Welcoming Student Feedback to Improve the Teaching Process

by Jackie Tran, Pharm.D., PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Resident, Howard County General Hospital

Going through pharmacy school, the biggest thorn in my side was filling out those end of the course/rotation evaluation forms. These lengthy forms seemed to take ages to complete and with each instructor or preceptor came the same set of questions. This process seemed very cumbersome to me and I always wondered if the instructor (or preceptor) really cared or read what I had written. I’ll admit that I didn’t take them very seriously or make much effort to fill them out.  Looking back, I feel that I committed a disservice, not only to the instructors but also myself and future students, because without providing my feedback, how would people know how things can be improved? Feedback, regardless of whether it is positive or negative, is something we should seek to receive as it fosters improvement. There are many ways to solicit feedback but it’s perhaps more important to have the right attitude when receiving feedback and, once received, using it to foster improvement.

Soliciting Student Feedback

End of the year course evaluations are not the only method to gather feedback. There are many approaches that instructors can employ including focus groups and learning logs. Each approach has its own strengths and weaknesses. Below are examples of approaches suggested by Hoban and Hastings after a 10-year collaboration to investigate approaches to optimize the gathering of student feedback.¹

1.    Student interviews / Focus Groups

In this approach, the instructor uses open-ended questions to interview students. The interview asks students to discuss the effectiveness of the instructor’s teaching process as well as identifying effective strategies that reinforced the learning.

2.    Student Learning Logs

Students are asked, at the end of each lesson, to write down what they learned and how they learned (e.g. what the instructor did to facilitate their learning). This approach can be helpful in ensuring that students are achieving the goal of the lesson but students often have difficulty with describing how the instructor helped facilitate the learning.

3.    Surveys

This last approach is the most commonly used method. The survey needs to be formulated in a manner that would allow the instructor to reflect on their teaching approach. For example, useful questions might include “My instructor uses things I already know how to help me learn new ideas” or “Across the term, my teachers’ lessons build on one another to develop better understanding.” Additionally, having both student and instructor complete the survey, instructors are able to compare their perceptions with the students’ perceptions.  This allows the instructor to gain a bigger perspective when reflecting on their teaching process.

The list above is only a small representation of the many methods that could be employed to collect feedback from students. It is up to the instructor to decide which is most appropriate for their audience and setting.

Instructor Attitudes Towards Student Feedback

Receiving student’s feedback poses a potential challenge because most often the process will elicit a psychological response. Instructors should separate their emotions when receiving feedback as this will facilitate a more reflective and cognitive consideration of the information. This will help instructors to deal more effectively with some of the more critical comments.²

Vanderbilt University has developed strategies that can assist instructors with receiving feedback. When reading/receiving feedback, some of the strategies include: ³

• Pick out a good time and place so that you have the privacy and space to analyze the information
• Identify trends in the students’ feedback; look for what is working well and what needs improvement in the teaching process
• Gain perspective on the student feedback by considering current experience with teaching
• Realize that all instructors will receive negative feedback. Negative feedback can still be used to identify areas of improvement.

Using Student Feedback

Once instructors have read and reflected on student feedback, the next step is to use it to identify things that need to be improved in the teaching/learning process. Stanford University’s Center for Teaching and Learning offers a stepwise approach:⁴

1. Reflect on the goals of the course. This step will allow instructors to place student feedback into perspective by allowing instructors see where they and the students differ on their view of the course
2. Determine your personal strengths and weaknesses as an instructor.  Student feedback can be used to pinpoint some areas of strength and weakness.
3. Target areas of improvement   This last step is where the instructor identifies the change they will make to improve the teaching process. Instructors should focus on one to two changes that can be feasibility implemented. It’s important to remember that improvements in student feedback may not be seen instantly. It can take days, months and even years before the desired outcome is achieved but that should not deter an instructor from continuing their efforts to push for the improvement.

References:

1. Hoban G, Hastings G. Developing different forms of student feedback to promote teacher reflection: A 10-year collaboration. Teaching and Teacher Education. 2006 11;22(8):1006-19.
2. Using Student Feedback [Internet]. Eugene (OR). University of Oregon, Teaching Effectiveness Program. [Cited 2013 Feb 17].
3. Student Evaluations [Internet]. Nashville (TN). Vanderbilt University, Centers for Teaching. [Cited 2013 Feb 17].
4. Stanford University. Using Student Evaluations to Improve Teaching. Standford University Newsletter on Teaching, Fall 1997, Vol 9, No.1.

Influence of Personality Types on Learning Preferences

By Margaret Curtin, Pharm.D., Ph.D., PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Resident,

Sinai Hospital of Baltimore

Pick one image below that appeals to you most.

Read more to interpret your selection.

A variety of learning theories, including behaviorist, cognitive, and constructivist, were developed in the twentieth century to explain how people learn.¹ These theories focus on different aspects of learning and the situations in which one theory would be more applicable than another. None of the theories, however, specifically address personality type.¹ It can be appreciated that personality affects how people learn and the type of environment(s) in which they will likely excel.  How a person learns is a motivational tendency that has been linked to personality.¹ Some learning models have been developed to include personality factors and some personality models have adapted post hoc to including learning preferences.² 

Personality is defined as an inborn temperament and features that arising in response to the external environment.  It is a combination of characteristics that separate one individual from others.¹ Since learning styles can be thought of as habits, personality traits inevitably affect learning behavior and serve a facilitative role with regard to motivation. It is critical to emphasize that no one personality type is superior to another and each occur at different frequencies within a given population. Each personality type has its own learning style (e.g. different preferences with regard to the approach to learning) and is motivated by different factors.¹ 

Many studies have been conducted which have found statistically significant relationships between learning style and personality type.¹ For example, one study showed a positive relationship between extroverted personality traits and active-minded learning styles.¹ Other studies examined outcomes based on knowledge of personality types, and the results indicated that both work and leadership outcomes were improved when personality types were considered by the learner during the learning process.²

Learning styles describe the way that we take in and process information.  Each individual has a preference for the way they learn and this gets strengthened with practice. Cognitive learning styles are defined as the consistencies in the unique manner that a learner acquires and processes information.³

Many different learning style models have been described, such as the Grasha-Recihmann Learning Style Scale (GRLSS), Goley’s Learning Pattern assessment (LP), and Felder and Silverman’s Index of Learning Styles (ILS), to name a few. ILS includes four domains of learning, as shown in the table below.³

Learning Dimension		Preferred Learning Style	Attributes
1	Perception	Sensory (S)	Likes concrete facts, figures, data, experimentation
		Intuitive (N)	Prefer theory and principles, solve problems through innovation
2	Input	Visual (V)	Remember pictures, diagrams, and flowcharts
		Verbal (B)	Remember spoken information that they had heard and discussed
3	Processing	Active (A)	Hands-on experience or discussion of information
		Reflective (R)	Requires time to think about what they are learning, learn best by understanding theory
4	Understanding	Sequential (Q)	Prefer logically order progression
		Global (G)	Gain knowledge by connecting individual aspects to big picture rather than learning individual parts

To address both learning styles in the first dimension (perception), the instructor should optimally provide a mixture of concrete facts and abstract theory. Visual (V) and verbal (B) learners can both be reached if the learning experience includes interactive discussions, visual materials, and illustrations of complex problems.³ Similarly, sufficient pauses (or breaks between learning events) to allow the reflective (R) learner to understand theory as well as including a hands-on activity for the active (A) learner would reach both processing styles. Most curricula are set up in a sequential fashion, but in order to reach the global (G) learner, the instructor should present the big picture prior to discussing details, allowing the G learner to make connections on their own.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a well-known personality test that has been used by many companies to build healthy relationships among employees.⁴ Personality types are divided into four domains resulting in 16 unique combinations.

• I (Introvert), E (Extrovert): how people focus attention and get energy
• S (Sensing), N (Intuition): how people take in information and ways they become aware of things
• T (Thinker), F (Feeler): how people evaluate and come to conclusions about information
• J (Judging), P (Perceiving): a person’s lifestyle and work habits

One’s personality traits, as identified by MBTI, has a clear influence on learning styles and preferences.⁴ Lessons can be constructed to best meet the needs of all students with varying MBTI personality types.³  Instructors may find it easiest to approach this task by presenting the same lesson content in multiple ways, in order to appeal to the preferences of all (or most) students.⁵

Strategies for effective learning based on S/N and T/F traits are outlined in the Table 1.  For example, extroverts (E) work best in situations that allow time for discussion or working in a group. These learners do well in activities that involve interaction with people.⁴ Introverts (I), on the other hand, are energized by the inner world of reflection and thought, and tend to enjoy reading and written work over discussions.  I types like independent work.⁴ In order to appeal to both I and E types, the learning experience should encompass both discussion and independent work, enabling all learners to optimize their potential. Additionally, judging (J) types live in a planned and orderly way.  J types do well with clear, consistent, and formalized instruction and want to complete defined tasks according to a specified timeline. Perceiving (P) types differ in that they are more spontaneous by nature and prefer to operate without deadlines.⁴ When appealing to both J and P subtypes, a learning experience could be structured so that clear expectations are set at the beginning but leaving it up to the learner to design their own timeline. Opportunities for elective projects and optional activities would appeal to the P subtype but less likely to interest the J type.

Through an understanding of the influence of personality types on learning preferences, the instructor can devise creative ways to customize the leaning process.⁵  In a large group of learners representing many different personality types (and learning preferences) it will be a challenge to offer something uniquely tailored to each person. By utilizing a variety of teaching approaches, one has the opportunity to appeal to all personality types.⁵ Simply put, knowledge of personality types and learning preferences put into practice can help educators communicate more effectively with students and deliver instruction in a way that maximizes the learning experience for each individual.

Table 1

Use the table below to uncover your personality based on the image you selected. Are the suggested strategies for learning accurate based on your personality?

If you picked the …	Personality Type	Type of Question	Learning preferences generally include:
Paper clip	ST (Sensing Thinking)	What?	immediate responses and feedback, details and sequential order, hands-on activities with a specific correct answer, clear concise step-by-step instructions, knowing expectations, drill and practice
Magnifying glass	NT (Intuitive Thinking)	Why?	planning and organizing before working, working independently, arguing and debating, analyzing and examining pros and cons, thinking about ideas and how they are related, logical and strategic games, designing a new way to do something
Slinky	NF (Intuitive Feeling)	What if?	learning without time constraints, praise for personal ideas and insights, using creativity and imagination, open-ended activities with many possibilities, working on many things at once, creative and artistic activities
Teddy Bear	SF (Sensing Feeling)	What does it mean to me?	getting personal attention and praise, sharing feelings and experiences, working in groups/being part of a team, having someone show how to do something, role-playing and personal expression, non-competitive games where no one loses, interpersonal activities

References:

1. Ibrahimoglu N, Unaldi I, Samancioglu M, Baglibel M. The relationship between personality traits and learning styles: a cluster analysis. Asian Journal of Management Sciences and Education. 2013; 2: 93-108.
2. Jackson CJ, Hobman EV, Jimmieson NL, Martin R. Comparing different approach and avoidance models of learning and personality in the prediction of work, university, and leadership outcomes. British Journal of Psychology. 2009; 100: 283-312.
3. Silver H, Perini M, Strong R. The Strategic Teacher:  Selecting the Right Research-Based Strategy for Every Lesson. 2007 Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
4. Type and Learning. The Myers and Briggs Foundation. [Internet]
5. Winn JM, Grantham VV. Using Personality Type to Improve Clinical Education Effectiveness. Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology. 2005; 33:210-213.