A tutor's guide to teaching and learning at UQ - TEDI - University of ...

58 A Tutor’s Guide to Teaching and Learning at UQFor further information on tools and strategies to assist you in improving your skills as atutor, visit: http://www.tedi.uq.edu.au/evaluations/index.html.♦Informal class feedbacko The Minute Paper (Angelo & Cross, 1993) – stop the class for 2 or 3minutes early and ask students to respond very briefly – in one minute! –to two questions: “What did you find most useful about the sessiontoday?” and “In what way could the session be improved?”.This is a very quick and easy method, instant and manageable data towhich you can respond. It’s good to remember to give feedback aboutthe general outcomes of the questions to the class and note any changesthat you are going to make as a result of the feedback.o Alternatively, consider using a “suggestion box” for getting feedbackeither on how a particular session went, or about how the classes (andyour teaching) are going in general. This might be a good option ifstudents seem uncomfortable or shy about chatting to you as in the abovemethod, and it provides the students with an anonymous way of givingyou feedback.Student learning♦♦Student’s self-reported knowledge – sometimes it can be very helpful to getfeedback from students about their learning as a way of getting feedback about yourteaching. For example, if you have spent a session on a particular concept and youwant to know whether your approach was effective in helping students tounderstand that concept, try using a method called “The Muddiest Point” (Angelo &Cross, 1993).At the end of class, ask students to respond to this question on a piece of paper –“What was the ‘muddiest’ point in this class. In other words, what was least clear toyou?”. From students’ responses you can then gauge how effective the session wasin facilitating student learning, and perhaps identify where any major problemsoccurred (e.g., if the majority of students comment on the same aspect as being themuddiest point). You then have the opportunity to address this the next time youmeet with your students.Student work – similarly, you can get an idea of your students learning from theirperformance on assessment, in-class or out-of-class activities. This information canalso help you to pinpoint where you may need to think about your approach toteaching and how effective it is in facilitating student learning. For example, if yourstudents complete an in-class quiz and most get the questions about facts correct,but many fail the questions that require application of knowledge to solve aproblem, then you may need to think about how you approached this aspect of thelearning material with students.