Students can feel disregarded after providing critical feedback for professors at the end of each semester. Carleton University should take students’ feedback more seriously and give students more of a say in their education.
Despite receiving several reminder emails to fill out student experience questionnaires for instructors and taking the time to provide feedback, students rarely see anything come of the comments they make.
With minimal instruction on how to provide effective feedback, unlike at other universities, students are left to comment at their own discretion with no guidance or explanation of how their feedback will be implemented in future classes.
Writing feedback that “only the instructor will see” holds minimal weight. When asking for changes to curriculum, pedagogy or anything else within the classroom, administrators must also be made aware of the request to ensure instructors are held accountable.
Students should be offered an online portal or physical station on campus to provide ongoing public feedback, such as the one used for the Carleton cafeteria.
Rather than provide students with resources for directing feedback to administrators, students are instructed to provide anonymous feedback with limited or no potential for follow-up, either by students or the university.
To alleviate students’ feelings of neglect, the university must alter its processes for providing professors with feedback, and implement transparent and public strategies for pedagogic reform.
Featured graphic from file.
