Capturing Student Voice through Midterm Feedback: A Case Study in Foundation Year Economics Module

In Higher Education, there are well-established systems through which student voice is obtained, including end-of-year surveys. These provide a formal forum to capture student voice and offer students an opportunity to raise their concerns, share their experiences and provide feedback on modules and teaching. Data received can be used to guide improvements to the educational environment and students’ learning experience. In addition to obtaining formal feedback from students at the end of an academic year, ‘midterm feedback’ can also be used to provide direct benefit to current students who are taking the course, and may contribute to these students’ satisfaction as students would be fully aware that their voice is heard and appropriate measures are actioned to improve student experience. This paper discusses midterm feedback, particularly in Higher Education, drawing upon relevant literature. It outlines how midterm feedback is used by the author to collect data from students who are currently enrolled on a foundation year economics module at the University of Essex. It shares the feedback received and how the author responded to this feedback to ensure that the students’ voice is heard. Finally, it undertakes an evaluation of whether the actions taken following the mid-term feedback had any impact on the end-of-year student feedback survey results for the economics module when compared with the previous academic year.