The Learning Experience Reflection (LER)
The LER is a set of questions about each student’s course experiences. The form includes opportunities to share detailed written feedback, as well as scaled responses, and as the title of the form suggests, the questions are designed to help you reflect on your learning. The questions are organized across three pages, and there is a back button so you may return to previous pages if you think of additional comments you would like to share or if you would like to revise any of your responses. Your responses will not be recorded until you hit "submit" on the last page.
The LER is used to collect constructive, professional feedback that will help faculty develop their teaching and allow college leadership to understand more about course experiences from a student’s perspective when considering faculty for reappointment, tenure, promotion, and merit.
At Wellesley we strive to create an environment where everyone is respected, welcomed, and given the opportunity to thrive - this community value extends to faculty, staff and students alike. As a college, we also recognize that end-of-semester student feedback is often influenced by students’ unconscious and unintentional biases about the race, gender, and other aspects of the professor’s identity. As you complete LERs, please keep this in mind and make an effort to resist stereotypes about professors. Focus on your experiences as a student in the course (e.g. the assignments, the textbook, the in-class material, the professor’s teaching approach) and not unrelated matters (e.g. the instructor’s appearance).
There are two general audiences for LER responses:
- the professor(s) who taught the course
- other professors and administrators in charge of reviewing faculty for reappointment, tenure, promotion, and merit
The primary audience for your LER responses is the faculty member(s) who taught the course. Your goal is to help the faculty member(s) understand more about your experience as a student in the class, and in particular, how their course design choices and instruction supported your learning, and what may have better supported your learning. The answers to all LER questions (including written responses) will also be seen by other faculty in the department, and the Committee on Faculty Appointments (CFA). LER responses are not shared with faculty members until after grades for the course have been submitted.
Unlike other popular online review platforms that you may have experience with (e.g. Google reviews, Amazon product reviews, Yelp, or Rate My Professor), your feedback on the LER is not meant for a public audience. The purpose of the LER is to collect constructive, professional feedback about your learning experience, and it is important that you uphold the spirit of the Honor Code as you write and submit your feedback. Feedback should pertain to your learning experience and your professors teaching and course design.
The LER responses you submit will have no identifying information associated with them. Neither faculty member(s) who taught the course nor the professors and administrators in charge of reviewing faculty will know who has written which comments.
Your responses on the LER will help faculty understand more about your course experience and will help them improve their courses and their teaching in the future. The more specific and constructive your responses are, the more likely a faculty member will be able to use the feedback in the future when they design and teach similar courses. Both positive and negative feedback is most informative when very specific. Rather than simply stating that you liked or disliked something, or that it was helpful or not very helpful, it is important to also explain why or give an example. See below for guidance on how you might elaborate on your LER responses to make them more specific and constructive.
Vague feedback: “Readings were dense and unnecessary.”
Examples of more specific feedback:
- “Readings seemed unnecessary because we rarely discussed them during class. Connecting the readings to other things we did in the course or spending more time discussing them in class would help them feel more relevant.”
- “I found the readings difficult to understand. If we had reading questions to focus on, either before or after each reading, that might have been helpful.”
- “It wasn’t clear to me why we had so many readings on the same topic each week.”
Vague feedback: “I loved this class!”
Examples of more specific feedback:
- “I enjoyed the atmosphere of class. Class discussions were interesting, everyone had a chance to share, and people were respectful of each others’ ideas.”
- “I enjoyed the hands-on demonstrations and real-life examples in this class. They really helped me understand the concepts we were learning about.”
- “I enjoyed the lectures in this class. Explanations were clear, and there was always time for questions.”
The LER provides professors and administrators with contextual information about student experiences in the classroom, from each student’s perspective. LER responses are considered alongside a number of other teaching-related materials (e.g. syllabi, course materials, feedback from course observations, letters of support). When reviewing LER responses, committee members identify broad themes and trends in student responses, within specific courses and for each professor over time.
Yes, the answers to all the questions answered by a single student are grouped together in the LER reports, i.e. Student A's answers are presented, then Student B's, Student C's, etc.
Yes, you are required to complete the LER for each academic course in which you are enrolled (except 250, 350, 360, and 370). You must complete separate evaluations for the lecture and lab components of courses with both lectures and labs. If you are taking a team-taught course, your instructors may have requested a separate LER for each instructor. If so, you will complete more than one LER for this course. Students must submit LERs for all courses by the end of the online LER period.
No. You will not be asked to complete an LER for 250 or 350 (Research or Individual Study), 360 (Senior Thesis Research), or 370 (Senior Thesis) courses. However, you are encouraged to provide a letter to the Committee on Faculty Appointments (CFA) at cfa@wellesley.edu about your independent study courses if you wish.
No. The LER questions are used for only Wellesley College courses. You will not be asked to complete an LER for courses you take at other institutions, e.g. MIT, Babson, Brandeis, Olin, Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Yes. IN ADDITION TO completing the LER, you are also encouraged to submit letters about your courses and/or instructors to the Dean of the College who serves as the chair of the Committee on Faculty Appointments (CFA). According to college policy, such letters are shared with the faculty member and his/her/their department, so any letter should indicate whether (1) the letter should be shared, as written, with your name left on, or (2) the letter should be shared with your name and identifying phrases removed. Letters may be submitted either in hard copy with a signature or electronically as an email or email attachment at cfa@wellesley.edu.
You may send comments and suggestions to Ruth Frommer, Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs.