Closing the loop: Formative Assessment Surveys 

An important part of teaching is being able to reflect on one's own teaching methods. To help me accomplish this, I examine student evaluations at least twice during the semester together with departmental evaluations to close the teaching-to-learning loop with their helpful feedback. For this reason, I use Formative Course Assessment surveys (FCAS) which are most effective when done frequently. These surveys are customized for each course and are uniquely developed by me in time. The information is used to implement immediate adjustments in the day-to-day operations of the course. In teaching stand-alone courses, I use an online course management system  (i.e. Blackboard) which allows instructors to distribute information online, manage student grades, administer online assessments, and much more. I use FCAS  as an early evaluation to make changes in my teaching based on the comments that I get from the students, and again around the tenth week to make sure that I positively changed my teaching. Open-ended questions are my favorite since they give the students all the freedom to express their perception of the course. Letting them know that you take their comments and suggestions seriously makes them understand that they are important. The very fundamental idea always works: "If I respect the students, they will respect me as a teacher in return."