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Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology

Midterm Chats

(Small Group Instructional Diagnoses)

Overview

A Midterm Chat, more formally known as a “Small Group Instructional Diagnosis” (SGID) is a feedback process through which instructors can gain insights into the progress of a particular class during a particular semester. The process generally takes place between the 5th and 10th week of the semester, allowing time for the instructor to institute any changes s/he deems important as a result of insights gained through the process.

Process

The Midterm Chat is a four-part process that includes the following:

  1. Initial meeting
    At the initial meeting, we will ask you to provide a context for the process by answering some questions about the course, your students, and your teaching.
  2. Classroom Visit
    During our meeting with your class(es), we will ask students to respond to three or four standard questions and, if you wish, one or two specific questions of your own design.
  3. Feedback Phase
    At our follow-up meeting, we will provide you with a written summary of our conversation with your class and answer any questions you might have about it. We will also, of course, be happy to help you reflect on the feedback and plan an appropriate response to it.
  4. Action Phase
    For the best results, you will want to have a follow-up meeting to discuss the feedback with your class. Research demonstrates that this meeting is crucial in improving student engagement, motivation, and learning in the class. A nice by-product is that this meeting CAN improve end-of-term instructor ratings as well.

Policies

  1. VOLUNTARY
    Only instructors can request that Midterm Chats be conducted with their classes.
  2. FORMATIVE
    CTLT facilitators are not in the business of evaluating teaching. Facilitators are only in the business of gathering candid feedback from students. Once we have provided that information to the instructor, only the instructor decides how it will be used.
  3. CONFIDENTIAL
    No information we gather as a result of the Midterm Chat process will be shared with anyone else at the university or beyond without the instructor’s express consent. We will provide a follow-up letter summarizing the results of our conversation with each class, and instructors are welcome to use those letters in any way they deem appropriate (as an addition to their teaching portfolio, as part of their annual ASPT report, etc.) We would be happy to send a copy of the letter to a dean, chair, mentor, or DFSC, but only at the written request of the instructor.
  4. TIMELY
    Midterm Chats are most effective when conducted between weeks 5-10 of the semester. By the fifth-tenth week in the semester, students and instructors have generally settled into the routine of the class and some assignments have been completed and evaluated. On the other hand, it is still early enough in the semester for an instructor to make significant changes to the class when s/he feels that doing so will improve learning.

For more information or to schedule a Midterm Chat, call or e-mail Dr. Claire Lamonica, Assistant Director, CTLT, 309-438-7695.