It happens every semester, about two weeks before finals season. Emails begin appearing in every Temple student’s inbox, asking them to complete their student feedback forms (SFFs). Temple’s feedback forms originated in 2002, and today, according to the institution, they “provide useful course and teaching data” for the college and instructor. Students have mixed opinions on this.
Addy Kelly is a sophomore neuroscience major. She says that she has filled them out in full each semester, but the biggest obstacle to completing them is time.
“They are pretty short forms,” Kelly said. “But during the end of the semester, it’s hard to find any time at all.”
Lily Terp is a freshman public relations major, and she believes that they are helpful.
“My issue is more that I’m unsure of how to word my responses for the professors I didn’t really like,” Terp said.
For many students, this is a common experience. One of the biggest drawbacks of the current SFF system is that students aren’t always able to benefit from the feedback they give. So, often, when registration rolls around, students will look at websites like RateMyProfessors to decide whether a professor is someone they would like to learn from. Unfortunately, sites like RateMyProfessors are unreliable, and allow students to leave fake reviews.
Terp stated that she finds the email reminders to fill out the form annoying.
“It’s just another email in my inbox at the end of the day,” Terp said. “Most of my professors block out class time to ensure that we do them, which makes it very easy to fill out, so the extra emails are just annoying.”
Both Kelly and Terp think the forms are helpful because they add a level of accountability for professors that is sometimes needed but difficult for students to voice.
“It might be more useful to have them placed around the middle of the semester,” said Kelly. “Just so that students can give feedback and see a change in real time.”
Kelly’s idea has been echoed throughout the student body at Temple. Nationally, calculating the success rate of student feedback forms is difficult, as many schools use them but implement them in different ways. Data is not available on how Temple, in particular, has implemented SFF suggestions. Moving forward, the feedback forms are likely to remain, but hopefully, their results will be more accessible for students.