When to provide feedback

We run unit surveys at regular intervals to capture your thoughts and comments.

All units will be reviewed using your feedback at the end of the unit. Most will also gather student feedback midway through the unit.

Mid-unit feedback

This is an opportunity for dialogue with your teaching staff about how things are going.

Providing feedback midway through a unit is incredibly helpful. Feedback allows teaching staff to reflect on the way they are delivering the content and gives you a chance to reflect on what you have learned so far and how you have learned it. 

End of unit feedback

Giving feedback at the end of the unit allows you to reflect on how you’ve engaged with the unit as a whole and with any assessments you may have had so far. You can let us know what worked well and where you have suggestions for changes or improvements.

Your responses will help us to shape the structure and content of that unit for the future.

How to provide feedback

Please take the time to share your thoughts and ideas in a courteous and thoughtful manner. Feedback that is respectful, constructive, and fair will have the most impact.

• Be descriptive. “The book by Jones was confusing, and I didn’t think it related well to the course material. More specifically, we were asked to read chapters 5, 8, and 11, but those were not mentioned in the lecture.”
• Explain what you liked about the class. “I really liked the hands-on activities because they helped me learn the material.”
• Be polite. Honesty is important, but there’s no need to be unkind; it is hurtful to receive nasty comments. It is never appropriate to comment on a teacher's personal appearance. 
• Avoid criticising things your teacher can’t control. For example, it’s not helpful to complain that the class is too early in the morning.
• Offer suggestions. “I'd find it useful if there were more mini quizzes, with questions to build up our understanding throughout the learning”.
• Thank your teacher. If you enjoyed the class, let them know.

To protect anonymity, we do not run surveys for units with less than 5 registered students. If you are taking a small unit there will often be regular dialogue with your teaching staff and if you want to give anonymous feedback, you can contact your course rep or your personal tutor.

Most feedback on units will be gathered via a survey tool called Bristol Live Unit Evaluation (Blue). Some units/schools will run surveys in a similar way but using other tools. If your school is not using Blue, it will let you know how to access the surveys you need.

How to provide feedback using Blue

• You will receive email invitations from unit-evaluation@bristol.ac.uk with links to the unit survey/s.
• You will be able to view your active surveys in Blackboard (on the home page, Tools menu, Unit Surveys).
• Use the opportunity to tell us about what is working well as well as things which could be improved.
• Surveys are quick to complete and include a free text section at the end of every survey for you to raise anything specific.
• Feedback is most useful when it is constructive and respectful. Always be respectful of teaching staff and your fellow students in your comments and do not name individuals in your responses.
• Don’t identify yourself when writing comments. Your individual responses will not be identifiable to your lecturers and will remain confidential. The University will only follow up on individual comments in exceptional circumstances where there is evidence the respondent or others are at risk of harm or there is a breach of our Acceptable Behaviour Policy.

If you have any queries email: unit-evaluation@bristol.ac.uk

How your feedback is used

Once the survey closes, the anonymised results will be shared with your Unit Director and teaching staff.

They will consider your feedback and use it to help inform decisions about the future teaching and assessment of the unit. They will share with you their reflections on the feedback received and any actions planned. 

After the mid-unit surveys, there will often be an opportunity to discuss the results in a class.