Modify Your Teaching Approach
"The mid term feedback from my class of juniors (~40 students) really helped me improve my teaching skills. I could understand the students difficulties better, helped me improve certain aspects of lecturing which needed more attention, and more importantly it got the point across to the students that I took my teaching seriously and wanted everyone to do well."
Subramanian Ramakrishnan,
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
Using Midterm Evaluations
Midterm evaluations are a useful tool for gathering feedback from your students while there is time left in the semester to fine-tune your instruction. Instructors have found that these evaluations often have a positive impact on the course by highlighting strengths of the learning environment as well as areas where students struggle. In addition, they provide opportunities to identify and address concerns before SPOTS are administered at the end of the semester. Unlike SPOTS, midterm evaluations are not required by the university and should not be used for evaluating job performance or making personnel decisions.
Ideally, midterm evaluations should be administered between the 4th and 8th week of classes. It is also important that students have had a chance to complete an assessment/test before providing an evaluation so they can provide useful feedback on how the instruction and course materials have helped them learn. ODL faculty are happy to assist you if you would like assistance in developing and administering a midterm evaluation. Call 644-4635 or email for more information.
Midterm Evaluation Options
Instructors have several options for incorporating midterm evaluations in their courses.
ODL's Assessment & Testing offers an interim student assessment of teaching, the Teaching Assessment By Students (TABS) instrument, that is similar to the end of the semester SPOTS/SUSSAI instrument. It is important to note, however, that unlike SPOTS, TABS is not a tool for evaluating job performance or making personnel decisions – it doesn’t go into any personnel folder, and is the property of the instructor. TABS should only be used for formative evaluation of teaching and learning.
TABS can be offered either 1) face to face, using a paper version or 2) online, using the Blackboard Assessment System.
More on TABS:
Informal Midterm Evaluations
Some instructors prefer to use more informal methods to gather course feedback from their students. These methods can be just as effective as TABS and offer equally useful results. Informal surveys are often brief, consisting of only a few questions, and administered multiple times throughout a course allowing instructors to gather feedback on how changes to the course have been received by students. Like TABS, informal surveys can be offered in-class or online.
Resources
Sample TABS form 
Berkeley Sample Midterm Evaluations
Harvard Midterm Evaluations
