Small Group Instructional Diagnosis

About | SGID Procedure | Scheduling an SGID

About

A Small Group Instructional Diagnosis (SGID) is a formative assessment of students’ learning, a kind of mid-stream evaluation or checkup that usually takes place in the 4th, 5th, or 6th week of the semester.  It can, however, be done at any time.  SGID’s are most commonly conducted by someone other than the instructor – usually a person from the teaching and learning center – in order to give students greater freedom to express their views.  However, a faculty member could ask his or her students the SGID questions him or herself.

An SGID is a great way to evaluate if the students are learning and if there might be better ways to help them learn during the remainder of the semester. Doing an SGID early in the semester gives more time for meaningful improvements in the course and in students' learning – improvements that are based on the students' feedback during the SGID – to occur.  In addition to the quality feedback faculty receive, students often are pleased that their instructor is willing to listen to their views and is seeking to make meaningful changes to improve the course and their learning.   This, in turn, gives students a greater sense of control over their own learning, a sense of control that often leads to greater trust in the professor and a greater willingness to engage in the learning process.

SGID Procedure

Overview

We describe below four steps in the SGID procedure: two steps involve the SGID facilitator and the students, one involves the SGID facilitator and, possible, the faculty member, and one, the final step, involves the faculty member and his or her students in the class.

Small Group Discussion

We ask the students to organize into groups of 3 or 4 (more if the class is larger); one of the students in the group serves as the note-taker.  Each group is asked to consider four questions: 

  1. What do you like best about the course and the faculty member's teaching?
  2. What would you like the faculty member to change that may improve the course, his or her teaching, and your learning?
  3. What could you do to make the course better for you and the faculty member?
  4. How much have you learned in this course thus far?

In some SGIDs, the third question is replaced with, "What would you delete from the course?"
A final question to which each student responds individually is, "How much have you learned in this course thus far?  The choices are: nothing; a little; an average amount; an above average amount; an excellent amount?

One or two other questions specific to a faculty member's needs or interest can also be posed. 
The unique quality of an SGID is that the answers to each question are only those that were reach by group consensus.  This practice eliminates individual complaining and focuses the feedback on those areas of the course that students can agree on are effective or need improvement.
The student groups are typically allowed 15 minutes to answer the three questions (including the fourth question to which each student responds).

Reporting Out and Reaching Consensus

The SGID facilitator asks each group to report out its answers to the questions; all the answers are displayed for the students to see.  Following this, all the students vote on whether or not they agree with each answer.  This measure of the students' overall agreement or disagreement with each answer gives the faculty member a clear sense of the relative importance of each answer.  This feedback, given as a percentage of students who agree with each answer, gives a much clearer picture of what the students think about the course and the instruction than would the individual student comments.

This step, the "Reporting Out and Reaching Consensus" step, can be particularly time-consuming.  There may very well be, for example, discussion amongst the students about the exact wording or meaning of the answer.  It's important, then, that the SGID facilitator keep careful tabs on the time during this step of the SGID procedure.  For a class of 30 or fewer students, we recommend that 15 minutes be allotted for this step of the process.  Naturally, with more students, this step will require more time.
Overall, our estimate of the amount of time to allocate for the entire SGID process is:

      1.  < 30 students -- 20-30 minutes
      2. 30-60 students-- 30-40 minutes
      3. > 60 students – 50 minutes. 

Report to the Faculty Member

The SGID facilitator first compiles the students' feedback for the faculty member.  The compilation does not associate any particular feedback with any specific student.  In addition, the results of the SGID are intended for the faculty member only.  He or she, in turn, can decide whether or not to include the results in any tenure, post-tenure, or other decisions, evaluations, etc.  The results are typically e-mailed to the faculty member and, at that time, a consultation is offered.  Although not a required step in the SGID process, a consultation or follow-up conversation between the faculty member and SGID facilitator is recommended.  Such a conversation provides the faculty member an opportunity, after first reviewing the results, to ask follow-up, clarifying or other "next step" questions.

We recommend that the faculty member receive the results within 5 days of the SGID.

Faculty Member Reports Back to the Students

It is very important for the faculty member, after reviewing and considering his or her responses to specific suggestions or comments from the students, to spend at least a few minutes in class talking with the students about the SGID feedback.  The faculty member can, for example, discuss his or her responses to specific comments or explain his or her rationale for particular course policies or assignments.  It is important that this conversation occur, not only because it completes the feedback-response cycle, but also because it further demonstrates to the students the importance and value of their feedback and the specific ways in which their feedback will be used to improve the course and their learning.

Scheduling an SGID

If you are interested in having an SGID scheduled for any of your courses, contact Lauri Daniels in the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning at ext. 2440 or by e-mail at danielsl@ferris.edu.  If you have any questions about SGIDs, Todd can be reached at ext. 3541 or by e-mail at stanist@ferris.edu.  A date for a SGID can be scheduled at any time, even before the semester begins.  We will work with you to establish a date and identify an SGID facilitator to conduct the SGID.

Two members of the staff in the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning – Bea Griffith-Cooper and Todd Stanislav – are available to conduct an SGID for you.  In addition, five faculty members have participated in SGID training and conducted SGIDs themselves, and are also available to conduct SGIDs.  These faculty are Rick Griffin, Kristy Motz, Jody Ollenquist, Mark Thomson, and Helen Woodman.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Todd Stanislav via e-mail at stanist@ferris.edu or by phone at ext. 3541.