GIFT
GIFT is an acronym that stands for Group Instructional Feedback Technique, which implies talking to students in groups or as a whole in the absence of their instructor.
Faculty may request GIFT for the following reasons:
- Students may be willing to speak openly to another instructor rather than their own instructor.
- Valuable feedback may be obtained from students, which should help to assess and improve teaching by faculty who requested GIFT.
- Faculty may not want to wait until receiving student feedback in the form of student evaluations.
Timing
In requesting a GIFT, timing is of the essence. Ideally, faculty should schedule a GIFT following the distribution of the first-exam grades to students. This timing allows students to better assess their own efforts as well as those of their instructor.
Process
Depending on faculty's preference, the process of executing a GIFT may include the following:
- Pre-conference
- Post-conference (Debriefing)
- Formal or informal documentation of consultation.
Faculty can expect the following from Peer Consultants when requesting a GIFT:
- The Consultant will meet with faculty prior to conducting the GIFT in your class and explain:
- The purpose and process of GIFT.
- That faculty has the ownership of the GIFT. It means that the Consultant cannot ask his/her own questions to students. The Consultant is not allowed to make any positive or negative comments about faculty or students. The requesting faculty determines the questions that will be asked to students by the Consultant. Short and to-the-point questions are more likely to deliver meaningful feedback. The Consultant can provide faculty with a list of sample questions.
- The Consultant will offer various feedback methods. Faculty may request a written statement that summarizes students' answers to the questions or faculty may want to discuss the content of the answers with the Consultant. The requesting faculty decides the delivery method for feedback from the GIFT.
To request GIFT, fill out the Request Form.
