From traditional accountability to shared responsibility: the benefits and challenges of student consultants gathering midcourse feedback in college classrooms

Abstract

The explicit purpose of gathering feedback in college classes is to improve those courses, usually along the lines of structure, organisation, pace, or some other aspect of the course over which the professor typically has control. A potential outcome that is less immediately obvious is the shift that can take place regarding who is responsible and in what ways for the analysis and revision of pedagogical practices at the college level. In this article, I take as a foundation for my discussion the premises of new wave student voice work, and I describe a project through which students were positioned as consultants who gathered midcourse feedback for faculty members. I analyse how those student consultants supported faculty members in revising not only their courses but also their relationships with students – both student consultants and students enrolled in the courses.

Keywords:

• midcourse feedback
• student voice
• dialogue
• change
• responsibility

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Darla Attardi, Jackie Fleming, Natsu Fukui, Alice Lesnick and Maeve O’Hara for their constructive feedback on drafts of this article and to three anonymous reviewers for their comments.