IEF Overview

Informal Early Feedback (IEF) is a two-way communication between you and your students, in which you request information from students on their perceptions of how the class is going, and you respond to their comments by discussing them with the class and making changes as appropriate.

Using IEF can increase students' motivation in your course, and (if you discuss and act on your results), it can improve your end-of-semester student ratings as well.

The most useful information in IEF is obtained when students are asked to describe:

1. What they are learning and the difficulties they are experiencing in learning;
2. What they like about the course, i.e., what is helping them learn;
3. What they do not like, i.e., what is inhibiting their learning;
4. What changes they might make if they were the instructor.

It is most helpful to have a limited number of items, and leave plenty of time and space for descriptive comments from the students. It is also helpful to have specific questions rather than general evaluative ones. For example, a question such as “Rate the amount of homework” will yield much more useful results and practical information than “Rate the instructor overall.”

Once you have collected your informal early feedback, there are three steps you need to take.

1. Objectively interpret your results. Look for trends rather than extremes in the comments, and decide on one or two changes you would like to make. It is easier to glean information objectively from your results if you review them with a colleague or specialist in education. Please contact CTE (333-3370) if you would like such assistance.
2. Communicate and discuss your interpretation and plan of action with your students. Discussing your reactions and actions with your students indicates that you are taking their comments seriously. This can be a brief, straightforward discussion. Include some positive comments the students made. Choose only one or two negative comments to discuss, and address them simply, directly, and with a positive attitude.
3. Act on your results. Implement the changes you have decided to make, and continue to monitor the effectiveness of your teaching strategies.

--Instructions for Administering IEF
--Sample Forms
--Additional Resources on IEF