What you need to know

Every evaluation includes the opportunity for you to give open-ended feedback about your experiences in the class. These comments are an important part of your subject evaluations and highly valued by both instructors and departments. In addition to informing potential curricular changes, your feedback is used to recommend faculty for teaching positions, awards, and tenure and promotion.

We encourage you to take the time to share your thoughts and ideas in a courteous and thoughtful manner.

MIT community standards

  • We expect that your feedback will adhere to the community standards put forth in the Mind and Hand Book.
  • We reserve the right to remove comments that are offensive, inappropriate, or violate MIT policy, including MIT’s harassment policy.
  • In rare cases, such as those in which your comments are deemed highly offensive or a threat to your safety or the safety of the MIT community, we may be required to connect your comments to your identifying information and share your identity with Institute officials for appropriate follow-up.

What you need to do

Comments that are respectful, constructive, and fair will have the most impact.

  • Be descriptive. “The book by Jones was very confusing and disorganized, and I didn’t think it related well to the course material. More specifically, we were asked to read chapters 5, 8, and 11, but those were not mentioned in the lecture.”
  • Explain what you liked about the class. “I really benefited from the hands-on activities because they helped me learn the material.”
  • Be polite. Honesty is important, but there’s no need to be mean; it is extremely hurtful to receive nasty comments. Instead, speak your mind politely about your teacher’s strengths and weaknesses.
  • Avoid criticizing things your teacher can’t control. It’s not helpful to complain that the class is too early in the morning or that the classroom is too cold. Your instructor probably has no control over these things.
  • Be appropriate. It is never appropriate to comment on a teacher’s personal appearance.
  • Offer suggestions. “Could you please put less information on each PowerPoint slide and use a bigger font?”
  • Thank your teacher for the great class. If you enjoyed the class, let your professor know by thanking him or her.