College Teaching, Fall 1997 v45 n4 p139(4)
The way it looks right now: a simple feedback technique. Robert J. Kloss.

Abstract: It is important for college instructors to provide their students with detailed feedback on their performance early in their courses. A useful method is for the instructor to provide each student with a written evaluation that identifies a number of educational objectives and ranks the student's progress in each area. The assessment of students by the instructor could be complemented with an early evaluation of the course and instructor by the students. This early course evaluation could encourage each student to anonymously assess the course's strengths, weaknesses and other areas of concern.

Full Text: COPYRIGHT 1997 Heldref Publications

This really helped me. Why don't all our teachers do this for us?" The student stood before me after class, a sheet of paper in her hand, responding sincerely to a simple assessment device I use, but also asking a rather invidious question, to which I was forced to reply, "I don't really know. All I can say is that I find it useful." Another student in a different class had also responded positively, tersely, and less felicitously: "Your little report card really gave me a kick in the ass."

Responses like these are not uncommon after I distribute what this student called my "little report card" in about the fourth week of class. This sheet, entitled "The Way It Looks Right Now" is an adaptation of a device of Peter Elbow, the nationally renowned expert on the teaching of writing. I have found it, along with the One-Minute Paper (Kloss 1993; Light 1990) and the Course Assessment Sheet, to be among the most valuable teaching strategies I have adopted and adapted in many years.

Elbow, in Embracing Contraries (1986), cogently argues against the over-simplifications of the current academic grading system, which attempts to place multiple and various factors on a unitary scale. In the chapter "Evaluating Students More Accurately," he urges colleagues to create, deliberate about, and adopt grading grids that expand and more realistically reflect the factors that enter into evaluation. "The crucial question is obvious: there is no need to have only one factor in a grade. There is no reason why a university, a division, or a department cannot come to agree on a grid of five to ten factors among which any teacher may choose" (170). The kinds of factors Elbow argues for include such matters as effectiveness of writing, conscientiousness and diligence, and understanding of central ideas. These would be listed on a grid with check-off boxes that allowed the teacher to rate the student within a limited range--strong, o.k., weak--in respect to each characteristic.

Grading with a Grid

Having no desire to tilt quixotically at the windmills of my more conservative colleagues to bring about radical--or even moderate--change in the department and having become more and more interested in the ideas in Classroom Assessment Techniques (Angelo and Cross 1993), I was immediately struck by the possibility that I could simply expand and adapt this grid to my own individual purposes. My reading Elbow roughly coincided with my realization that students might find it helpful early on in a course to find out how they were doing, aside from the limited feedback provided by tests, papers, and exams, in respect to the many factors that constitute what professors label "class performance." These include among other things--at least in most of the classes I teach--class participation, attention, work in groups, and timeliness with assignments. After some thought, I constructed a grid of thirteen items that I used immediately and have been using ever since, revising it at least twice over the past several years.

The variant illustrated in table 1 is one I use in several courses, both freshman and upper-level. Immediately after passing out the sheet, I direct students' attention to the title, The Way It Looks Right Now, indicating that I will most probably assess them again at least once later in the semester, and those results will show the way it looks then.

Table 1.--Grid Adapted for Class and Personal Objectives

Dr. Kloss The Way It Looks Right Now Name-----

Strong O.K.

Weak
1. Writes effectively
2. Participates in discussion
a. By asking constructive questions
b. By making statements that build on
others' ideas
3. Takes responsibility for self and learning
4. Participates in small group learning
(attending, focusing, persisting)
5. Understand central ideas
6. Supports ideas with examples
7. Attends to the ideas of others
8. Displays wonder, curiosity
9. Tolerates ambiguity
10. Is diligent, conscientious
11. Shows imagination, creativity, (generating
own insights, applications)
12. Sees thinking as a way of life
13. Improves over time

Comments:
The items appear in no particular order but in general reflect some of the learning objectives of the course and some of my own personal objectives in helping, for instance, proto-intellectuals like freshmen become college students by learning how to sustain intellectual inquiry so that it produces worthwhile results. Items 1 and 5, for instance, are generically applicable to all the literature, writing, and linguistics courses I normally teach. Items 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, and 12 focus on the importance of critical thinking, which I emphasize heavily.

Items 2, 4, and 7 demonstrate the personal value I place on generating critical dialogue in order to construct meaning in the classroom. These reflect my attempt to shift the teaching/learning paradigm students bring with them from high school--that is, knowledge as something teachers give or lend to students--to knowledge as something created by all through dialectical discussion. I often find that students simply don't listen to the comments of other students and pay attention only to what they believe are oracular pronouncements from me. I want to wean them from this pernicious habit, and I want them to learn that their peers can be valuable sources of information. These three items help me do just that.

Item 10 speaks to attitudinal habits of mind and behavior and is a convenient place to comment when necessary on such matters as, for instance, patterns of tardiness, absence, or lateness in submitting assignments. The comments are at the bottom can be used for this, too, but I want students to see what my rated expectations are for their behavior, and I usually reserve the comments section for compliments, encouragement, or, on occasion, a mild warning or a reprimand.

Once the grid is in the computer, it is simplicity itself to tailor the items to fit any course on any level. If I were a science teacher, I might want to incorporate into the grid, for example, such items as: Distinguishes opinion, assumption, fact; Collects and organizes data intelligently; Extracts and records data accurately; Interprets data intelligently; and Tolerates contrary data. In the years I have been using this sheet, in whatever variant form, student response has been overwhelmingly favorable.

Using this simple feedback device also enabled me to respond effectively to one of the Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education (Chickering and Gamson 1987). This document, for those unfamiliar with it, provides thirteen inventories that professors can self-administer and reflect upon to determine if their classroom practices optimally benefit their students.

The fourth of these inventories, appearing under the rubric of Good Practice Gives Prompt Feedback, specifically applies in this context. Here teachers are asked to rate their classroom behavior (Very Often, Often, Occasionally, Rarely, Never) on ten items and then, on the basis of the results, think about what they would like to work on to improve their teaching.

The first four of these items, for instance, are: "1. I give quizzes and homework assignments 2. I prepare classroom exercises and problems that give students immediate feedback on how well they do, 3. I return examinations and papers within a week, 4. I give students detailed evaluation of their work early in the term." Each of the first three I had diligently practiced as a matter of course over the years. And with The Way It Looks Right Now in effect, I was more comfortable about doing right by my students in respect to the fourth item.

Course Assessment Sheet

This "little report card" thus became the logical complement to the Course Assessment Sheet I had begun using several years earlier in an attempt to engage in more frequent, important conversations with my classes about "the way things were going." This sheet--somewhat equivalent to former New York City Mayor Ed Koch's habit of glad-handing people in the streets and asking, "How'm I doin'?"--contains only three questions with ample white space for written answers, as follows.

What are some good things, if any, about this course?

What are some concerns you have about this course, or some wishes you have for this course or for the way we do things?

What sorts of things, if any, about this course?

What are some concerns you have about this course, or some wishes you have for this course or for the way we do things?

What sorts of things should we do more of so that you can learn better in the course?

I habitually distribute the questionnaire about the third week of the semester and request students to respond to it anonymously in about ten minutes at the end of class.

It is important to note that when I elicit this information from the students, I emphasize that it in no way affects their grade. I explain that I would like them to help me improve teaching and learning in the classroom; that I would appreciate their answering honestly and frankly to that end; and, most important, that I would share the responses with them at the next class meeting, which I do without fail. Uniformly over the years they have been frank, sometimes brutally so, and I have found that this device does more to keep open channels of communication than others that I have tried, including open-door office hours.

I have been gratified, for instance, when I have received, in reply to the first question about good things in the course, the answer: "The fact that you care about what we have to say or want to know." Or about the course content and conduct: "I think the subject is very interesting, and I like the fact that you allow us to say something, even if it's really wrong, and not make us feel stupid. All our comments seem to be valid." Or in respect to critical thinking: "The good thing that I feel came out of this class so far, is that it has reinforced my ability to think instead of just learning. I feel somewhere along the way we . . . rather started associating memorization with learning. I feel this class has got me thinking again."

To the second question addressing their concerns I pay extra attention. Sometimes with this I can just sit back and let a response run its own course: "I was surprised at what a `hard grader' you seem to be. I will put more time and effort into my work. I want an A in the course." At other times, issues must be quickly addressed: "I am very concerned about the final project. I want to do a paper instead because I am afraid of getting up in front of the class."

This statement from a student in my course, Chaucer and the Middle Ages, invited me to speak to the class about the importance of public speaking, especially because a recent poll of alumni showed that a majority of them regretted not having had more opportunities to practice it during their college years. We discussed the centrality of this public-speaking ability in professional life. And, although all of the students were nervous and many of them betrayed it, the projects went remarkably well, more so, I feel, because the rationale was clearly understood and appreciated.

A typical concern of students frequently expressed in the second answer is their purported "shyness" during class discussions. As one freshman put it, "It's scary to have to debate your thoughts!" What is interesting about this response is that the student understood that we were "debating" ideas, not personalities or people. This kind of answer provides the opportunity to explain further why discursive discussion and the free interchange of ideas are critical in any academic enterprise. Freshmen (and many upperclassmen) often expect me to tell them the meaning of a short story or poem and are disconcerted when we all discuss the work of literature, and the meaning somehow arises out of saying what we think, why we think it, and what the import of that information is. As gently as I can, I persist in encouraging them to say what's on their mind and stand behind what they say. Gradually they get the idea and begin the behavior.

Asking students to respond anonymously frequently elicits, as can be seen, comments and questions they might not otherwise set forward. An illustrative example arose from a recent Introduction to Literature class in which one freshman--there's been one every single year in the thirty-five years I have been teaching--expressed his concern: "Are you sure everything's about sex?" My reply was, of course, "No, I'm not."

But I also pointed out that this anonymous statement was surely an exaggeration. Only four of the nine stories we had read that far had had some sexual content. But those four very clearly in their themes, symbols, and images were definitely concerned with sex. I added that much of contemporary literature has such content, and that, indeed, if they would look about them, MTV and commercial advertising are saturated with it, either realistically or symbolically. I noted, however, that they as freshmen were probably uncomfortable dealing openly with it because such discussions are generally forbidden in high school, and no one till now had invited them into the Great Conversation, which includes the entire universe in all its complexities, confusions, and anxiety-producing elements. I concluded that if they treated sexuality in literature as the adults they were, all would go well. And indeed it did, as it does virtually every time.

In respect to the last question as to what needs changing in the course, answers vary, and I rightly devote most of my attention to them. Four or five years ago, so many students indicated early on that they enjoyed working in small groups that I have instituted the practice as a regular part of almost every course I teach. Others have made useful suggestions in respect to my teaching methods, speech habits, and use of the blackboard, all of which I have considered. Specific changes I have made in response to students' requests, in addition to more small group work, include clearer explanations of my grading system, provision of models of writing assignments, and more time to discuss and clarify these assignments in class. I must admit, however, I do not always take students' suggestions, but when I don't, I fully explain the intellectual, pedagogical, or practical reason for my not making the suggested change.

Respecting Students

The important thing, it should be clear by now, is to respect and address students' suggestions and concerns whatever they may be. Sometimes they will contradict each other as when, in a linguistics class, I was told simultaneously that I was both giving and not giving enough examples of language processes. But even contradictions become opportunities to open up further conversations with the class in order to improve teaching and learning.

When a student in the same linguistics class found "the knowledge in the book overwhelming, so many facts" and wanted to know how to study, I discussed with the class how to determine what was most important in the welter and wealth of material: What did the book seem to emphasize; what did the instructor concentrate on; what came up in class that he either pays a little or a lot of attention to? As is often the case, this particular student spoke for many others, and the ensuing discussion relieved a great deal of anxiety in the entire class. Consensual validation of one kind or another is a frequent result of the discussions that follow the use of the Course Assessment Sheet.

Teachers interested in eliciting this kind of feedback from students might profitably take a look at Angelo and Cross's work ( 1993), cited earlier. Menges and Rando, as well, have formalized the procedure of obtaining student response in "Feedback for Enhanced Teaching and Learning" ( 1996), in which they take an instructor through a series of practical questions (e.g., "What information is most likely to be useful?" "How should information be gathered?" "How accurate is the information?"), structuring the process so that success is optimized.

Practiced over time, gathering feedback becomes a habitual skill. And Quinn (1993) discovered that award-winning teachers are particularly proficient at generating, interpreting, and using feedback from students. Eighty-two percent of the exceptional instructors she queried cited students' responses and evaluations of their performance as the most satisfying aspect of their teaching (327).

The distinction between an average teacher and a really effective teacher thus may lie in part in the ability of the latter to elicit and use feedback from students. As a teacher of long experience, I have usually felt that I could tell when things were going well or poorly in a particular class. All of us, when we see a certain response upon a face in front of us, have employed the knowing smile, the raised eyebrow, the shock of recognition to our advantage in the classroom. Now, with this more systematic gathering and distribution of information, I myself can be less impressionistic and much more secure in my knowledge of the answer to "How're we coin?" For good or for bad, I now know, and my students do, also.

WORKS CITED

Angelo, T. A., and K. P. Cross. 1993. Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college teachers. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Chickering, A., and Z. Gamson, eds. 1987. Seven principles of good practice in undergraduate education. AAHE Bulletin 39(7): 3-7. See also by the same authors (1991) Applying the seven principles of good practice in undergraduate education. New Directions for Teaching and Learning 47. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Elbow, P. 1986. Embracing contraries: Explorations in learning and teaching. New York: Oxford University Press.

Kloss, R. J. 1993. Stay in touch, won't you?: Using the one-minute paper. College Teaching 41(2): 60-3.

Light, R. 1990. The Harvard assessment seminars: Explorations with students and faculty about teaching, learning, and student life. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Graduate School of Education and Kennedy School of Government.

Menges, R. J., and W. C. Rando. 1996. Feedback for enhanced teaching and learning. In Teaching on solid ground, 233-55.

Menges, R. J., M. Weimer, and Associates, eds. 1996. Teaching on solid ground: Using scholarship to improve practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Quinn, J. W. 1993. University teaching award winners: their perceptions of award programs, reading habits, satisfactions, and dissatisfactions. Report of the Focus on Teaching Project and the National Center on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning, and Assessment. Pennsylvania State University. Quoted in Walker, C. J., and J. W. Quinn. Fostering instructional vitality and motivation. In Teaching on solid ground, op. cit., 315-36.

Robert J. Kloss, a consulting editor for College Teaching, is a professor of English at William Paterson College in Wayne, New Jersey.