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Mid-Semester Check-Ins

Use simple tools to learn how your course materials and activities are working for your students, and adjust as needed.

In this article:

Benefits of mid-semester check-ins

Mid-semester is a great time to check in with your students – enough of the semester has passed that they will have some valuable insights, but enough is remaining that you can adjust course as needed in a meaningful way.

By hearing from your students and responding, you will likely see improvement in end-of-semester evaluations. And, unlike those end-of-semester evaluations, the improvements you make based on student feedback may result in increasing student performance. (Overall, 1979 and Bullock, 2003).

Additionally, by asking students to reflect on their learning you can build their metacognitive skills.

Thanks to the Office for Faculty Excellence for compiling this information!

What to ask about (anonymously!)

Thanks to our DELTA Faculty Fellows for sharing their suggestions!

Successes

  • What has helped you to learn in this class?
  • What are your successes so far this semester?

Concerns

  • What has hindered your learning in this class?
  • Where are you stuck?
  • Has any content presentation presented an accessibility barrier for you?

Solutions and suggestions

What suggestions do you have for changes that might help you succeed for the rest of the semester? How might I remove barriers to your success?

Time spent (optional)

How much time per week do you spend, on average, outside of scheduled sessions?

Class components (optional)

How helpful are the following components of the class in your learning? (Likert scale listing items like lecture discussion/slides, projects, homework, etc.)?

Additional comments

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

What to do with the responses

  • Review responses for common themes and consider how you might address suggested changes.
  • Report back to students to build their trust. For example, share common responses and identify how you intend to address them.
  • Remind students that the end of course evaluation is still important!

Example and Templates

DELTA provides a Mid-Semester Check-In template as a Moodle Feedback activity (screenshot below). A step-by-step guide to using this template is available in our Knowledge Base Article: Using the Mid-Semester Check-in template with Moodle Feedback Activity.

Learn more about using Feedback in the Moodle docs page for the Moodle Feedback activity.

Screen shot showing page where template is chosen in the Feedback activity.
Choose the “Mid Semester Check-In” Template

Other examples and templates:

Resources

  • Bullock, C.D., 2003, Online collection of midterm student feedback; New Directions for Teaching and Learning, #96, p.95-102.
  • Conway, A. Nov 2, 2022. “Recovering Student Engagement at Mid-course Time.” Faculty Focus Blog.
  • Overall, J.U., and Marsh, H.W., 1979, Midterm feedback from students: Its relationship to instructional improvement and students’ cognitive and affective outcomes; Journal of Educational Psychology, v.71, #6, p.856-865.
  • Keutzer, C.S., 1993, Midterm evaluation of teaching provides helpful feedback to instructors; Teaching of Psychology, v.20, p.238-240.
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