Mid-Course Reviews (MCR) for Graduate Students
Are you a graduate student instructor looking for quick, anonymous feedback on your teaching from your students? The CTL is here to help: request a Mid-Course Review! The CTL offers Mid-Course Reviews (MCRs) with trained peer consultants who can help solicit feedback from your students on what they find to be the most helpful and the most challenging aspects of your course. CTL Mid-Course Reviews are confidential, formative, and designed to support you in your teaching practices.
MCRs count towards completion of CTL’s Teaching Development Program for graduate students.
Interested in an MCR?
Request an MCR by filling out the form below. To arrange for an MCR, please submit this request form at least two weeks prior to the date when you would like a Teaching Consultant to visit your class. All MCRs must be completed by March 24, 2023. Requests for MCRs will close on March 3, 2023. MCRs are most effective when completed in weeks 4-7, so we encourage you to request your MCR early!
What to Expect
MCRs allow graduate student instructors to receive an assessment of how their teaching practices impact students’ learning in their course. A trained Teaching Consultant from the CTL conducts the MCR with students during the last 15-20 minutes of the class, while the instructor is out of the room. The Teaching Consultant will act as a facilitator, asking students to actively discuss their ideas, so that the feedback the instructor receives is about high priority issues. The consultant will also encourage students to be as specific as possible in their responses to what is helping or hindering their learning in order to provide the instructor with actionable suggestions for adjustments. After the consultant’s conversation with students, the instructor and consultant meet to discuss the students’ feedback and ways to address and implement their suggestions, allowing the instructor to make changes, if necessary, before the course ends.

The CTL is here for graduate students.
The Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning provides an array of support for graduate students in both their current and future teaching responsibilities.