INSIDE D@UGLAS COLLEGE / MAY 1, 1990 How Are Things Going? When do we learn about how things are going for our students during the academic year? Usually we learn when we see the results of exams, homework, papers, and quizzes. We have discussions in class, and we visit with students in the halls and in our offices— gathering additional information about how things are going. At the end of the year, we learn about how things went when we read the student evaluations of our courses. While all this is very useful information, I decided that I wanted more student reactions and wanted them ona regular basis. | was encouraged to try a new method of gathering this information when I heard a teacher say that she never knew how many of her students felt about the course until the final student evaluations were submitted. My first try at getting more information was very simple: I asked. After the students had completed one full week of classes, I asked each student to write two or three sentences on how things had gone during the first week of classes at Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) and to sign his/her name to the comments. This task was to be completed in a maxi- mum of five minutes, papers folded and passed to the front of the room. The directions given, | waited nervously for the first “Why are we doing this?” The question never came in any of my classes that day. The fact that I seemed interested in knowing about their first week was enough at this point. Immediately after each class, I read the notes, which totaled about 100 by the end of the day and another 50 by the time all classes had met. I was very happy to read the reactions to PVCC teachers and the college. Students were very positive about their first week of experiences. They talked about how they felt about their classes and their teachers. They were cager to share their experiences in writing, and several added “Thank you for asking” to their comments. _ Lasked again a week later, “How did your second week go at PVCC?” Again they wrote positively, and many added an occasional question for me concerning the class. I answered the general questions at the beginning of the next class and answered some for individual students as I saw them outside of class. This procedure was repeated with, “How did your third week go at PVCC?” and then about every three or four weeks with the general question, “How are things going?” Sometime later I did get the “Why are you doing this?” question (response: “I am interested”) and the “Do you read all those notes?” question (re- sponse: “I always read the notes”). What did I learn? Most students did have questions about the school, the lecture, the tests, and so on that they felt freer to ask in the privacy of a note. Most students had opinions about the school, the lecture, the tests, themselves, and so on that they felt freer to express in this way. Most students were willing to share both the good news and bad news of college life. At the end of the term on the evaluation form, I asked the students to comment on this writing activ- ity—the “How are things going?” notes that they wrote during the academic year. Again, they were willing to comment. Some comments were: “The notes were one of the nicest things about the course. They allowed me to express frustration and share accomplishments with an instructor who truly cares about his students.” “The notes helped me because he (the instructor) was aware of where I was in my life.” “I like the notes. They make me think about my emotional outlook and even let me vent some frustration.” “The notes were a new experience. I guess he read them all. I like the idea very much.” “The notes are nice; they show you care and are interested.” In summary, the “How Are Things Going?” notes, requested on a regular basis, have provided the additional information I was seeking concern- ing student reactions to their college experiences. | encourage you to give this method a try; then write me about “How Things Are Going.” Lloyd L. Willis, Associate Professor, Biology For further information, contact the author at Piedmont Virginia Community College, Route 6, Box 1-A, Charlottesville, VA 22901-8714. Suanne D. Roueche, Editor April 6, 1990, Vol. Xil, No. 11 ©The University of Texas at Austin, 1990 Further duplication is permitted by MEMBER institutions for their own personnel. 10 INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD), EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, (512) 471-7545. Subscriptions are available to nonconsor- tium members for $40 per year. Funding in part by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly when classes are in session during fall and spring terms and once during the summer. ISSN 0199-106X.