We often ask, how well are your students learning? What tweaks could be made to improve your teaching and enhance student learning?
The Plus/Delta tool is an easy way to seek valuable feedback from your students. It has students focus on advancing their learning in the course and what could be improved by the instructor and the student. It helps students think about their responsibility to the course and what they should continue doing to learn (PLUS) and what they need to change for the course to improve for them (DELTA) (Helminski & Koberna, 1995).
Students can complete the plus delta online using Canvas, or other anonymous survey software by responding to these four open-ended questions:
Plus
- What is helping me to learn in this class?
- What am I doing to improve my learning in the course?
Delta
- What changes are needed in this course to improve learning?
- What do I need to do to improve my learning in this course?
Once the students complete the plus delta, you collect the information and summarize it to report each category’s themes back to your class in the next session. The feedback loop creates the opportunity to discuss the shared responsibility for teaching and learning in your course. You may further specify what modifications will (or will not) implement based on their feedback. To learn more, visit CELT’s Using a PLUS/DELTA Assessment Technique webpage.
With a joy for teaching,
Sara Marcketti, Director
Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching
Helminski, L. & Koberna, S. (1995). Total quality in instruction: A systems approach. In H. V. Roberts (Ed.), Academic initiatives in total quality for higher education (pp. 309-362). Milwaukee, WI: ASQC Quality Press.
Full Teaching Tip
View the published CELT Teaching Tip: Seeking student feedback (September 10, 2020 – Constant Contact) page.
Prefer a Print version?
To view the Teaching Tip as a printable document with web addresses, download the CELT Teaching Tip for September 10, 2020 (PDF).