses with limited flexibility. 

With that being said, I think mid-semester evaluations are beneficial for classes that can change on the fly. And it’s all because of students’ feedback and teachers’ ability to listen to their students.  

Feedback was part of what created this column. It started as a blank product, and through feedback, and the writing and editing process, became the column you are reading today. 

I like to consider sending in my articles the first time to the editors as the halfway point. The editors give me their feedback and suggestions with what is working and what is not working. 

They send it back to me, and I add in the suggestions and build upon the strengths of the article and eliminate or adjust what was not working. 

And I carry the feedback with me into each column I write every week.  

This is similar to the potential benefits mid-semester evaluations could have on courses here at the University.

With mid-semester evaluations, students can give feedback and suggestions to instructors so that they can implement that feedback to the remaining half of the semester and carry that feedback over for years later.

Thaddeus is a senior in LAS. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Thaddingham.