Small Group Instructional Diagnosis

small groupSmall Group Instructional Diagnosis (SGID):  A formative assessment process, designed to provide faculty with real time, anonymous student feedback on your class. The facilitator gathers the qualitative data of small student groups and compiles it in a confidential report for you.

SGID’s are a nationally recognized methodology for improving classroom instruction, management, etc. by identifying consensus of core strengths and areas of improvement based on student feedback. The SGID process gathers your students into focus groups to gather their views and perceptions of their course experience.

Benefits of Focus Groups: “The advantages of focus groups include their ability to demonstrate consensus on the topic at hand, explore issues more deeply than is possible with a survey, uncover new issues through discussion, reflect participants’ experiences and perceptions rather than researchers’ ideas, and gather data more quickly than individual interviews.” Source

SGID Process: SGID sessions are always voluntary.

  • SGID request form submitted
  • Faculty member contacted by trained CTL staff member
  • The focus group facilitator meets with the instructor prior to and after the SGID.
  • SGID’s are conducted relatively early in the semester (6-8 weeks) and the instructor is not present.
  • The session can take 30 – 50 minutes depending on the number of students.
  • Only the instructor (and facilitator) view the results.
  • The instructor makes small tweaks to pedagogy and/or classroom management based on the feedback for the remainder of the semester and shares this with the class.

SGID Learning-Centered Questions:

    1. What has helped you learn in this class?
    2. What limits or hinders your learning in this class?
    3. What suggestions do you have for improving your learning?

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Interested in hearing student voices? Submit your SGID request form today to initiate this formative student feedback process!

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MCC Faculty Testimonials about the SGID Process:

“Overall the process of going through the SGID was a significant benefit to my instruction and students’ outcomes in the class. I will recommend this process to colleagues in future semesters.”

“As teachers, we often notice a drop in energy and drive in both ourselves and students when we return from Spring Break. The positive feedback that I received from my students gave me a much appreciated boost in morale that carried me through to the end of the semester.”