Mid-Semester Course Analysis (MSCA) Program

Colby’s Jordan Troisi and Carol Hurney are international leaders on the mid-semester feedback technique of Small Group Instructional Diagnosis, referred to at Colby as Mid-Semester Course Analysis. Offered during the fall and spring semesters, the approach provides instructors with rich qualitative feedback from their students regarding the learning environment in a course. Results obtained from a MSCA offer an opportunity for faculty and students to engage in a formative reflection on the teaching and learning environment at mid-point of the semester. Both students and faculty find the process enlightening, and beneficial!

Briefly, the CTL consultant will connect with the instructor, then spend about 30 minutes working with the students during class. The students will work in small groups to answer the following questions:

• What are you doing to help your learning in this course?
• What are you doing to hinder your learning in this course?
• What could you be doing to improve your learning in this course?
• What helps your learning in this course?
• What hinders your learning in this course?
• What suggestions do you have to improve learning in this course?

The student groups will write their responses to these questions on the board and the CTL consultant will engage the entire group in a conversation about the responses. The CTL consultant will build a report and share the results from the small and large group discussions with the course instructor in a one-on-one confidential meeting.

Note: Records of MSCA reports will be retained by the CTL for up to two years. Because we will not retain MSCA reports for more than two years, the CTL will use Colby-approved generative AI tools extract and store anonymized student feedback collected during the MSCA program. These data will allow us to examine trends in student learning, which is useful for the CTL and the wider Colby community.