Oceanography | Vol. 38, No. 2
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BOX 1. TEACHING ANALYSIS POLL (TAP)
AT THE GEOPHYSICAL INSTITUTE, UNIVERSITY OF BERGEN
Getting Constructive Student Feedback for Interim Course Improvement
We find the TAP method particularly useful because of the limited investment and effort it requires, it represents anonymized
students views (while respecting both their quantitative and qualitative aspects), and it provides constructive feedback to the
instructor midway through the course in a motivating and actionable way.
In the hope that more courses apply this method, we share a step-by-step description, with practical tips, of how we imple
ment TAP. For further information and other examples of TAP implementation, we recommend starting with Hawelka (2019) and
Johannsen and Meyer (2023).
STEP 1. Find a Facilitator to Conduct the Tap
The facilitator is the person who will conduct the poll with the students in the absence of the instructor and report the student
feedback to the instructor after the poll. It is important that this person is neutral, that is, has no conflict of interests with either
instructor or students. The facilitator should be familiar with the TAP method but does not necessarily need to be an educator.
Indeed, at GFI, the TAPs have worked well when performed by the research advisor (administrative staff) or students external to
the course.
The facilitator and instructor then agree on a time to conduct the TAP. We typically choose 20–30 minutes at the end of a class,
midway through the course. Though time is valuable to instructors and students alike, our experience at GFI is that both instruc
tors and students who have been part of a TAP found it worth their time, with several instructors requesting TAPs in following
years. Holding the TAP toward the end of a class period is helpful because the students are already in place with their minds
fresh on the topic.
STEP 2. Student Group Discussions (10–15 min)
After the instructor has left, the facilitator briefly explains the purpose and procedure of a TAP and asks the students to form small
groups of three to five students. Feedback from up to five groups is usually representative of the majority student view, so for
large class sizes, we recommend taking a random sample of five student groups.
The groups are asked to discuss and collaboratively fill out a form (paper or online) that contains the following three questions
(this takes about 10 minutes):
1. Which aspects of this course facilitate your learning?
2. Which aspects of this course hinder your learning?
3. What suggestions do you have for improving the obstructive aspects?
STEP 3. Polling (10–15 min)
The facilitator collects the forms, reads them aloud to all, solicits clarification where needed, and asks the students to raise their
hands if they support a statement. We have found that for very small classes (e.g., only two groups), it might be worth asking stu
dents to vote in a more anonymous way to avoid having peer pressure influence the vote. We stress the importance of making
sure that any unclear statement is fully understood by all before voting. For example, a statement such as “instructor talks too
fast” could mean there is a language/communication issue, or it could mean that the amount of content planned for one single
class is too large. It is important to clarify such aspects so the instructor can better work with the feedback.
STEP 4. Feedback and Analysis
After the TAP, the facilitator meets with the course instructor to discuss the anonymized student feedback (and potential conclu
sions), focusing on statements that received support from 50% or more of the students.
In our experience, the meeting between the facilitator and instructor usually suffices for the instructor to be able to work on
the feedback towards improving teaching and learning in the class. However, we also offer the possibility for the instructor to
schedule a meeting with staff at the university pedagogy group should they feel better guidance is needed for addressing some
issues. The instructors are responsible for telling their students what they have learned through the TAP. Additionally, instructors
should explain which aspects they can and will change, which they will not change, and provide rationale for their decisions.