Why seeking feedback about your teaching is absolutely crucial to your career

Published about 2 months ago • 1 min read

Feedback is the cornerstone of progress, hence why seeking feedback about your teaching is so important. It provides you with an opportunity to reflect, learn, and grow. Therefore, gathering effective teaching feedback is absolutely crucial. It acts as a mirror, giving you a clear picture of your teaching methods, strategies, and interactions. However, the key to obtaining feedback is to do so consistently throughout the course. Only gathering end-of-term feedback is insufficient. Aim to collect feedback at least three times during a course.

Here are four reasons to continuously collect feedback from students and colleagues about your teaching.

1. Insight into Student Learning

Feedback helps gauge how effectively students are grasping the concepts you are teaching. Certain recurring questions or misunderstandings can highlight areas in your lesson plans that may need to be revisited or presented differently. Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) (Angelo & Cross, 1993), check-ins at the end of each class, are an excellent way to check student learning.

2. Improvement of Teaching Strategies

By receiving feedback, you can continuously refine your teaching to better suit your students' learning needs (Gormally et al., 2017). This ongoing process of enhancement will continue throughout your career.

3. Enhanced Student Engagement

When students can provide feedback, they feel heard and valued. This increases their engagement and participation, leading to a more vibrant and productive learning environment (Ambrose et al., 2010).

4. Professional Development

Feedback encourages self-reflection and personal growth. It provides valuable insights for your professional development, helping you to enhance your instruction, and provides excellent data for your teaching dossier/portfolio.

Conclusion

To make the most out of the feedback process, it is important to approach it with an open mind. Embrace both the praise and the constructive criticism. Remember, each piece of feedback is an opportunity for growth and improvement (Svinicki & McKeachie, 2014).

Feedback is not a one-time event but an ongoing process. And while it can be challenging, it is also incredibly rewarding. It bridges the gap between where you are and where you want to be as an educator.

If you would like more information about how to get quality feedback about your teaching, download my free guide available on my website: "Your Comprehensive Guide to Gathering Effective Teaching Feedback: When, How, and What."

References

Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. Jossey-Bass.

Angelo, T. A., & Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Gormally, C., Evans, M., & Brickman, P. (2017). Feedback about teaching in higher ed: Neglected opportunities to promote change. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 13(2), 187-199. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.13-12-0235

Svinicki, M., & McKeachie, W. (2014) McKeachie’s teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers, 14th edition. Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

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