What do we mean?
Instead of waiting until Online Unit Evaluation, informal feedback opportunities give students a chance to identify particular issues during teaching time, so you can make simple adjustments or signpost support resources without delay
You could ask students how they would like to provide informal feedback
Tools to gather informal student feedback
General Tips
When asking students for informal feedback, remind them of the principles of giving constructive feedback. You can find guidance for students under Maximising impact: constructive feedback in the guidance on OUE. Explain how you plan to use and respond to students' feedback. Another option is to ask Academic Reps to gather feedback from individual students and collate any issues.
When you've gathered some initial feedback, let students know if you have made any immediate changes to your blended learning environment in response. You could work with your academic reps or other student volunteers to review the feedback, plan your response, and implement changes. You may wish to record a brief video to summarise the feedback and response to students.
Students who struggle to engage online may also fail to respond to informal feedback surveys. If you use the Moodle Feedback activity, you can use the activity completion tracking tools in Moodle to identify students who have not responded. You can send a targeted reminder to students who have not answered, to encourage responses from the whole cohort, and to signpost support resources.
Specific tools for gathering informal student feedback
The following are approved University of Bath tools which you can use to gather informal feedback from students. All three tools allow you to set up an anonymous survey and review collated responses. When choosing a tool, take account of which tools you use already for blended learning. Using a tool which is familiar for students can be helpful.
If your learning activities are structured in Moodle and you wish to make use of activity completion tracking or participation reports, the Moodle Feedback tool is a good option. If you are using Microsoft Teams, you may find MS Forms useful, as the form can be easily integrated in your Team channel. If you are are using TurningPoint for web-based polling during synchronous sessions, and your students are familiar with it, you may wish to use it for gather students feedback as well.
Tool |
Context |
Tips |
| Moodle Feedback activity | The Moodle Feedback activity can be easily set up and accessed from your Moodle page
It is a simple and easy way to create a short feedback survey You can enable anonymity (but note that student identities are still recorded in the Moodle logs) There is a limited range of question types |
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| MS Forms | Microsoft Forms is simple to use.
Forms integrates with Microsoft Teams, so it's possible to create a quick multiple choice question within a channel. You can enable anonymity (by disabling the option to record the respondent's name). There is a limited range of question types. |
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| Mentimeter polling | Mentimeter polling can be used for synchronous or asynchronous polling. It can be used for a variety of purposes such as formative assessment, stimulating discussion or gathering anonymous feedback.
Responses are anonymous by default. A range of question types are available, from multiple-choice to word clouds.
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| Moodle Board Activity | The Moodle Board activity lets students publicly post comments anonymously (note that student identities are still recorded in the Moodle logs).
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Other tools
A further option for gathering informal student feedback is to use a multi-media message board such as Padlet or Lino-it. Note the guidance for using non-Bath tools
Non-Bath tools |
Context |
Tips |
| Multimedia message boards | You could use a tool such as Padlet or Lino to gather informal student feedback. This is a less structured way of gathering feedback comments, allowing space for more open responses
You will need to give careful instructions to students about anonymity (you should advise them not to include personal data) Feedback comments (added as 'post-it' notes) are visible on 'message board'. You will need to guide students to collate responses under themes (e.g. use different colour notes for Start, Stop, Continue) |
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Updated on: 2 September 2022