Conducting a Mid-Semester Check-In: 5 Points to Bear in Mind

Mid-semester is an important moment in the academic calendar. It offers students the chance to assess their recent educational experiences, catch their breath, and re-focus on priorities going forward.

For course instructors, the mid-semester mark represents an ideal time to investigate student progress or check-in. Mid-term check-in benefits include improving students’ engagement under less deadline and assignment pressure and amassing the required data for course modifications.

By carrying in mind certain approaches, feedback administrators can unlock insights and open the path to making timely changes to dramatically improve the next half of the semester, while also providing an essential temperature check for student attitudes and sentiments. Ultimately, these course corrections have a positive effect on end-of-term evaluations and the overall student journey.

Below, we’ve collected several approaches to bear in mind while designing a mid-semester check-in that prioritize the student experience.

1. Bear in Mind Comparative Value of Check-In Topics

   Beginning, mid-semester, and end-of-semester check-ins all accomplish a similar goal of gauging student attitudes at that time. However, their real worth is in what they reveal in comparison to each other.  A mid-semester check-in allows instructors to consult students on topics as diverse as curriculum, class timetables, teaching methods, and more. A significant drop or rise in sentiment or feedback ratings regarding a particular aspect might indicate a successful experiment or approach to be re-considered. Identifying these topics with a stop-start-continue technique can help in this respect, as students are asked what instruction aspects they’d ideally see ceased, introduced, or retained. Note that in designing a check-in process, leaving out previously-utilized questions or topics may break a pre-existing chain of historical insight – and impact decision support.

2. Focus on the Student Experience: “What Do You Want to Learn?”

   A successful student body is one that is engaged. One of the most attractive topics to include in a mid-semester check-in is asking students what they’d like to learn – and how. This can reveal which topics could spark better in-class engagement. After half a semester of instruction, students will have developed a sense of preference regarding course content and instruction techniques. They will likely be quite forthcoming on where they would like instruction to focus. Balancing student enthusiasm and preference with academic necessity is, of course, important, but by beginning with standout topics of interest, better overall application can be encouraged.

3. Advance Notice and Opened-Ended Feedback for More Insight

   Giving advance notice to students as to the importance of a mid-semester check-in is a productive strategy. These alerts can be sent regularly and in real-time using the same continuous listening tools that can gather check-in feedback, such as Bluepulse. If engagement has been a concern, communicate to students in advance that this check-in is key to improving the student experience over the remaining half of the sector. By providing students with the ability to submit open comments and substantial text feedback, a deeper understanding of the ongoing student experience can be ascertained. A comment analysis solution can rapidly parse large tracts of open-ended text and unearth new insights into student sentiments and motivation.

4. Enriching Check-Ins with Discussion – Where Possible

   Adding a discussion element to a mid-semester check-in can draw out even better reflections and responses from students. Instructors who can schedule virtual office hours or engage in video conferencing can add a layer of directness and contact with students. Those students who prefer a personal feedback experience may provide more and better details, and it may open them up to providing more useful assessment feedback in the future. Feedback can also be facilitated through a continuous listening platform like Bluepulse – which provides an easy-to-use, confidential platform for one-on-one check-ins or group discussions around similar concerns and topics.

5. An Opportunity to Reset

   Carrying out check-ins can occasionally result in some unexpected results or insights. Feedback may be more negative or less receptive than expected, or certain issues may be identified that instructors and teaching staff were previously unaware of. By presenting this check-in as an option for a positive reset, instructors can approach the rest of the semester with student perspectives firmly in mind and begin making the best changes for the course at large. Similarly, students expect to see that their feedback is being incorporated into their educational experience. Witnessing that during the term is a validating experience that can change perspectives on how the student voice is valued.

As a springboard for reflection and to increase student engagement, the mid-semester point is one that both students and staff can utilize and benefit from. A long-established aspect of most Higher Education Institutions, it offers the breathing space and thinking space for crucial feedback and assessment to be gathered and processed.

Taking the time to design evaluations that make the most of this waypoint will be rewarded with better insight, and a runway to better engagement and student success.

Empower the student voice during check-ins in our new academic environment