Course Feedback
🔒 For SMU Instructors
Access relevant survey and report samples.
Introduction to Course Feedback at SMU
At SMU, course feedback is an important source of insight into teaching and learning. These insights help instructors identify areas of strength, as well as opportunities to improve students’ learning experience. However, feedback from students is not a neutral or complete measure of teaching quality. For instance, research has shown that gender can influence students’ expectations. Course feedback should therefore be interpreted with care, alongside other factors such as discipline, challenge and whether a course is newly developed. As a whole, course feedback should be used as but one of many relevant sources of input for holistic curriculum reviews, quality improvements, as well as decisions on promotions and contract renewals.
Course Feedback (Undergraduate)
CTE oversees the collection of course feedback for UG courses. Feedback reports are released to faculty only after the Registrar’s official release of final grades. The following table outlines the survey milestones, as well as the instruments used to collect and report on UG course feedback.
Mid-term
| Academic term | Mid-term exercise |
|---|---|
| Term 1 | Week 4 (Fri) – Week 5 (Sun) |
| Term 2 | Week 4 (Fri) – Week 5 (Sun) |
| Survey |
|---|
Non-SMU-X and SMU-X only: |
Note:
- There are no mid-term surveys for Study Mission and Work-Study Electives.
- The mid-term exercise is not administered for Terms 3A and B due to their shortened duration.
- Individual SMU-X, SMU-XO, Study Mission and Work-Study Elective may vary the timeline based on instructions to CTE from Dean’s Offices.
End-term
| Academic term | End-term exercise |
|---|---|
| Term 1 | Week 13 (Mon) – Week 14 (Sun) |
| Term 2 | Week 13 (Mon) – Week 14 (Sun) |
| Term 3A | Week 3 (Fri) – Week 4 (Sun) |
| Term 3B | Week 3 (Fri) – Week 4 (Sun) |
| Survey(s) |
|---|
Regular non-SMU-X courses: SMU-X (including SMU-XO) courses: Study Mission courses: Work-Study Elective courses: |
Note:
- FACETS stands for 'For Assessment of Continuing Excellence in Teaching.
- The type of survey used depends of course type assigned by Dean’s Offices.
- Individual SMU-X, SMU-XO, Study Mission and Work-Study Elective may vary the timeline based on instructions to CTE from Dean’s Offices.
Course Feedback (Postgraduate)
CTE oversees the systems and dashboards that collect course feedback, while respective Programme Offices (PO) are responsible for course feedback for PGP courses. Feedback reports are released to faculty only after the respective POs’ official release of final grades. The following table outlines the survey milestones, as well as the instruments used to collect and report on PGP course feedback.
| Academic term | End-term exercise |
|---|---|
| Term 1 (Aug) | Week 9 (Mon) – Week 10 (Sun) |
| Term 1A (Nov) | Week 4 (Mon) – Week 5 (Sun) |
| Term 2 (Jan) | Week 9 (Mon) – Week 10 (Sun) |
| Term 3 (April) | Week 9 (Fri) – Week 10 (Sun) |
| Term 3C (July) | Week 3 (Mon) – Week 4 (Sun) |
| Survey(s) |
|---|
Non-SMU-X: SMU-X: Study Mission (for PGPP non-SMU-X Study Missions): |
Note:
- FACETS stands for 'For Assessment of Continuing Excellence in Teaching.
- Individual PGP programmes have the autonomy to vary the timeline as required. Please check with respective Programme Offices for details.
Dashboards
Integrated FACETS Dashboard
For Selected Faculty and Administrators
The Integrated FACETS Analytics dashboard is a one-stop portal for UG, PGP and PGR stakeholders on course feedback ratings. It comes equipped with features that support dynamic data queries on teaching quality, for such purposes as monitoring, reporting, and recognition.
Course Analytics and Recommendation Insights Systems (CARIS)
For Faculty
The Course Analytics Recommendation and Insights System (CARIS) is an action-inducing analytics dashboard based on undergraduate students' quantitative and qualitative feedback, designed to help instructors identify ways to build on their strengths and to improve their teaching. CTE is currently collaborating with the IT team on a version that includes PGP courses to be launched in 2027.