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Small Group Discussion

We ask the students to organize into groups of 3 or 4 (more if the class is larger); one of the students in the group serves as the note-taker. Each group is asked to consider four questions:

1. What do you like best about the course and the faculty member's teaching?
2. What would you like the faculty member to change that may improve the course, his or her teaching, and your learning?
3. What could you do to make the course better for you and the faculty member?
4. How much have you learned in this course thus far?

In some SGIDs, the third question is replaced with, "What would you delete from the course?"

A final question to which each student responds individually is, "How much have you learned in this course thus far? The choices are: nothing; a little; an average amount; an above average amount; an excellent amount?

One or two other questions specific to a faculty member's needs or interest can also be posed.

The unique quality of an SGID is that the answers to each question are only those that were reach by group consensus. This practice eliminates individual complaining and focuses the feedback on those areas of the course that students can agree on are effective or need improvement.

The student groups are typically allowed 15 minutes to answer the three questions (including the fourth question to which each student responds).