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When planning the course it is beneficial to take a look back at the previous feedback and reflect on the development needs of the course. 

Also, the feedback practices for the course are planned: What kind of topics would give useful information during the course? What could be left for the end-of-course feedback survey?

In a nutshell:

1. Have a look at the feedback from the previous implementation, if possible, and make adjustments according to need and your own consideration. You can find your course feedback in . If the adjustments have already been planned and implemented after the previous course implementation, you can focus on steps 2 and 3.
2. Plan the feedback practices for the course: formulate the questions for the mid-course feedback survey(s) and the end-of-course feedback survey. You can use the course feedback tool in MyCourses to collect feedback. You can find the practical steps for getting started with the surveys here.
3. Reserve time in your course schedule to inform your students about your feedback practices and to collect feedback. This is likely to result in a higher response rate.

It is important to inform students about the previous feedback and the development actions based on the feedback. Sometimes it means justifying the choices made, explaining the choices to the students and sticking to them. In the beginning of the course it is also good to inform the students about how and why feedback will be collected during the course.  

The course feedback tool in MyCourses is an excellent way to collect mid-course feedback. An informal feedback discussion is also a great way to get feedback. During the course, it makes sense to choose topics that help support students during the course, while more holistic questions aiming at course development can be included in the survey at the end of the course.  

Feedback received from students leads to giving a response. That can be done for example orally in the beginning of a lecture, addressing some of the most important observations.

In a nutshell: 

1. Inform your students about the feedback practices: when and how.
2. Reserve time for collecting feedback and promoting it.
3. Respond to the feedback you get during the course. 

At the end of the course the fully automated feedback system sends the end-of-course feedback survey to the students. The teacher can add their own questions to this feedback survey, too. The survey is open to the students before the course ends, and you can have a look at the preliminary report as soon as there are five or more responses. You can discuss and comment on the feedback given already during the last lecture(s). This reminds and motivates other students to give feedback too. 

Reflect on the feedback given in order to develop your course and yourself as a teacher. Respond to final feedback after the course end. That can be easily done in the course feedback tool in MyCourses. This is rewarding to the students, and it strengthens the feedback culture at Aalto.

Remember that you can get support for processing feedback from your school’s Learning Services. Don’t hesitate to contact, for example, your school’s pedagogical specialist, programme planner, or the course feedback contact person, who can coach you in going through the feedback and help you make use of it.

Every teacher sometimes receives negative feedback from students. It is common that feedback given anonymously can at times feel very critical in tone. While feedback can, at best, refine our teaching and help us get a read on our students, it is understandable that negative feedback, in particular, can evoke a wide range of thoughts and feelings. Please don’t deal with these alone. According to the Aalto University Code of Conduct, inappropriate feedback should be reported to your supervisor. If you need support in processing the emotions the feedback raises, you can book a coaching session to support your workplace well-being and, if necessary, also contact occupational health services.