Granularity refers to the detail in a subject. In computers, we talk about the granularity of data in databases. It refers to the richness of detail in the data. Question: How do you get more detailed feedback from students?
Most schools offer faculty and course evaluations that are taken by the student upon exiting a course. These come in the form of a typical survey of questions that ask students to choose a scale item, rank items or write a brief sentence or two in response to a question.
I've often wondered about other ways to get more detailed feedback from my online students. It was easy when I taught face-to-face classes and all I had to do was talk to students and ask them "how were they doing in this class?" With online courses, this very simple method has been made a bit harder to accomplish.
Luckily, there are some ways that you can still get the type of detail in student feedback that will really help you develop better courses for them.
1) Virtual office hours
Office hours are a great way of meeting with students. You can get to know students a little better on a personal level. On an academic level, office hours give you an informal way of honing in on what issues a students may be having and/or just getting a sense of how the student is doing in your course.
2) Wellness appointments (via phone, chat)
I like to conduct these via telephone or by virtual chat. I find that students appreciate a professor that takes time out to chat on a personal level. I usually schedule these after the midterm and use that as a starting point to talk with students and get to know them.
3) Reflection papers
Through these assignments, you can find out what connections students make to the material in your course. I have found that while some students speak freely about what they learned, others might feel pressured to tell you what they think you want to hear. The key here is to ask students to answer very directed questions with their own examples.
4) Self-select assignments with "why did you pick this" I love giving self-select portfolio assignments with this question answered at the end of each assignment. Questions answered right after the student completes the assignment is an accurate reflection of what students thought about the assignment and its relevance in their minds. This kind of information is useful in tweaking assignments for upcoming semesters. I've also found that self-select assignments empower students to explore and learn more about their choice of topics. My students really love these and put a great deal of time into them.
5) "Why is this significant?" writings
I ask my students to complete this at the end of each module as a "check your understanding". This question probes the students and asks them to evaluate a learning module, activity or assignment through their own filters. In my experience, I've found that students feel that significant assignments are the ones that activate their prior knowledge about something, invoke emotion and peak cognitive interest.
6) Online surveys during semester
Google online surveys are nice to use here. They are easy and have an attached spreadsheet for collecting answers. I ask my students informal surveys several times during the semester. When using optional online surveys, I don't expect to get answers from every student. This is okay for me because there are several surveys they can take during a semester.
7) Student Polls
Sometimes, I use this method of feedback by posting a separate discussion within a module's listings. This allows me to get short or long format answers or quick answers so that I can do a count of students who feel a certain way about happenings in the course. For polling, I usually use Moodle discussions and Google Doc surveys.
Student feedback is vital to producing great courses. For me, it takes about three semesters to tweak a course the way I want it. But, it takes longer to tweak the course the way the students want it! My motto is: "if you ask, they will tell you." It's so true. Most students are willing to partner with you in improving the course and to take charge in their own learning experience. Improving the detail of the feedback you receive is much better than just depending on the standardized course and faculty evaluations from your school. Also, remember that feedback comes in many different forms. By using your creativity and technology, you can craft detailed feedback mechanisms that prompt students to give you all types of information about your course.
