Learn how student feedback, especially midterm feedback, supports faculty growth by helping instructors remain teachable.

I began my higher ed faculty journey like so many others: carefully designed syllabi, rehearsed lectures, and high hopes. For all my planning, one of the most powerful teaching tools I’ve found wasn’t even something I had prepared – it was the feedback I received from students.

I believe the greatest skill a teacher can have is staying teachable. Student perspectives keep us relevant, adaptable, and forward-thinking. In this blog, I share how student voice shaped real-time course adjustments.

Why Feedback Matters 

Feedback provides us with perspective beyond our own. It affirms what is working, provides students with agency, and points out where change is needed. “The way we’ve always done it” is simply not reason enough to keep teaching the same way.

Exploring Feedback Options 

Like many faculty, I relied on end-of-semester evaluations. These offered valuable perspectives, but their timing meant students didn’t benefit from later changes. To dig deeper, I added open-ended questions about what was most valuable in the class and how the course strengthened students as music educators. These answers gave me clearer insight, but still came too late to guide current students.

I also collaborated on course-specific surveys, including one for a new wellness course at another university. These projects provided useful data, especially for administrators, but still lacked the immediacy I wanted in my teaching.

Over time, I’ve built feedback into the rhythm of my own courses. Weekly online discussion posts encouraged students to engage with the material and gave me a window into their understanding. Their responses revealed where they felt confident and where I needed to reteach or clarify.

The Power of Midterm Feedback 

The most practical change I’ve made is using Ball State’s Midterm Feedback tool. In this process, a neutral facilitator gathers student comments halfway through the semester. Because feedback is anonymous and delivered through a third party, students are more candid, and I can trust that the responses reflect their true experience.

The results have been a game-changer. Midterm feedback lets me make active changes during the same term, responding directly to students’ concerns while they are still in the course. Because of it, I’ve clarified assignment instructions, adjusted deadlines, revisited pacing, and even paused to reteach key material. Students appreciate their voices shaping the class in real time, and I appreciate having clear direction while the course is unfolding.

A Takeaway for Faculty 

If you try one new feedback strategy, make it midterm feedback. It doesn’t take long, and the insights can transform both your teaching and your students’ experience.

Teaching is, at its core, a relational practice. When we make space for student voices, we improve our instruction while also affirming their role in shaping the learning environment.

Ball State Midterm Feedback Services provided by the Teaching Innovation Team, part of the Division of Online and Strategic Learning (DOSL), is open during weeks 4-10 of the Fall and Spring semesters.