After the Board of Governors’ unfortunate decision in 2013 to standardize the drop/add period across the UNC system, first and second year students are set in the classes they are enrolled in after ten days of classes — whether they like it or not.
This state of affairs appears likely to be in place for all foreseeable classes of students, so UNC should do what it can to help students affected by this ill-conceived policy.
During the first few weeks of classes, it is sometimes hard to tell whether a professor presents information in an interesting or comprehensible way. And often, once a student realizes that the course might not work out, it is too late to drop out. For these reasons, it would be helpful if students could give midsemester feedback to professors.
An anonymous forum could be set up in the middle of the academic semester so students could have a chance to tell their professors what works in the classroom and what doesn’t, before it’s too late. Not only will students be able to tell their professors what they need, but professors will be able to improve their teaching skills.
Taking time to gather feedback in the middle of the semester could take many forms: Professors could solicit and collect anonymous feedback during class using paper surveys or print-out questionnaires. If they would rather not use class time for feedback, professors could print questionnaires or surveys that are publicly displayed for students to fill out on their own time.
If paper waste is an issue, the University could consider sending out a campus wide online survey, as is done with course evaluations, or professors could add a suggestions section to their Sakai pages.
While it is possible some students will neglect to share their thoughts with their professors midsemester, feedback, even if it comes from only a few students, is valuable.
This undertaking does not have to be as thorough as the end of the semester evaluations, but it should be viewed similarly.
Midsemester feedback would be a great way to gauge how the semester is progressing, taking note of how students are feeling about the material, pace and teaching method of the class. A professor does not have to change the class based on what students think, but it would be a good litmus test of how the class is being received.
