To request a consultation, please fill out our consultation request form here. U-M login required. Consultation services are available to faculty, postdocs and graduate students affiliated with the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor campus. If you have an urgent question or concern about a time-sensitive teaching matter, or if you do not receive a response from us within 72 hours of your submitted request, please call CRLT at 764-0505 or email ([email protected]).

CRLT consultants are available to meet one-on-one with faculty, academic leaders, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars affiliated with the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor campus. These consultations can focus on a range of teaching and curricular topics, including:

• Accreditation
• Course assessment
• Course planning
• Curriculum
• Difficult classroom dynamics
• Equity-focused/inclusive teaching
• Grants - CRLT
• Grants - non-CRLT
• GSI training and development
• Institutional climate
• Instructional strategies
• Instructional technology
• Learning analytics
• LSA Race and Ethnicity requirement
• Program assessment or review
• Scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL)
• Student evaluations of teaching
• Teaching statements or portfolios
• Tests/assignments/grading
• Other

Browse online resources about these and other teaching topics.

Please note that we are no longer accepting requests for Midterm Student Feedback (MSF) sessions in Fall 2024 term. You may complete this form for MSFs you'd like to schedule for Winter 2025. U-M login required. 

Gathering Midterm Student Feedback (MSF) is valuable for identifying areas for instructional improvement. Many instructors have found that simple changes early on can help motivate students and enhance student learning. Students tend to like the process because it gives them a chance to voice opinions on issues that are most critical to them, and they appreciate the fact that the instructor has solicited their opinions.

CRLT is pleased to offer both in-person and remote approaches to collecting midterm student feedback. As always, CRLT consultants will work with instructors to design a process that best meets their needs. Please see below for the most common MSF options. In all cases, the process is confidential; the CRLT consultant will share student feedback only with the instructor.

Options for Midterm Student Feedback (MSF) Consultations and Course Observations

Survey Methods:

Working with the instructor, CRLT consultants construct a brief survey consisting of closed- and open-ended questions targeted to the instructor’s specific course context and concerns. Surveys are distributed electronically to students with survey results collected and compiled by the CRLT consultant. The survey method can be combined with in-person or remote forms of course observation.

Consultation on Feedback Gathered by the Instructor:

For instructors who prefer to collect student feedback themselves, CRLT consultants can advise on a process that will generate the most useful feedback. To access sample templates click here. This method can also be combined with in-person or remote forms of course observation.

Small Group Method:

This approach involves the use of facilitated small group discussions among students to identify course strengths and potential changes that would assist their learning. The instructor arranges to have a CRLT consultant visit the class early in the semester. The consultant arrives at the beginning of the class period and observes until there are approximately 25 minutes left. At that time, the instructor turns the class over to the consultant and leaves. The consultant explains the procedure and its purpose and then divides the class into groups of 3-5 students. Each group addresses the following questions:

• What are the major strengths of this course for your learning?
• What changes could be made in the course to assist you in learning?

Students are asked to discuss each of these questions in their groups. The groups then share their responses with the whole class, and the consultant clarifies and records responses.

Course materials review

If requested by the instructor, CRLT Consultants can also review and provide feedback about course materials (such as CANVAS organization, syllabi, rubrics, slide decks, lesson plans, etc.) This can be combined with the other methods mentioned above.

Debriefing

Regardless of method, the consultant will meet remotely or in person with the instructor to review student feedback and discuss possible responses. If the consultant observed the class, these observations will also be shared and discussed. Ideally, this debriefing session will take place before the class meets again.

Consultation services are available to faculty, postdocs and graduate students affiliated with the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor campus. If you have an urgent question or concern about a time-sensitive teaching matter, or if you do not receive a response from us within 72 hours of your submitted request, please call CRLT at 764-0505 or email ([email protected]).

To request a Classroom Observation, please fill out our Classroom Observation request form here. U-M login required.

Classroom observation followed by consultation is available to faculty, postdocs and graduate students affiliated with the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor campus. CRLT consultants can observe in-person and remote courses. Additionally, CRLT consultants can review and provide feedback on class material including recorded lectures used in asynchronous courses.

To request a consultation on your statement of teaching philosophy, please fill out our Teaching Philosophy request form here. U-M login required.

Statements of teaching philosophy are a form of academic writing that is unfamiliar to many. CRLT is happy to serve as an outside reader as you develop your teaching statement for the academic job market or for promotion and tenure. Consultation services are available to graduate students, postdocs, and faculty affiliated with the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor campus.

CRLT also has research about Teaching Philosophies, strategies for writing a successful statement, and examples of statements from U-M graduate students and postdocs. Graduate students may also be interested in the U-M Graduate Teacher Certificate program which requires a teaching statement.

We are not able to provide feedback on stand alone diversity statements, though we do provide feedback on diversity, equity, and inclusion aspects of teaching philosophy statements. Rackham will provide feedback on diversity statements for students completing the Rackham Professional Development Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Certificate.