CTL Drop-in Office Hours

Drop by any time from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and discuss your teaching-related questions and ideas at a convenient location: Oct 4, Coupa Cafe (Y2E2) | Oct 31, Coupa Cafe (Green Library) | Nov 21, Blend@Annette’s Cafe

See CTL Events for all dates and locations
Stanford
Center for Teaching and Learning

Teaching Feedback and Consultation Services

a picture of a rotary telephone in front of a dark blue background
Get your teaching questions answered

Graduate Teaching Advice Line

Have a quick teaching-related question? Email our Graduate Teaching Advice Line. A trained graduate teaching consultant will respond to your questions within 1–2 business days while class is in session. The Advice Line is a quick, easy way to get your teaching questions answered. 

 

Ask the Advice Line

Collecting, analyzing, and responding to feedback are effective ways to gain new perspectives on your teaching and identify realistic adjustments you can make to enhance the quality of your students' learning experience.

Together with our trained consultants you can gather and process data to enhance your students’ learning or check in about general teaching questions. When you request teaching feedback and consultation services you can expect to hear back in 2–3 business days. 

Request CTL Teaching Feedback

Feedback on Teaching

Mid-quarter Small Group Feedback Session (SGFS) 
An SGFS at mid-quarter can be one of the most useful ways to gather input from students while you still have time to implement changes. In an SGFS, a trained CTL consultant visits your class during the last 20 minutes and, in your absence, places your students into small groups. Each group brainstorms what is contributing to their learning in the class, what needs improvement, and what students themselves can do to improve the course. Students then have the chance to vote on which suggestions they agree with, and the consultant meets with you later to discuss your students’ feedback and share a report.

We encourage TAs teaching multiple sections to request an SGFS for each section. SGFSs should be conducted during weeks 4–6 of the quarter.

SGFS Video Recording and Consultation
With this combined service, you and your consultant can review video footage and student feedback for a complete view of your teaching.

Midterm Online Feedback Survey 
Anonymous online surveys provide the opportunity to gather feedback, make modifications, assess prior student knowledge, and perform active learning exercises. We can help you create and customize surveys and interpret results.

Microteaching 
A trained consultant engages a small group of TAs in a two-hour practice teaching session. Each TA is videorecorded facilitating 4–5 minutes of teaching. The group then gives feedback in a positive, encouraging environment.

Video Recording and Consultation A trained consultant will observe one of your classes or sections and share reflection questions with you. You'll then meet to review portions of the footage and come up with actions to take moving forward. Requests for video consultations must be for actual courses, not practice job talks or other presentations that take place outside the context of a Stanford course. You have two options for video recording: you can record the class session yourself or request that a consultant visit your class to record (see below for the affordances and limitations of each option). Recordings of classes may be limited to one hour and video recordings can be requested any time during the quarter. If you choose the self-recording option, please indicate that in the "Additional Information" section of the feedback request form.

Select one:Classroom observation/recording & video consultSelf-recording & video consult
Pros
  • The observation might be more comprehensive, because the consultant can observe the whole class without being subject to the limitations of a camera’s capture zone.
  • A trained consultant will handle recording equipment.
  • Students might feel more comfortable so the classroom atmosphere might be more typical.
  • This option is better suited for classrooms equipped with video.
  • You could record multiple sections and then choose one to focus on in a consultation. 
Cons
  • The “observer effect”: the students and TA might be nervous with a consultant in the room.
  • You may not get your first-choice date. 
  • Set-up could be challenging if you have never recorded in your classroom.
  • The consultant's observation might be limited because video may not capture the whole room, move around to students during group activities, or accurately capture affective components of the class environment.

Questions?

Contact Amanda Modell, associate director, Graduate Teaching Programs, for more information at any time.

amodell@stanford.edu
650-724-3129
408 Panama Mall