Group Instructional Feedback Technique (GIFT)

GIFT is a confidential process that allows instructors to gather feedback from their students.

The process of GIFT:

• Facilitated by trained colleagues who act as peer consultants.
• Provides student feedback, not instructional critique.
• Kept confidential between the instructor and the peer consultant.

Benefits of GIFT:

• Strengthens communication between instructors and their students.
• Fosters supportive, collegial relationships between the instructor and facilitator.
• Clears up misconceptions students may have about the course.
• Requires students to share responsibility for their own success in the course.
• Allows course changes to be made early enough in the term to make a difference.

How the process works

1. Contact the Center for Academic Innovation to arrange for your GIFT by using the form on this page. GIFTs are available during the Fall, Winter and Spring terms.
2. Your facilitator will work with you to arrange the time and place of the GIFT.  They can also answer any questions you may have about the process.
3. When your facilitator visits your class, they will explain the process and benefits of the GIFT. They will then divide your class into small groups and ask them to discuss the course’s strengths and areas in need of improvement.  Students are also asked to make suggestions for changes to the course.  The whole process takes approximately 30 minutes.
4. Your facilitator will then synthesize and summarize the results of the classroom discussion.
5. Then you and your facilitator will meet to discuss the results.
6. Finally, you and your students discuss the results and possible changes to the course.