Faculty Formative Feedback Project

Instructional faculty (lecturers and tenure-track faculty) looking for alternatives to the traditional Student Perspectives of Teaching (SPOT) feedback can now participate in a voluntary collaborative project. The purpose of the Faculty Formative Feedback Project (FFFP) is to provide instructors with collaborative feedback on instructional practices with an eye toward increased student engagement and better meeting the diverse needs of students.  

Instructors are paired with an FFFP Partner for this work. This partnership allows instructional faculty to collect valuable data from students during the semester that allows immediate application to the classroom. Faculty participation is voluntary and not tied to university or program evaluative measures, allowing instructors to gather information from a variety of sources through a system that is solely focused on support and opportunity for personal growth.  

The Formative Feedback Project has two levels of involvement from which to choose. 

  • Level 1: Quick check-in with faculty partner, student survey, and data analysis  
  • Level 2: Deep dive with faculty Partner, self-reflection, student survey, observation of a synchronous class lesson, and data analysis

Interested in applying? Applications are open for the first 4 weeks of the semester:  Application Form

 

  • Judy Brusslan
    Biology (CNSM)  
  • Connie Ireland
    Criminal Justice (CHHS)  
  • Lynda McCroskey
    Communication Studies (CLA) 
  • Kara Miller
    Anthropology (CLA) 
  • Susan Nachawati
    Comp Eng/Comp Sci (COE)  
  • Laurel Richmond
    Rec & Leisure Studies (CHHS)  
  • Vesna Terzic
    Civil Engineering & Construction Engineering Management (COE) 

FFFP Partners have received multiple semesters of training to support faculty Participants.  We recruit new Partners each spring for the following academic year. Applications for Partners are available in March. Contact FFFP if interested in applying to be a Partner!

Why participate? See what your CSULB colleagues had to say about their involvement! 

Partners were helpful 

“Kudos to [partner] for being very approachable, reassuring, and affirming. I found the whole experience very positive.” 

“Most importantly, the project was non-invasive, and I never felt as though my teaching practices were being evaluated in a pejorative or judgmental manner.” 

Talking about teaching was valuable 

“It is unfortunately rare to have in-depth conversations with colleagues you respect about our teaching, mostly we work alone in front of students. I signed up to participate in this program precisely for the opportunity to have these meaningful conversations, and my expectations were met! 
Teaching (particularly remote teaching) can be isolating! I enjoyed the opportunity to discuss my classes in a collaborative, nonevaluative setting.” 

“The project provides a safe, collaborative environment to learn from your current lecturing practices, and to gain insight and ideas for future growth” 

Actionable feedback resulted in immediate changes to courses 

“I made changes to the way I delivered lectures in the course. I made shorter lectures that allowed for more student interaction.” 

“The collaborative process helped me to change course preparation and implementation.” 

“I learned how to ask better questions to engage my students better.” 

“I am encouraged/inspired to make my assignments more real-world relevant for my students.” 

What’s the difference between FFFP and RTP/lecturer evaluation processes? 
The Faculty Formative Feedback Project is purely formative in nature. It is separate from the RTP/Lecturer Evaluation process. Your assigned FFFP partner will not be from your college, and the feedback is given directly to you. Having an FFFP partner from outside your college keeps this process and feedback separate from the evaluation process.  You may choose to include your involvement in the program and changes you make to instruction as a result in your RTP/Lecturer Evaluation narrative, but that’s your choice. You will receive a letter from the program indicating your participation. You will receive a form from your FFFP partner describing the conversations you had about student engagement and instruction.  

What would be my time commitment? 
You have two options for participation:

  • Level 1: Quick Check-in is a smaller time commitment. It involves a couple of meetings with your FFFP Partner and the distribution of a student engagement survey. 
    • a meeting with your Partner before you administer the Student Engagement Feedback Tool – this includes some homework in the form of reflection on the class under consideration 
    • distribute the 6-minute Student Engagement Feedback Tool (ideally during class time to get the best return rate) 
    • a meeting with your Partner to review the results and discuss potential course modifications 
    • optional: repeat this cycle week 10-14 
       
  • Level 2: Deep Dive is a larger time commitment. This includes meetings with your FFFP Partner, distribution of the student engagement survey, a class observation by your FFFP Partner (must be a synchronous class – Face-to-Face or online), and a final follow-up debrief meeting. You select which course you want to use for the process. 
    • a meeting with your Partner before you administer the Student Engagement Feedback Tool – this includes some homework in the form of reflection on the class under consideration 
    • distribute the 6-minute Student Engagement Feedback Tool (ideally during class time to get the best return rate) 
    • your Partner observes a synchronous class meeting 
    • debriefing the data…. you will do some reflection about the observed class (on your own) prior to a meeting with your Partner and then review the observation and discuss potential course modifications. A format for reflection and review is provided. 
    • optional: repeat this cycle week 10-14 

How are partners assigned? 
Partners are assigned to faculty in colleges other than their own. Teaching schedules are taken into consideration (so that Partners can observe the synchronous teaching for Level 2 participants). We try not to assign partners to faculty that they already know.

What do I get by participating? 
You will receive feedback on your instruction and student engagement which we hope results in actionable changes to your instruction. You will receive a letter from the project detailing the level of your participation and meeting notes from your FFFP Partner.

Can I participate more than once? 
Yes. Faculty may participate more than once and at different levels during different semesters. Should the program receive more applications than we can support, preference will be given to new participants. 

How can I become an FFFP Partner? 
Each year the program will solicit applications from faculty (lecturers and tenure-track) to serve as FFFP partners. Faculty can serve in this role for up to two years. Applications are made available in March for the following academic year. See the FFFP Leadership link for more information.