Midterm Evaluations

Midterm evaluations give you an early look at how students are engaging with your course and the learning strategies you’ve put in place. Because this feedback is collected while the semester is still in progress, it offers a valuable opportunity to identify what is working well and where students may need additional clarity or support. Using these insights, you can make targeted adjustments that strengthen the learning experience and better align your instructional choices with student needs. Midterm evaluations are intended to guide your ongoing development as an instructor and support continuous improvement in teaching and learning.

Overview of the process

Each term, faculty will receive an email after approximately 30% of the course has been completed to "Opt In" their course to receive a midterm evaluation. Students can provide feedback midway through the course to give instructors time to adjust and make changes to the course.

• The day after the midterm evaluation period ends, the instructor will receive a report that aggregates the student responses.
• The results are not part of the promotion and tenure process, or available for public results.

How to Opt In

Instructions for the opt-in process are provided in the YouTube video below and in the step-by-step Instructors Midterm Opt-In Guidebook.

When you receive the email to 'opt in' your course(s) for the midterm evaluation, you will be taken to a screen that looks like the screenshot below. To ensure your students receive all midterm evaluation questions, you must opt-in both the course and your name, and then select 'Launch'.

Mandatory Midterm Evaluations (Department Initiated)

Some departments have elected to require midterm evaluations for their faculty. For these departments, midterm evaluations are automatically created—faculty do not need to opt in. Students receive the evaluation at 40% of the course duration, instructors can view live response rates beginning at that point, and a summary report is generated one day after 50% of the course has concluded. This process is currently used by the Department of Landscape Architecture and the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering to support timely, formative feedback during the term. 

Please note: The College of Pharmacy has chosen not to participate in midterm evaluations.

Responding to Midterm Student Feedback

To view your Midterm Evaluation Report, please visit your GatorEvals dashboard ↗ opens in a new tab.

1. Review and Organize the Feedback - begin by summarizing the results and looking for patterns. 
   • Quantitative items - can be reviewed using average and response distributions.
   • Qualitative items - can be grouped into themes—such as strengths, areas for improvement, or points of confusion—using approaches like Start, Stop, Continue.
2. Identify What Can Change - and What Cannot - as you interpret the feedback it can be helpful to sort suggestions into the following categories:
   • Changes you can realistically make this term (e.g., adding more office hours, clarifying expectations, providing more substantive feedback).
   • Ideas for future iterations of the course that cannot be addressed this term (e.g., number of assessments or projects, weight of an assessment)
   • Concerns outside your control such as program requirements or credit hours. 
3. Close the Loop with Students - transparency is key. 
   • Take time in class or in your online course to thank students for their feedback, share a brief summary of what you heard, and explain the changes you intend to make, those you are considering, and why certain suggestions may not or cannot be implemented. 
   • Take time in future terms at the start of class when discussing your syllabus and classroom expectations to talk about some of the changes you have implemented from prior student midterm and end of course feedback. 

Midterm Evaluation Questions

Instructor Evaluation Questions 

The questions below relate to a student's experiences with the course instructor. Student's are asked to indicate their level of agreement with the statements below.   

Free Response Questions  

 [top]