For faculty who are not interested in a full Peer Faculty Consultation that includes classroom observation, there is another alternative. Small Group Instruction Diagnosis (SGID) is the title of a technique that can help faculty find out how students in their classes are learning and what suggestions they might make for improving the class. In only 15 minutes, an outside interviewer can discuss a class with a group of students and give this information to the faculty member for future use. It takes little time, but can prove valuable indeed. Even if you already do assessments yourself, by using an outside interviewer there is a better chance that the class will be more forthright in their answers to questions, such as, "What is going well in your class" and "In what areas might you have suggestions for change." The latest research suggests that when faculty take mid-semester assessments, such as this, and change at least one or two things about the class based on the information received, their semester-end evaluations are considerably higher than those done only at the very end of a class.
If you are interested in a SGID for a class or classes you may contact CETL at any time.
