Why is gathering feedback on your teaching practices important?

• Feedback helps the university improve the teaching and learning experience.
• Feedback allows faculty to understand their strengths and weaknesses and enhance their teaching and courses accordingly.  
• Student feedback is essential in helping the university understand its planning context and measure progress towards goals.
• Assessment has a role to play in your teaching portfolio.

Soliciting feedback is one of four instructor's responsibilities outlined in the USask Learning Charter.

• Our Learning Charter

The summative evaluation of an instructor’s teaching, when done well, should include multiple sources of teaching quality data with which to conduct the evaluation. USask policies on collection of student and peer feedback are written with the intent to be developmental, i.e., to enable and demonstrate an instructor’s growth as an educator over time. The assessments used to inform the evaluation process can often include, but is not limited to:

• Student learning experience feedback
  USask has adopted the Student Learning Experience Questionnaire (SLEQ) for soliciting student feedback about their course learning experiences. While most academic units use SLEQ, some use an alternate instrument approved by the unit as per the student learning experience feedback policy. Evaluation should focus particularly on response to feedback and development over time.
• Peer review of teaching practices including review of syllabi, teaching materials, and assessments
  Normally conducted by an assigned faculty member in your department as per the peer review of teaching practices policy. Evaluation should focus particularly on response to feedback and development over time. Teaching observation consultations are also offered through the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning.
• Self-reflection
  Reflection is an educator’s opportunity to integrate sources of feedback reflect on feedback from students and peers related to intentions with the planning and design processes and considerations of the course context. Specific actions taken in response to feedback can be noted as can feedback not heeded with a rationale as to why.

Policy

In June 2022, University Council approved the Policy on Peer Review of Teaching Practices. This policy standardizes elements of the peer review process, while allowing good flexibility for disciplinary and other differences between academic units. Key highlights of the Policy include the following:

• A developmental focus, helping educators identify opportunities to improve teaching and giving due credit in future reviews for doing so.
• A holistic understanding of teaching, including reviews of assessment design, syllabi, Canvas materials, and more – in addition to more traditional classroom observations.
• An explicit consideration of equity factors that may influence reviews, in pursuit of equitable outcomes from review processes.

• Policy on Peer Review of Teaching Practices

Conducting Peer Reviews

To support faculty in conducting reviews of their colleagues' teaching practices, several resources and supports have been developed. These include institutional templates that can be used, advice on reviewing teaching materials, and how to include equity as a factor in your review. See the page at the button below for more resources for reviewers, reviewees, and academic leaders.

Policy and Procedures

The Student Learning Experience Feedback Policy applies to all course-related student learning experience feedback which flows out of and acknowledges educator and university community commitments made in the University of Saskatchewan Learning Charter. This includes student feedback collected through SLEQ or other course-related student feedback tools/instruments utilized in departments, schools and colleges.

• Student Learning Experiences Feedback Policy
• Supplemental Procedures

Student Learning Experience Questionnaire (SLEQ)

SLEQ is the institutionally supported student feedback collection instrument. It was implemented after a review by the Teaching, Learning and Academic Resources Committee of University Council (TLARC) concluded that our old system, SEEQ, did not align with some of our institutional values and priorities related to teaching and learning. SLEQ underwent a successful pilot, which included an extensive validation process. SLEQ is now used by a majority of academic units on campus for student learning experience feedback collection.

• Learn more about SLEQ

SEEQ was the centrally supported student course feedback collection system prior to SLEQ. The online SEEQ system is no longer accessible. If you taught courses that used SEEQ to collect student feedback, you will need to request access to those reports.

To retrieve information from SEEQ, see instructions at homepage https://evaluation.usask.ca.