5.3 Step 2: Amend

FACILITATORS

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Review, Amend, Apply

 Review the information available to you about your students' behavior.

Amend the information you've gathered with student feedback to ensure accuracy.

Apply evidence-based interventions in your classroom based on your insights.

 

 

Why "amend"?

Often different behaviors can look very similar online, or they may emerge for a variety of reasons. For example:

  • A student refreshing a page every couple of minutes to overcome a technical issue may look like vigorous re-reading
  • A student may stop watching a video because they perceive that the content doesn’t relate to the upcoming exam, or because the video is long and they don’t have the time to finish it
  • A student may skip sections of a reading because they’re struggling to understand the content, or because they’re overwhelmed with other coursework
  • A student may be driven to continually access resources to deeply engage with them in study, or they may access those resources without meaningfully engaging with them as an expression of anxiety

The information reviewed in the first section of this site is only one piece of a puzzle, but that doesn’t make it any less valuable. Asking students questions about their behavior — making sure that it's been interpreted it correctly — helps to ensure that the right interventions are being applied.

 

Gathering Feedback

The Canvas Quiz tool can be used to create an anonymous quiz, and points can be added to incentivize student engagement. Unlike a traditional quiz, points can be associated with the survey instead of individual questions. This is a convenient way to gather student feedback.

It's important to understand that instructors can circumvent the anonymous feature of a survey by unchecking "Keep Submissions Anonymous." In this case, ethical and responsible practice has to do what the technology doesn't do: keep student submissions anonymous and inform students of this limitation with a commitment to keep responses anonymous. If this poses a significant barrier, use another survey tool like [Google Forms or Qualtrics].


EXAMPLE QUESTIONS TO ASK STUDENTS BASED ON THE DATA

 

If the data suggest that students are revisiting a previously-assigned reading:

  • Is there a concept in assigned reading that you're finding helpful? If so, what is it? (essay/short answer)
  • If not, why are you revisiting the reading? (essay/short answer)

If a majority of students missed a specific quiz question:

  • Was the concept tested in the question covered adequately in class? (true/false)
  • Were you confused by the way the question was phrased? (true/false)
  • Was there another reason you missed this question on the quiz? (short answer/essay)

 

Understanding the Data

Reviewing students’ feedback may be analyzed as any other data would be: by looking for trends and patterns, identifying outliers, and triangulating responses with what you observed in the data. 

Reviewing student feedback

The following tips may be useful when reviewing student feedback:

  • Define thresholds. Start by defining some thresholds before you begin digging into your survey responses. For example, you may decide that you will re-address content in class if over 60% of your students reported finding it confusing. You may wish to address survey feedback that doesn’t meet your threshold, but doing so on an individual basis might be a better use of your and your students’ time. The threshold is ultimately arbitrary, but making a decision before you look at your students’ feedback can simplify your decision-making process.

  • Consider responses in context. Your students may recommend courses of action that don’t make sense for your course. You don’t always need to fulfill their requests, but make sure that you’re being transparent with them when you don’t. Providing context will help them come with you when you propose moving in another direction.

  • Think about the whole picture, not just the survey responses. On occasion you may find that your survey feedback doesn’t match the information you gathered in the “review” step. For example, you may receive feedback from your students reporting that they enjoyed a video and found it valuable, but the information you gathered in the “review” step suggests that most of them didn’t watch the video all the way through. Consider possibilities: did your students enjoy the video but not finish it because it’s too long? Are your students reporting that they enjoyed the video because they believe they’re expected to?

  • “Amend” shouldn't be a one-time process. If the survey responses you received didn’t give you actionable feedback, you can always reach out to your students again. Addressing their needs may require a longer conversation.

 

 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Justice tip

  • Don’t disregard the small numbers. Consider the minority vote and ask why there are conflicting responses. You might find the one individual who shared feedback contradicting the rest of the class’ represents an important perspective (e.g. they might be the only person in the class using a screen reader). Be curious: ask for more information in order to provide an equitable learning experience.
  • Providing anonymous surveys can help prevent implicit bias from impacting your interpretation of the responses.

 

From our peers: Understanding Implicit Bias

   The Ohio State University

 

 
The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity defines implicit bias as:

Also known as implicit social cognition, implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner.  These biases, which encompass both favorable and unfavorable assessments, are activated involuntarily and without an individual’s awareness or intentional control.  Residing deep in the subconscious, these biases are different from known biases that individuals may choose to conceal for the purposes of social and/or political correctness.  Rather, implicit biases are not accessible through introspection.

The implicit associations we harbor in our subconscious cause us to have feelings and attitudes about other people based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, age, and appearance.  These associations develop over the course of a lifetime beginning at a very early age through exposure to direct and indirect messages.  In addition to early life experiences, the media and news programming are often-cited origins of implicit associations.
Visit the Kirwan Institute website to learn more about the characteristics and impacts of implicit biases.

Learn more about implicit bias from The Ohio State University Links to an external site.