Ask for Feedback Early

A well-known best practice for all types of courses is to ask students for feedback early in the semester--around week 2 or 3 in a regular semester. When you ask early, you are then able to adjust the content, pace, or structure of the course to better meet the students' needs.

According to Judith Boettcher and Rita-Marie Conrad, waiting until the end of the semester for feedback is like performing a "postmortem evaluation": after the course is "dead," nothing can be done to change it for the better. Instead, ask about course and student "health" early on.

"Early feedback surveys or informal discussions are effective in getting students to provide feedback on what is working well in a course and solicit suggestions and ideas on what might help them have a better course experience." Both instructors and students can then make adjustments to better ensure student success.

Here are some possible methods:

Canvas

Quiz tool - survey or quiz (anonymous or not, graded or not)
Discussion
Inbox (private message)
Content page, editable by students (everyone helps create it)
Collaborative document
Assignment (open-ended essay)

Outside of Canvas

Classroom discussion
Email
Essay or freewriting assignment
Collaborative activity such as brainstorming ways to make the course better
Students sharing their own challenges and helping others

What to Ask

What's working?
What's not working?
What do want more of?
What do you want less of?
What's confusing?
What's cool?
What are your own goals for this class?
How will you achieve those goals?
What can I (the instructor) do to help you achieve your goals?
How will you reward yourself for achieving your goals?
How will this class help you in your academic career?
How does this class relate to the "real world"?
How can I (the instructor) make this course better?
What ideas do you have for this course?
What have you learned so far?
What are you hoping to gain from this course?
What has been the best/worst aspect of this course so far?
If you could change something about this course, what would it be?

Here is a sample feedback "quiz" you can upload into your Canvas course and modify as needed.

Here's an example of an open-ended ungraded survey:

(Boettcher, Judith and Rita-Marie Conrad. The Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple and Practical Pedagogical Tips. 2010. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 42.)